Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Morristown, TN

April 3, 1998Fentress County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1998, 4:52 PM CST for Fentress County, Tennessee. It was in force for 53 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 3, 1998, 4:52 PM CST (22:52 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 1998, 5:45 PM CST
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Fentress County, TN

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 3, 1:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 1998-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 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.

710 
WFUS01 KMRX 032255 RRA
TORMRX
TNC049-032345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
552 PM EST (452 PM CST) FRI APR 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST (545 PM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST TENNESSEE

   ...NORTHERN FENTRESS COUNTY

AT 453 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN PICKETT COUNTY MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THERE IS A REPORT OF A TORNADO ON THE GROUND WITH
THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN NORTHERN FENTRESS COUNTY NEAR PALL MALL TAKE
ACTION IMMEDIATELY.


IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.



&

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 3, 1:25 PM CST, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 1:25 PM CST, 3 hours 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
225 PM EST FRI APR 3 1998

WL NEED TO BE BRIEF AS TSTMS ARE QUICKLY FIRING UP AND SITUATION WL
CONT TO DVLP RAPIDLY. TOR WATCH NOW IN EFFECT TIL 01Z FOR PLATEAU/SE
TN/WRN VALLEY COUNTIES. SVR WX LIKELY AS NMRS INGREDIENTS COMING TGTHR
FOR LARGE OUTBREAK. NOT MUCH CHG FM 00Z MODELS XCPT THAT ETA IS NOW A
BIT FASTER AND MORE IN LINE W/NGM. SFC LOW WL RACE DUE E ALONG KY/TN
BRDR THIS EVE W/COLD FNT XTNDG S FM LOW. XPCT FROPA IN CWA ARND
03-06Z.  SOME LINGERING LGT RAIN PSBL IN NE TN/SW VA THRU SAT
MORN..AND INTO EARLY AFTN IN SW VA. FCST SNDGS INDICATE SOME BRKS
PSBL IN SE TN/SW NC. RIDGING SFC & ALOFT SAT NGT & SUN ACRS CWA WL DRY
THINGS OUT AND CLR OUT THE CLDS.  XPCTG MSTLY CLR SAT NGT..MSTLY SUNNY
SUNDAY.

FWC TEMPS LOOK GOOD THRU THE PD.

HSA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 3:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan, Roane28 min
Apr 3, 3:16 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXMeigs, Rhea44 min
Apr 3, 3:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson43 min
Apr 3, 3:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox, Union45 min
Apr 3, 4:00 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton45 min
Apr 3, 4:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger67 min
Apr 3, 4:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen, Hancock, Hawkins53 min
Apr 3, 4:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount, Knox38 min
Apr 3, 4:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXFentress44 min
Apr 3, 4:47 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXBlount, Knox28 min
Apr 3, 4:55 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXSevier35 min
Apr 3, 4:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe34 min
Apr 3, 5:08 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXJefferson37 min
Apr 3, 5:08 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXCumberland52 min
Apr 3, 5:23 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXHamilton, Meigs, Rhea52 min
Apr 3, 5:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCocke, Greene65 min
Apr 3, 5:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSullivan65 min
Apr 3, 5:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXScott44 min
Apr 3, 5:31 PM CSTTornado WarningMRXCocke29 min
Apr 3, 5:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMcMinn40 min
Apr 3, 5:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXWashington60 min
Apr 3, 5:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan, Roane58 min
Apr 3, 5:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell58 min
Apr 3, 5:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCumberland26 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.