Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Memphis, TN

February 18, 2000Shelby County, Tennessee; DeSoto County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Feb 18, 2000, 3:24 PM CST for Shelby County, Tennessee; DeSoto County, Mississippi. It was in force for 46 min. 3 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: Feb 18, 2000, 3:24 PM CST (21:24 UTC)
Expired: Feb 18, 2000, 4:10 PM CST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties DeSoto County, MS, Shelby County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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
Feb 18, 3:30 PM CST	Hail 0.75	South Haven, MS
Feb 18, 3:30 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Whitehaven, TN
Feb 18, 3:48 PM CST	Hail 0.88	Memphis, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 18, 2:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 22 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: 84 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -282 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 693 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 519 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 495 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 182123
TORMEM
MSC033-TNC157-182210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
324 PM CST FRI FEB 18 2000


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN DE SOTO COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI
  SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 410 PM CST

* AT 322 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR LAKE
CORMORANT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  WALLS AROUND 335 PM
  SOUTHHAVEN AROUND 340 PM
  WHITEHAVEN AROUND 340 PM
  OLIVE BRANCH AROUND 350 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 18, 3:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	49 min
Feb 18, 4:02 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Fayette, Shelby	58 min
Feb 18, 4:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Weakley	35 min
Feb 18, 4:54 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Hardeman	61 min
Feb 18, 5:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Henry	48 min
Feb 18, 5:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	McNairy	48 min
Feb 18, 4:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto	50 min
Feb 18, 4:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Tallahatchie	56 min
Feb 18, 4:59 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Marshall	66 min
Feb 18, 5:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Yalobusha	33 min
Feb 18, 5:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun	50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 2000 Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.