Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 50, NWS Morristown, TN
NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 5:28 PM EDT for Cherokee County, Clay County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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
- May 7, 1998, 5:28 PM EDT (21:28 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 1998, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Morristown, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 5:30 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Murphy, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 199 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 650 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -129 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 521 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 5 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -3.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
599 WFUS01 KMRX 072131 RRA TORMRX NCC039-043-072200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN 528 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CHEROKEE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA CLAY COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 600 PM EDT * AT 528 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF MURPHY... MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... MURPHY NOW HAYESVILLE AROUND 545 PM EDT GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR HSA
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 May 7, 3:13 PM EDT, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 7, 3:13 PM EDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN 310 PM THU MAY 7 1998 THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER EAST TN IN THE WARM SECTOR. THE SURFACE LOW WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHERN IN WITH A WARM FRONT ACROSS NORTHEAST TN AND A COLD FRONT OVER MIDDLE TN. VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS OVER AREA...SHOULD KEEP THUNDERSTORMS GOING THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STILL A GOOD CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS... MAINLY OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA. SHOULD PROBABLY KEEP THE LIKELY POPS GOING OVERNIGHT ACROSS ENTIRE CWA. MAY ALSO WANT TO MENTION HEAVY RAIN FOR THIS EVENINGS STORMS WITH HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER. MODELS FAIRLY SIMILAR THROUGH 24 HOURS ON THE PLACEMENT OF SURFACE LOW AND COLD FRONT...THEN ETA A LITTLE QUICKER DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE PERIOD. COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO BE JUST EXITTING NORTHEAST TN BY TOMORROW MORNING. 500MB LOW SHOULD BE OVER WV BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON. EVEN THOUGH FRONT SHOULD BE THROUGH EAST TN TOMMORROW...STILL SOME PVA AND MOISTURE REMAINING TOMORROW AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL LOW TO KEEP LOW POPS IN FOR FRIDAY. LOOKS LIKE DRIER WEATHER ON SATURDAY BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES IN SATURDAY NIGHT. NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FWC AND FAN TEMPERATURES...PREFER THE COOLER FAN. GH
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 7, 12:44 PM EDT, 4 hours 44 minutes before
NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-034>047-066>074-083>087-099>102-VAZ001-002-005- 006-008-080445- AREA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN 1244 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 ...THERE A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA AND A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS TENNESSEE TODAY PULLING WARM AND MOIST AIR INTO THE REGION MAKING THE ATMOSPHERE VERY UNSTABLE. THE COMBINATION OF STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS AT THE SURFACE AND A STRONG WESTERLY JET STREAM WILL INCREASE THE THREAT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES. ALTHOUGH THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA INCLUDING SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA... THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM CROSSVILLE...TO MADISONVILLE...TO HAYESVILLE NORTH CAROLINA. THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...BUT TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. RESIDENTS ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...EAST TENNESSEE AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION TODAY. GH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 3:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Cherokee | 47 min |
| May 7, 3:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Clay | 31 min |
| May 7, 5:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee | 34 min |
| May 7, 6:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 35 min |
| May 7, 6:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 32 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.