Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Morristown, TN

April 8, 1998Polk County, Tennessee; Cherokee County, North Carolina

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 10:14 PM EDT for Polk County, Tennessee; Cherokee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 61 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: Apr 8, 1998, 10:14 PM EDT (02:14 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 11:15 PM EDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cherokee County, NC, Polk County, TN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 8, 11:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Andrews, NC

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
Apr 8, 7:30 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 771 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.5
Supercell composite: 8.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

531 
WFUS01 KMRX 090216 RRA
TORMRX
NCC039-TNC139-090315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
1014 PM EDT WED APR 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
 
IN EAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN EXTREME NORTHERN GEORGIA MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 40 MPH TOWARD POLK COUNTY TENNESSEE...AND CHEROKEE COUNTY NORTH
CAROLINA. COPPERHILL AND MURPHY ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 8, 9:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Fentress	69 min
Apr 8, 9:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Hamilton, Meigs, Rhea	64 min
Apr 8, 10:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Knox	43 min
Apr 8, 10:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Loudon, Roane	65 min
Apr 8, 10:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson	62 min
Apr 8, 10:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Anderson	30 min
Apr 8, 10:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	McMinn, Monroe	57 min
Apr 8, 10:30 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	McMinn, Monroe	60 min
Apr 8, 10:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Blount, Loudon	45 min
Apr 8, 11:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Rhea	63 min
Apr 9, 12:12 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Meigs	48 min
Apr 9, 12:23 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Loudon, Roane	52 min
Apr 9, 2:44 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Knox	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1998 Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.