Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1999, 6:08 PM CST for Madison County, Tennessee. It was in force for 47 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
- Jan 17, 1999, 6:08 PM CST (00:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 17, 1999, 6:55 PM CST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Madison County, TN
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 6:25 PM CST | Tornado F3 | Mercer, TN | The tornado started southeast of Eurekaton in Haywood County and travelled northeast crossing into Madison County eventually reaching the north part of the city of Jackson. In Haywood county, seven houses, five mobile homes, five barns and seven sheds were des |
| Jan 17, 6:25 PM CST | Tornado F4 | Bemis, TN | The tornado developed just east of Bemis and tracked northeast across the southern part of the city of Jackson. A shopping center suffered severe damage while a nearby funeral home was demolished except for the interior rooms. More than 200 homes were obliter |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 133 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2449 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KMEM 180007 RRA TORMEM TNC113-180055- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 608 PM CST SUN JAN 17 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MADISON COUNTY IN WESTERN TENNESSEE * UNTIL 655 PM CST * AT 607 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST NORTH OF MERCER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... JACKSON BY 630 PM CST .THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY... PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY 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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jan 17, 2:00 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017- 020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-180300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 200 PM CST SUN JAN 17 1999 THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE..INCLUDING NORTHEAST ARKANSAS..THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL..WEST TENNESSEE..AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI. RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INCREASED IN THE MIDSOUTH. MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS NOW CENTERED OVER MEMPHIS TENNESSEE..WITH THIS RISK EXTENDING OUT AROUND 75 MILES. A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXITS FOR THE REST OF THE MIDSOUTH. AN AREA OF STORMS IS DEVELOPING FROM NORTH CENTRAL TO SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS. THESE STORMS WILL INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE EAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VERY STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ARE FILLING THE ATMOSPHERE WITH INCREASINGLY MOIST UNSTABLE AIR. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL UNTIL A COLD FROM PASSES THIS EVENING. STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERCIAL RADIO..TV AND CABLE TELEVISION OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 6:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Fayette | 64 min |
| Jan 17, 6:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Crockett, Gibson | 36 min |
| Jan 17, 6:17 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Weakley | 48 min |
| Jan 17, 6:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 47 min |
| Jan 17, 6:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Carroll, Henry | 49 min |
| Jan 17, 6:33 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Fayette | 37 min |
| Jan 17, 6:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Henderson | 50 min |
| Jan 17, 6:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Carroll | 47 min |
| Jan 17, 6:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chester | 35 min |
| Jan 17, 6:43 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 47 min |
| Jan 17, 6:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 50 min |
| Jan 17, 6:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | McNairy | 62 min |
| Jan 17, 7:01 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Chester, McNairy | 49 min |
| Jan 17, 7:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardin | 62 min |
| Jan 17, 7:38 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Hardeman, McNairy | 3 hr |
| Jan 17, 7:38 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Fayette | 3 hr |
| Jan 17, 7:48 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Hardin | 47 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.