Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 63, NWS Morristown, TN

June 5, 1998Jefferson County, Sevier County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1998, 7:26 PM EDT for Jefferson County, Sevier County, Tennessee. It was in force for 19 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
Jun 5, 1998, 7:26 PM EDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1998, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jefferson County, TN, Sevier County, TN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 5, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindKodak, 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 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 281 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 1998-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -146 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-71 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.

260 
WFUS01 KMRX 052327 RRA
TORMRX
TNC089-155-052345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
726 PM EDT FRI JUN 5 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE
  NORTHERN SEVIER COUNTY IN EASTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT

* AT 726 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR SEVIERVILLE... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  WALNUT GROVE AT 735 PM EDT
  CHESTNUT HILL AT 750 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 5, 3:05 PM EDT, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 3:05 PM EDT, 4 hours 21 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
305 PM EDT FRI JUN 5 1998

SATELLITE DEPICTING THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX IN CENTRAL ALABAMA...AHEAD OF
A SURFACE FRONT EXTENDING FROM EASTERN AR...TO WESTERN TN...OVER
CENTRAL KY...AND INTO CENTRAL NC.  COMPLEX TAKING A NORTHEASTERLY
MOVEMENT WHICH WILL PUT IT IN OUR CWA THIS EVENING.  STILL EXPECTING
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  SUNSHINE WILL CONTINUE
TO DESTABILIZE THE AREA AND MODIFIED 12Z BNA SOUNDING HAD CAPES AROUND
1500 AND LI OF -4.  PROBABLY SHOULD KEEP A LIKELY POP OVER ENTIRE CWA
FOR THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.  WITH THE LOW FFG VALUES OVER MOST OF
OUR COUNTIES AND THE HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER AT BNA...RECOMMEND
EXTENDING THE FFA THROUGH TONIGHT.

MODELS FAIRLY SIMILAR.  COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO BE THROUGH THE CWA BY
SATURDAY MORNING...BUT STILL SOME PVA ASSOCIATE WITH THE TROF WHICH
MAY TRIGGER A FEW SHOWERS ON SATURDAY.  WEAK VERTICAL VELOCITIES WITH
IT...PROBABLY JUST NEED A CHANCE POP.  500MB TROF OVER APPALACHIANS BY
SUNDAY MORNING.  CWA SHOULD BE COOL AND DRY ON SUNDAY.

FAN AND FWC TEMPERATURES VERY CLOSE...PREFER THE COOLER FAN.

GH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 5:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCumberland3 hr
Jun 5, 6:51 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton49 min
Jun 5, 6:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton45 min
Jun 5, 7:38 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBradley, Polk2 hr
Jun 5, 7:38 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXHamilton2 hr
Jun 5, 9:06 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXSevier3 hr
Jun 5, 6:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe34 min
Jun 5, 6:50 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXMonroe3 hr
Jun 5, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox32 min
Jun 5, 7:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGrainger32 min
Jun 5, 7:11 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCumberland3 hr
Jun 5, 7:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen, Jefferson32 min
Jun 5, 7:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSevier19 min
Jun 5, 7:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCocke, Sevier40 min
Jun 5, 7:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene, Hamblen, Hawkins35 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.