Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Nashville, TN

May 23, 1999DeKalb County, Putnam County, Smith County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1999, 5:50 PM CDT for DeKalb County, Putnam County, Smith County, Tennessee. It was in force for 40 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: May 23, 1999, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1999, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Nashville, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties DeKalb County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Smith County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:53 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 23, 6:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Silver Pt, TN	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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 23, 12:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 75 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 922 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 109 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.

999 
WFUS54 KOHX 232251 RRA
TORBNA
TNC041-141-159-232330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
550 PM CDT SUN MAY 23 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN DEKALB COUNTY IN TENNESSEE
  WESTERN PUTNAM COUNTY IN TENNESSEE
  SOUTHERN SMITH COUNTY IN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 548 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GORDONSVILLE...
  OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CARTHAGE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  5 MILES SOUTH OF BAXTER AT 620 PM CDT
  8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COOKEVILLE AT 635 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
$$

08

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 1:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Rutherford	65 min
May 23, 1:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Coffee, Franklin	28 min
May 23, 2:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Wilson	50 min
May 23, 2:43 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OHX	Grundy	4 hr
May 23, 4:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Trousdale, Wilson	27 min
May 23, 5:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Smith, Wilson	35 min
May 23, 5:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Putnam, Smith	35 min

Nearby

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