Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Morristown, TN

April 16, 1998Cumberland County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 5:38 PM CDT for Cumberland County, Tennessee. It was in force for 62 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 16, 1998, 5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1998, 6:40 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Cumberland County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 16, 1:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Apr 16, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 12:00Z on 1998-04-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 76 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 12:00Z on 1998-04-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 162239 RRA
TORMRX
TNC035-162340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
638 PM EDT (538 PM CDT) THU APR 16 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CUMBERLAND COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 640 PM CDT (740 PM EDT)

* AT 635 PM EDT...535 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER
  RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF CROSSVILLE... MOVING EAST
  AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CROSSVILLE AT 645 PM EDT...545 PM CDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

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.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Apr 16, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
330 PM EDT THU APR 16 1998

ONCE AGAIN...VERY BUSY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.  BIGGEST PROB O THE DAY
IS TORNADO WATCH...BUT AS EVENING COMES THIS WILL DIMINISH AND FLASH
FLOODING WILL BECOME THE THREAT OVERNIGHT.  RECOMMEND FFA FOR ENTIRE
CWA...THIS INCLUDES VA AND NC COUNTIES.  REASONING INCLUDES EXTREME
PW VALUES (1.5)...UNIDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILE...AND THICKNESS DIFLUENCE
WHICH ALLOW FOR REDEVELOPMENT OF CELLS AND TRAINING OF ECHOES.

BELV POPS COULD BE RAISED TO REFLECT HEAVY RAIN OVER NIGHT.  ALL AREAS
ARE GOING TO RECEIVE MEASURABLE RAIN TONIGHT AND TOMORROW.

BB

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 16, 12:24 PM CDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
124 PM EDT THU APR 16 1998

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

1240 PM    GRANDVIEW MOUNTAIN        TN   TORNADO
04/16/98   RHEA                           RHEA COUNTY DISPATCH
                                          REPORTED PUBLIC SIGHTING OF
                                          A FUNN\EL CLOUD OVER
                                          GRANDVIEW MOUNTAIN MOVING
                                          TOWARD SPRING CITY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 16, 9:02 AM CDTTornado WarningMRXCumberland, Fentress, Morgan63 min
Apr 16, 9:30 AM CDTTornado WarningMRXAnderson, Scott65 min
Apr 16, 9:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger, Hancock4 hr
Apr 16, 9:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCumberland, Fentress, Morgan, Scott4 hr
Apr 16, 9:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMRXAnderson, Campbell, Union4 hr
Apr 16, 11:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXRhea33 min
Apr 16, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe46 min
Apr 16, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne47 min
Apr 16, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock46 min
Apr 16, 3:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton61 min
Apr 16, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley, McMinn, Meigs63 min
Apr 16, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXRhea63 min
Apr 16, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXMeigs, Rhea33 min
Apr 16, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSullivan46 min
Apr 16, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXLoudon, Roane64 min
Apr 16, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMcMinn, Polk61 min
Apr 16, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXPolk63 min
Apr 16, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Knox65 min
Apr 16, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXMonroe45 min
Apr 16, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCumberland1 min
Apr 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCumberland57 min
Apr 16, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGrainger, Union58 min
Apr 16, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXFentress, Morgan63 min
Apr 16, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe31 min
Apr 16, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXMorgan66 min
Apr 16, 5:53 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXClaiborne67 min
Apr 16, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXHancock48 min
Apr 16, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXCampbell33 min
Apr 16, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton62 min
Apr 16, 6:13 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXUnion37 min
Apr 16, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXAnderson35 min
Apr 16, 6:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXGrainger34 min
Apr 16, 6:23 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXScott32 min
Apr 16, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell65 min
Apr 16, 6:48 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXAnderson, Union47 min
Apr 16, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXGrainger47 min
Apr 16, 6:58 PM CDTTornado WarningMRXClaiborne47 min

Nearby

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