Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 55, NWS Morristown, TN

June 2, 1998Sevier County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1998, 6:10 AM EDT for Sevier County, Tennessee. It was in force for 65 min. 2 reports 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
Jun 2, 1998, 6:10 AM EDT (10:10 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1998, 7:15 AM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Sevier County, TN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 2, 6:30 AM EDTThunderstorm WindPigeon Forge, TN
Jun 2, 6:50 AM EDTThunderstorm WindGatlinburg, TN

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 nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 279 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 00:00Z on 1998-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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 00:00Z on 1998-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-459 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
258 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.

416 
WFUS01 KMRX 021011 RRA
TORMRX
TNC155-021115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
610 AM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

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

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

* UNTIL 715 AM EDT

* AT 610 AM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST AT MARYVILLE... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GATLINBURG AT 635 AM EDT

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM 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 Jun 2, 2:30 AM EDT, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 2, 2:30 AM EDT, 3 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
230 AM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

INTERESTING FCST THIS MRNG. ON THE SURFACE THE FCST LOOKS FAIRLY
SIMPLE...HOWEVER...AFTER LOOKING FURTHER...FCST BECOMES COMPLICATED
AND POTENTIALLY SEVERE AND BRINGS UP CONCERNS ABOUT ADDITIONALLY FLASH
FLOODING PROBLEMS.

FIRST S/WV IN FAST WESTERLY FLOW IS MOVING ACROSS THE OHIO/TENNESSEE
VALLEYS AT THIS TIME INCREASING THE ISENTROPIC LIFT/WAA OVER REGION
EARLY THIS MORNING. PER SPS DISC...WIND PROFILES ACROSS THE WESTERN
TENNESSEE VALLEY IS FAVORABLE FOR SVR STORMS THIS MRNG. THIS ACTIVITY
WILL MOVE INTO THE CWA LATER THIS MRNG. S/WV WILL MOVE EAST OF THE
AREA BY MID-MORNING...BUT ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA
LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SINCE BOUNDARY WINDS WILL BECOME SW-W
A DRASTIC INCREASE IN BOUYANCY CAN BE ANTICIPATED OVER THE REGION WITH
CAPES INCREASING TO 3000 J/G PLUS AND LIFTED INDICES OF -8 TO -10. I
ANTICIPATE REDEVELOPMENT OF SCT THUNDERSTORMS BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH THE EVENING. DUE TO THE FCST SOUNDING SHOWING DRY MID-LEVELS
AND INVERTED-V BOUNDARY LAYER CONFIGURATION...SOME OF THE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

COLD FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY OVER THE CWA TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
WIDELY SCT-SCT CONVECTION WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE DUE TO THE PROXIMITY OF
THE FRNT TONIGHT...HOWEVER...GRIDDED DATA IS SHOWING THE POTENTIAL OF
WIDESPREAD CONVECTION FOR WEDNESDAY. DECENT LO LVL CONVERGENCE ALONG
FRNT...HIGH CAPES/INSTABILITY/AND PRESENCE OF MODERATLY-STG UPPER DIV
OVER THE AREA DUE TO LOCATION OF RIGHT REAR QUAD OVER THE AREA SUGGEST
LIKELY CHCS OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING.

PWS ARE PROGGD TO BE AROUND 1.5-1.6 INCHES AND 850 MB DEWPOINTS OF 15
DEGREES...SO ABUNDANT MOISTURE FOR TORRENTIAL RAINS WITH THE STORMS
WEDNESDAY. ALSO...STORM MOTION WILL BE PARRALLEL TO FRONT WHICH WILL
GIVE THE THREAT FOR TRAINING OF CELLS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING.
AGAIN SVR WEATHER WILL ONCE AGAIN BE A CONCERN FOR WEDNESDAY GIVEN THE
EXPECTED HIGH CAPES AND WATER LOADING OF THE STORMS PRODUCING DAMAGING
WINDS AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL. WOULD SUGGEST GOING ABOVE GUIDANCE POPS
FOR WEDNESDAY. LATER SHIFTS WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR THIS POTENTIAL.

AS FOR TEMPS WOULD RECOMMEND FOLLOWING THE FWC NOS...

DH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 4:54 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXFentress, Morgan66 min
Jun 2, 4:57 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXJefferson, Knox, Sevier63 min
Jun 2, 5:18 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Scott62 min
Jun 2, 5:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton63 min
Jun 2, 5:58 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount, Knox, Sevier62 min
Jun 2, 6:02 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXAnderson, Knox3 hr
Jun 2, 6:05 AM EDTTornado WarningMRXBlount50 min
Jun 2, 6:08 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley62 min
Jun 2, 7:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe47 min
Jun 2, 7:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Knox64 min
Jun 2, 7:18 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene, Washington62 min
Jun 2, 7:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount, Loudon49 min
Jun 2, 8:14 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount, Loudon66 min
Jun 2, 7:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXJohnson30 min
Jun 2, 7:23 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXJohnson32 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.