Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Morristown, TN
NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 1997, 12:11 AM EST for Knox County, Tennessee. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 29, 1997, 12:11 AM EST (05:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 29, 1997, 12:45 AM EST
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Morristown, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Knox County, TN
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:15 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 12:30 AM EST | Hail 0.75 | Knoxville, TN |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 10:45 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 240 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1331 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1544 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 223 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 390 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 11.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMRX 290515 RRA TORMRX TNC093-290545- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN 1211 AM EST SAT MAR 29 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST TENNESSEE ...NORTHERN KNOX COUNTY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH ACROSS NORTHERN KNOX COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT HALLS CROSSROADS AND FOUNTAIN CITY WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 11:15 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Fentress | 45 min |
| Mar 28, 11:26 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Anderson | 49 min |
| Mar 28, 11:39 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Morgan | 21 min |
| Mar 28, 11:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Morgan | 32 min |
| Mar 29, 12:07 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Knox | 53 min |
| Mar 29, 12:17 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | McMinn, Monroe | 43 min |
| Mar 29, 12:26 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Campbell | 49 min |
| Mar 29, 12:39 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Hamblen, Jefferson | 51 min |
| Mar 29, 12:42 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Hamilton | 63 min |
| Mar 29, 1:05 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Meigs, Rhea | 25 min |
| Mar 29, 1:12 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | McMinn | 33 min |
| Mar 29, 1:33 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MRX | Bradley | 27 min |
| Mar 29, 1:42 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Polk | 48 min |
| Mar 29, 2:01 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MRX | Polk | 29 min |
| Mar 29, 2:17 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MRX | Bradley | 13 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.