Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 55, NWS Nashville, TN

March 28, 1997Smith County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 9:06 PM CST for Smith County, Tennessee. It was in force for 54 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 28, 1997, 9:06 PM CST (03:06 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 1997, 10:00 PM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Smith County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:07 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 28, 9:17 PM CSTTornado F1Carthage, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 28, 5:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 59 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1331 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 223 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 290308 RRA
TORBNA
TNC159-290400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
906 PM CST FRI MAR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
 
   ...SMITH COUNTY
 
AT 905 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST NORTH OF CATO.
THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
 
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...
OFR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 6:00 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXRobertson45 min
Mar 28, 6:16 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXSumner44 min
Mar 28, 6:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXBenton41 min
Mar 28, 6:22 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXDavidson, Wilson38 min
Mar 28, 6:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHouston, Humphreys44 min
Mar 28, 6:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDecatur56 min
Mar 28, 6:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXPerry39 min
Mar 28, 6:55 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXDickson, Humphreys50 min
Mar 28, 7:01 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXBenton, Decatur44 min
Mar 28, 7:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXLewis43 min
Mar 28, 7:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCheatham51 min
Mar 28, 7:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHickman, Maury44 min
Mar 28, 7:43 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXCheatham, Davidson47 min
Mar 28, 7:54 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXWayne51 min
Mar 28, 8:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXSumner, Wilson44 min
Mar 28, 8:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXWilliamson49 min
Mar 28, 8:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMacon, Trousdale50 min
Mar 28, 8:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXRutherford44 min
Mar 28, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXLawrence49 min
Mar 28, 8:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXSmith36 min
Mar 28, 9:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXGiles, Marshall43 min
Mar 28, 9:12 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXJackson48 min
Mar 28, 9:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXRutherford, Wilson37 min
Mar 28, 9:26 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXDeKalb, Wilson49 min
Mar 28, 9:35 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXGiles, Lawrence40 min
Mar 28, 9:40 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXOverton50 min
Mar 28, 9:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXSumner31 min
Mar 28, 9:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXBedford27 min
Mar 28, 10:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXPutnam40 min
Mar 28, 10:10 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXPutnam50 min
Mar 28, 10:25 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXCoffee, Franklin, Lincoln50 min
Mar 28, 10:37 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXGrundy38 min
Mar 28, 10:55 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXSequatchie65 min
Mar 28, 11:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMarion44 min
Mar 28, 11:16 PM CSTTornado WarningOHXBledsoe44 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.