Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Morristown, TN
NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 21, 1997, 7:08 PM EDT for McMinn County, Tennessee. It was in force for 37 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
- Apr 21, 1997, 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 21, 1997, 7:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Morristown, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County McMinn County, TN
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 7:25 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Riceville, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 3:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 195 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1346 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 67 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 278 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMRX 212310 RRA TORMRX TNC107-212345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN 708 PM EDT MON APR 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST TENNESSEE ...MCMINN COUNTY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER THE MEIGS MCMINN COUNTY LINE...JUST EAST OF BIG SPRING. THIS TORNADIC STORM IS MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE COMMUNITY OF RICEVILLE WILL BE AFFECTED BY 7:25 PM. 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 BAS8EMENT 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 12:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Blount, Sevier | 27 min |
| Apr 21, 12:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cocke, Jefferson, Sevier | 50 min |
| Apr 21, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Blount, Knox | 60 min |
| Apr 21, 4:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Anderson, Knox | 54 min |
| Apr 21, 4:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Jefferson | 31 min |
| Apr 21, 5:08 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MRX | Knox | 2 hr |
| Apr 21, 5:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Fentress | 37 min |
| Apr 21, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Jefferson, Knox | 31 min |
| Apr 21, 5:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Morgan | 33 min |
| Apr 21, 5:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Scott | 31 min |
| Apr 21, 6:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Campbell | 26 min |
| Apr 21, 6:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Monroe | 35 min |
| Apr 21, 6:31 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Claiborne | 29 min |
| Apr 21, 6:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Meigs, Rhea | 37 min |
| Apr 21, 7:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Monroe | 34 min |
| Apr 21, 7:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Bradley, McMinn | 29 min |
| Apr 21, 7:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Hamilton | 39 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.