Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 201, NWS Morristown, TN

May 20, 1998Johnson County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 6:58 PM EDT for Johnson County, Tennessee. It was in force for 32 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
May 20, 1998, 6:58 PM EDT (22:58 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1998, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Johnson County, TN

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 68 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 198 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
68 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-336 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1739 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 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.

028 
WUUS01 KMRX 202257 RRA
SVRMRX
TNC091-202330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
658 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JOHNSON COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT

* AT 658 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF MOUNTAIN CITY... MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.



DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 20, 2:50 PM EDT, 4 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 2:50 PM EDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
250 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

NO SATELLITE PICS AVAILABLE SO AM WATCHING KOHX 1.1 NM RES RADAR
IMAGERY AND KEEPING AN EYE ON LDS CHART WHICH SHOWS MCS SHIFTING
E THRU LWR OH VLY.  CONVECTION SEEMS TO BE HOLDING A LITTLE CLOSER
TO AND JUST S OF FNTL BOUNDARY DRAPED ACRS N MO/CNTRL IL/CNTRL IN
AND BELIEVE THIS WL GENERALLY BE THE CASE THRU MUCH OF 1ST PD
ALTHOUGH FNT WL GRADUALLY DROP S TWD SW VA/NRN TN BORDER REGION
OVRNITE AND SO CONVECTION (PROBABLY WEAKENING TO SHRA OVRNITE)
WL OCCUR FARTHER S AFFECTING SW VA/NE TN AND CUMBERLAND PLATEAU
ZONES PRIMARILY TONITE WHERE 30-40% POPS DECENT WITH SLGT CHC
VARIETY OVR CNTRL VLY ZONE.  FWC TEMPS LOOK GOOD FOR TONITE.

MODELS (ETA FASTEST) DROP FNT ACRS FA ON THU BUT PREFER SLGTLY
SLOWER SWD PUSH DEPICTED BY NGM AS LOW LVL FLO DOESNT LOOK
APPRECIABLEY STRONG AND TERRAIN MUST BE OVERCOME.  WITH FNT
PUSHING S THRU SW VA/NE TN TWD CNTRL VLY ZONE BY 00Z WOULD USE
40% FOR THESE NRN ZONES INCLUDING PLATEAU AND 30% FOR CNTRL VLY
AND KEEP SLGT CHC FOR SRN VLY/SRN MTNS AS CONVECTION WL HAVE FOCUS ON
FNT.  FAN TEMPS PROBABLY BEST FOR THU EXCEPT CHA CLOSER TO 90 WELL
S OF FNTL BNDRY.

FNT DROPS TWD SRN VLY /SRN MTNS OVRNITE THU AND WOULD KEEP SMALL CHC
POPS FOR CNTRL/SRN VLY/SRN MTNS AND DROP POPS FARTHER N.  FRI RIDGING
BUILDS BACK TWD THE FA AND UPR DYNAMICS NON-EXISTANT SO ONLY POSSIBLE
THREAT FOR CONVECTION WL BE ACRS SRN VLY/SRN MTNS AS FNT SLIPS ONLY
SLOLY S INTO DIXIE.  GUIDANCE SIMILAR LAST TWO PERIODS AND ACCEPTED.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1998Every severe thunderstorm 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.