Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Morristown, TN

January 8, 1998Blount County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at Jan 8, 1998, 12:45 AM EST for Blount County, Tennessee. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 8, 1998, 12:45 AM EST (05:45 UTC)
Expired
Jan 8, 1998, 3:45 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Blount County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:45 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 246 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 1998-01-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1998-01-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
559 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 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 KMRX 080546
FFWMRX
TNC009-080845-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
1245 AM EST THU JAN 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...EASTERN BLOUNT COUNTY
 
AT 1245 AM THE LITTLE RIVER NEAR TOWNSEND WAS REPORTED TO BE 3 TO 4
FEET OUT OF ITS BANKS. WITH WATER MOVING DOWN FROM THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS
FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT THREE HOURS OR SO. SOME
ADDITIONAL LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN COULD MOVE BACK INTO THE AREA BY
200 AM TO 300 AM.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HAnRDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jan 7, 3:00 PM EST, 9 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 3:00 PM EST, 9 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
3 PM EST WED JAN 7 1998

ETA TOO FAST W/SYSTEM OVER THE SE. PREFER SLOWER NGM/AVN.

BLANKET FFA FOR ALL OF E TN AND CHEROKEE AND CLAY COUNTIES TONIGHT
LOOKS GOOD GIVEN THAT SYSTEM IS MOVG XTRMLY SLOW. CRW..WOULD INCLD SW
VA AS WELL.  SRLY FLOW FM SFC ON UP..DEEP MOISTURE..LIFT..AND GOOD
LOW-LVL THETA-E RIDGE OVER CWA COMBINE TO GERNERATE WIDESPREAD MOD TO
HVY RAINFALL DURING THE OVRNGT HRS.  EVEN THOUGH HEAVIEST RAINFALL WL
BE ON THE E SLOPES OF THE MTS IN FAVORED UPSLOPE AREAS..PREV MENTIONED
FACTORS WL OVERCOME MUCH OF THE RAIN SHADOW EFFECT.  RAIN CHCS SLOWLY
DIMINISH FM SW TO NE THURS AS DEEP MOISTURE AND BEST LIFT GRAD SHIFT N
& E.  WOULD GO FOR LIKELY POPS FOR NE TN/SW VA..GOOD CHC VALLEY &
PLATEAU..CHC POPS SE TN/SW NC. CHC POPS STILL NEEDED THURS NGT.  UPPER
TROF/VORT AXIS PIVOT ACRS CWA & FCST SNDGS SHOW STEEP LAPSE RATE. FRI
WL BE A DRY DAY AS A ZONAL hFLOW BEGINS TO DVLP. LOW LVL WRAPAROUND
MOISTURE REMAINS HI SO CLDY SKIES WL CONTINUE.

FWC/FAN BLEND ON TEMPS PREFERRED.

THANKS FOR COORD CALL MEM.

HSA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 8:08 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXSevier6 hr
Jan 7, 8:35 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXCumberland, Fentress7 hr
Jan 7, 8:35 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXHamilton7 hr
Jan 7, 9:18 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter, Johnson, Unicoi6 hr
Jan 8, 3:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter, Johnson, Unicoi3 hr
Jan 8, 3:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter, Johnson3 hr
Jan 8, 3:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXUnicoi3 hr
Jan 8, 9:29 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXCocke22 hr
Jan 8, 5:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSevier42 min
Jan 8, 6:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe68 min
Jan 8, 6:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMcMinn50 min
Jan 8, 6:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1998Every flash flood warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.