Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 119, NWS Memphis, TN

May 5, 1999McNairy County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1999, 7:40 PM CDT for McNairy County, Tennessee. It was in force for 35 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
May 5, 1999, 7:40 PM CDT (00:40 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1999, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County McNairy County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:43 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 5, 7:45 PM CDTThunderstorm WindRamer, TNSome structures were damaged. A few trees and power lines were blown down.
May 5, 8:10 PM CDTThunderstorm WindSelmer, TNMore than 40 homes were damaged and a dozen mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. Several trees were blown down.

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
May 5, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 132 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1999-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 221 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1999-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -29 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
221 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-87 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1264 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KMEM 060039 RRA
TORMEM
TNC109-060115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
740 PM CDT WED MAY 5 1999


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MCNAIRY COUNTY IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 739 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST
  EAST OF RAMER ALONG HIGHWAY 57.  THE STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.


* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  STANTONVILLE BY 750 PM.

.A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:18 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGMadison32 min
May 5, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChester31 min
May 5, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHardin46 min
May 5, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCarroll, Henderson50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.