Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 51, NWS Morristown, TN

May 25, 1998Sullivan County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1998, 11:18 PM EDT for Sullivan 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
May 25, 1998, 11:18 PM EDT (03:18 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1998, 12:20 AM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Sullivan County, TN

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 25, 9:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 221 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 1998-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 323 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 1998-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
323 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1675 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMRX 260318 RRA
TORMRX
TNC163-260420-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
1118 PM EDT MON MAY 25 1998

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

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

* UNTIL 1220 AM EDT

* AT 1118 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR KINGSPORT... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTEtD TO BE NEAR...
  BLOUNTVILLE AT 1140 PM EDT

A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND! GO TO THE BASEMENT! IF A BASEMENT IS
NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO 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 May 25, 7:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 7:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
715 PM EDT MON MAY 25 1998

AREA WSR-88DS ARE SHOWING AN INCREASE IN INTENSITY AND COVERAGE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER W/S-CENTRL KY AND W/MID TN. ADAP SHOWS THIS AREA
HAVING BEST LO LVL CONVERGENCE AND LIFTED INDICES OF -10 AND -12 AND
CAPES OF 3000 J/KG...SO AMS IS VERY UNSTABLE. MODELS ARE DEPICTING STG
DIV ALOFT OVER THIS AREA DUE TO THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF AN 70-90
JET EXITING OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES.

MODELS SHOW THE DIV ALOFT MOVING EAST ACROSS THE NRN HALF OF THE CWA
DURING THE NIGHT AS WELL AS MODERATELY STG LO LVL CONVERGENCE. I WOULD
RECOMMEND UPPING POPS TO AT LEAST 70 PERCENT IF NOT CAT FOR CSV-TYS
LINE AND NORTHWARD WITH 50-60 POPS FPR SE TN. GIVEN PWS OF 1.4-1.6
INCHES AND 850 MB DEWPOINTS NEAR 15 DEGREES...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE A
THREAT WITH LOCAL FLOODING PROBLEMS A CONCERN...ESPECIALLY WHERE
TRAINING OCCURS.

WINDEX VALUES ALSO SUGGESTS THAT DAMAGING MICRO-BURSTS ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THE HIGH CAPE VALUES SUGGESTING SOME STORMS COULD HAVE LARGE HAIL.

CURRENT TEMP FCST LOOKS GOOD...EXPECT WOULD SUGGEST DROPPING LOWS FOR
SW VA TO NEAR 60. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT...

DH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 10:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXFentress64 min
May 25, 10:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins60 min
May 25, 10:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan65 min
May 25, 10:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSullivan62 min
May 25, 11:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Campbell, Scott63 min
May 25, 11:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger, Hancock63 min
May 25, 11:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHawkins63 min
May 25, 11:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox, Union61 min
May 25, 11:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCarter, Johnson62 min
May 25, 11:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCumberland46 min
May 25, 11:53 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXClaiborne3 hr
May 25, 11:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton, Meigs, Rhea62 min
May 26, 12:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins3 hr
May 26, 12:32 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene, Washington48 min
May 26, 12:32 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSullivan48 min
May 26, 12:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHawkins37 min
May 26, 12:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen48 min
May 26, 1:01 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCarter, Unicoi49 min
May 26, 1:05 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXSullivan2 hr
May 26, 1:21 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe49 min
May 26, 3:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXRoane63 min
May 26, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell46 min
May 26, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXLoudon46 min
May 26, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXUnion50 min
May 26, 4:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox64 min
May 26, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount67 min
May 26, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger59 min
May 26, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock31 min
May 26, 5:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSevier29 min
May 26, 6:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXJefferson49 min
May 26, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCocke65 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.