Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 61, NWS Morristown, TN

June 3, 1998Carter County, Johnson County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1998, 8:02 PM EDT for Carter County, Johnson County, Tennessee. It was in force for 63 min. 4 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 3, 1998, 8:02 PM EDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1998, 9:05 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carter County, TN, Johnson County, TN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 3, 8:15 PM EDTTornado F0Buladeen, TN
Jun 3, 8:17 PM EDTThunderstorm WindShady Vly, TN
Jun 3, 8:20 PM EDTTornado F1Doeville, TN
Jun 3, 8:49 PM EDTHail 1Elizabethton, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 3, 3:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Jun 3, 5:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 1998-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1245 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1998-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 146 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
1245 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

297 
WFUS01 KMRX 040004 RRA
TORMRX
TNC019-091-171-179-040105-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
802 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CARTER COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE
  JOHNSON COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE
  UNICOI COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 905 PM EDT

* AT 800 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING FROM SURGOINSVILLE TN
  TO DAMASCUS VA... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MOUNTAIN CITY AT 810 PM EDT
  ELIZABETHTON AT 815 PM EDT
  JOHNSON CITY AT 815 PM EDT
  ERWIN AT 820 PM EDT

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

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 3, 8:00 PM EDT, 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 8:00 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
800 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1998

A LITTLE BUSY WITH TORNADO WARNINGS AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  SUFFICE
IT TO SAY THAT THE MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT THAT SFC BOUNDARY WILL
HANG AROUND UFN WITH SHORTWAVES LIFTING OUT OF SW UPR LOW.  PW'S IN THE
THE 1.6 TO 1.8 RANGE THU AND FRI AS FOCUS BECOME HEAVY RAIN/FF THREAT.

THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS LOOKS LIKE UNSETTLED PERIODS INBETWEEN THE OUTBREAKS
OF SEVERE/HAZARDOUS WEATHER.

FORECASTS LOOK FINE...AS LONG AS PCPN IS LIKELY THU INTO FRI WITH MENTION
OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH PERIOD.  BELV WILL NEED FFA ON THU...BUT SUGGEST
WAITING FOR LATER SHIFT TO DO THAT.

ALREADY SFC MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE IN SE MO IS INCREASING RAPIDLY ALONG
FRONT...IN PREPARATION FOR NEXT SHORT WAVE TO BRING IT THIS WAY.
BOYD...MRX

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 3, 2:35 PM EDT, 5 hours 27 minutes before
TNZ012>018-035>047-066>074-VAZ001-002-005-006-008-040140-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
234 PM EDT (134 PM CDT) WED JUN 3 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND
PLATEAU..NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA THE REMAINDER OF
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING...

A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDS EAST TO WEST ALONG THE BORDER OF
TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY. A DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ALONG THIS FRONT
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE AIRMASS IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT
IS VERY UNSTABLE. THE DISTURBANCE IS TRIGGERING THUNDERSTORMS IN
KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE EAST
SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING INTO THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND
PLATEAU..NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

DUE TO THE INSTABLILITY..SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE.
THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FROM DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS ANY STORM THAT PRODUCES HAIL 3/4
INCH (DIME-SIZE) OR LARGER..AND/OR WINDS OF 58 MPH OR HIGHER.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING..AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

HSA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 8:02 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXUnicoi, Washington63 min
Jun 3, 8:37 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter, Johnson2 hr
Jun 4, 10:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXJohnson, Sullivan60 min
Jun 4, 1:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton45 min
Jun 4, 2:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXJohnson, Sullivan6 hr
Jun 4, 2:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter, Washington6 hr
Jun 4, 2:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXHawkins6 hr

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.