Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 340

May 31, 200145 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 31, 2001, 6:00 PM CDT for 45 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 31, 2001, 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2001, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 45 counties

Bedford County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Cannon County, TN, Cheatham County, TN, Clay County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Davidson County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Giles County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Hickman County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Macon County, TN, Marion County, TN, Marshall County, TN, Maury County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Moore County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Robertson County, TN, Rutherford County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Smith County, TN, Sumner County, TN, Trousdale County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, Wayne County, TN, White County, TN, Williamson County, TN, Wilson County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 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.

Warnings issued inside it

3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 6:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Cheatham, Robertson	46 min
May 31, 7:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OHX	Robertson	37 min
May 31, 7:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OHX	Cannon, Wilson	33 min

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 52 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -217 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 843 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 237 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.

000 
WWUS9 KMKC 312259
SEL0  

SEL0  
MKC WW 312253
TNZ000-010300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 340
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
553 PM CDT THU MAY 31 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   MIDDLE AND EASTERN TENNESSEE                          

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 600 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 60
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES SOUTH OF NASHVILLE TENNESSEE
TO 50 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF CROSSVILLE TENNESSEE.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 337...WW 338...WW 339...

DISCUSSION...MIDDLE TN MESOSYSTEM IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN AREA OF
WEAK SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS AND WILL ENCOUNTER MODERATELY UNSTABLE
BOUNDARY LAYER AIR /SBCAPE TO 1500 J/KG/ AS IT CONTINUES EWD THIS
EVENING.  MODERATE /40 KT/ DEEP LAYER SHEAR WITH CONSIDERABLE
VEERING...COUPLED WITH MODERATE LOW LEVEL VEERING /30 KT 0-2 KM
SHEAR/...SUGGESTS LIKELIHOOD FOR A SQUALL LINE WITH EMBEDDED
LEWPS/SMALL SCALE BOWS AND PERHAPS AN ISOLATED TORNADO. 

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1 INCH EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFAWCE WIND GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. 
A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM MOTION
VECTOR 25030.

...CORFIDI

;363,0835 350,0851 350,0881 363,0865;

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2001

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.