Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Nashville, TN

January 24, 1997Overton County, Putnam County, White County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 24, 1997, 6:01 PM CST for Overton County, Putnam County, White County, Tennessee. It was in force for 44 min. 4 reports 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: Jan 24, 1997, 6:01 PM CST (00:01 UTC)
Expired: Jan 24, 1997, 6:45 PM CST
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Nashville, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Overton County, TN, Putnam County, TN, White County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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
Jan 24, 6:30 PM CST	Hail 1	Livingston, TN	Sheriff's office reported quarter size hail.
Jan 24, 6:30 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Sparta, TN	A few power lines were blown down.
Jan 24, 6:40 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Cookeville, TN
Jan 24, 6:50 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Cookeville, 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
Jan 24, 3:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 107 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 964 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 250003 RRA
TORBNA
TNC133-141-185-250045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
601 PM CST FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
 
   ...OVERTON COUNTY...PUTNAM COUNTY...WHITE COUNTY
 
AT 6 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED TWO TORNADOES...ONE LOCATED ABOUT
5 MILES NORTHWEST OF COOKEVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH...REACHING
LIVINGSTON BEFORE 630 PM. THE OTHER TORNADO WAS LOCATED 10 MILES
NORTHEAST OF SMITHVILLE NEAR CENTER HILL LAKE MOVING EAST AT 30
MPH...AND SHOULD REACH THE AREA OF COOKEVILLE AND ALONG THE PUTNAM/WHITE
COUNTY LINE BY 630 PM. THE TORNADO WARNING FOR PUTNAM COUNTY HAS ALSO
BEEN EXTENDED TO 645 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 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.
 
TT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Nashville, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 24, 6:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Grundy, Marion	45 min
Jan 24, 6:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	DeKalb, Putnam, Smith	55 min
Jan 24, 6:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Jackson	55 min
Jan 24, 6:44 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Overton, Pickett	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.