Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Memphis, TN

April 8, 1998Shelby County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 6:34 PM CDT for Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 36 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 8, 1998, 6:34 PM CDT (23:34 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 7:10 PM CDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Shelby County, TN

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 8, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 40 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 87 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 082334 RRA
TORMEM
TNC157-090010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
634 PM CDT WED APR 8 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 710 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY


AT 633 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTERS INDICATED A TORNADO
NORTH OF MARION MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT
MILLINGTON BETWEEN 640 AND 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 SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 8, 6:16 PM CDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
615 PM CST WED APR 08 1998

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0512 PM    COLLINSTOWN               MS   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/08/98   ALCORN                         GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY ALCORN COUNTY
                                          911

0515 PM    CARDWELL                  MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/08/98   DUNKLIN                        GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY KENNETT POLICE
                                          DEPT

0517 PM    SAVANNAH                  TN   .75 INCH HAIL
04/08/98   HARDIN                         DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
                                          SAVANNAH POLICE DEPT
>
0540 PM    WYNNE                     AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/08/98   CROSS                          GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          SPOTTER

0545 PM    COLT                      AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/08/98   ST FRANCIS                     pGOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY ST FRANCIS
                                          COUNTY SHERIFF

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 8, 7:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette, Shelby	46 min
Apr 8, 9:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester	32 min
Apr 8, 9:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman	33 min
Apr 8, 9:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester	31 min
Apr 8, 9:39 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	36 min
Apr 8, 9:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette	51 min
Apr 8, 10:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman	49 min
Apr 8, 10:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester, McNairy	48 min
Apr 8, 11:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Henry, Weakley	46 min
Apr 8, 11:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardin, Henderson	32 min
Apr 8, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardin	33 min
Apr 8, 5:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardin	18 min
Apr 8, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lake, Obion	33 min
Apr 8, 6:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tipton	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.