Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Morristown, TN

April 16, 1998Lee County, Virginia

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 8:24 PM EDT for Lee County, Virginia. It was in force for 46 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, 8:24 PM EDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1998, 9:10 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, VA

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 16, 8:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 297 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 51 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 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
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
788 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

584 
WFUS01 KMRX 170025 RRA
TORMRX
VAC105-170110-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
824 PM EDT THU APR 16 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LEE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 910 PM EDT

* AT AT 825 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF SNEEDVILLE... MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  EWING BY 835 PM
  ROSEHILL BY 840 PM
  BLACKWATER BY 845 PM
  JONESBORO BY 845 PM

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

PDK/TH

...THIS EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING FOR LEE COUNTY...

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, 3:30 PM EDT, 4 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 3:30 PM EDT, 4 hours 54 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, 7:35 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
735 PM EDT THU APR 16 1998

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

425 PM     NEAR HARROGATE            TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   CLAIBORNE                      TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN NEAR HARROGATE

                                          1 NURSING HOME ALSO DAMAGED
                                          NEAR HARROGATE

435 PM     NEAR JONESVILLE           VA   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   LEE

540 PM     NEAR JONESVILLE           VA   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   LEE                            5 FOOT TREE UPROOTED 3 MILES
                                          WEST OF HIGHWAY 58

445 PM                               TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   HAMILTON                       DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          COUNTY-WIDE

525 PM     CLEVELAND                 TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   BRADLEY                        QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          IN DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND

545 PM                               TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   MCMINN                         DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
                                          NORTHEAST MCMINN COUNTY

548 PM                               TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   MEIGS                          DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR
                                          DECATUR IN MEIGS COUNTY

540 PM     WOLF CREEK AREA           TN   TORNADO
04/16/98   RHEA                           POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
                                          REPORTED IN THE WOLF CREEK
                                          AREA

540 PM                               TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   RHEA                           QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          NEAR THE RHEA COUNTY AIRPORT

540 PM                               TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   RHEA                           NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
                                          COUNTY-WIDE

530 PM                               TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   MEIGS                          DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          COUNTY-WIDE

530 PM     NEAR KINGSPORT            TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   SULLIVAN                       TREES DOWN IN THE KINGSPORT
                                          AREA

545 PM     NEAR KINGSTON             TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   ROANE                          TREES DOWN NEAR KINGSTON

608 PM                               TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   KNOX                           DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED ON
                                          WATTS ROAD IN WESTERN KNOX
                                          COUNTY

610 PM                               TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   KNOX                           ONE-INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          REPORTED IN WESTERN KNOX
                                          COUNTY

620 PM     TELLICO MOUNTAIN          TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   MONROE                         QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          NEAR TELLICO MOUNTAIN

615 PM                               TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   MONROE                         TREES DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN
                                          PART OF MONROE COUNTY

630 PM     NEAR HIGHWAY 70           TN   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/16/98   CUMBERLAND                     QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          ON HIGHWAY 70

650 PM                               TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   CUMBERLAND                     ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A HOME
                                          NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED IN
                                          THE SOUTHERN PART OF
                                          CUMBERLAND COUNTY

700 PM                               TN   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   MORGAN                         TREES DOWN AND ROOF DAMAGE
                                          IN THE NORTHERN PART OF
                                          MORGAN COUNTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 16, 8:02 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXScott63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 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.