Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 68, NWS Memphis, TN

December 18, 2002Shelby County, Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Dec 18, 2002, 10:39 PM CST for Shelby County, Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 18, 2002, 10:39 PM CST (04:39 UTC)
Expired: Dec 19, 2002, 1:30 AM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:39 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 57 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: 605 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -27 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 
WGUS54 KMEG 190439
FFWMEM
TNC157-167-190730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1038 PM CST WED DEC 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SHELBY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE
  TIPTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 130 AM CST.

* AT 1035 PM CST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING 
INTO EXTREME SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE. RAINFALL TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO 
REACH 2 TO 3 INCHES WITHIN THE NEXT 3 HOURS.

* CITIES AFFECTED THROUGH 130 AM CST INCLUDE...
 
MEMPHIS...MUNFORD...MILLINGTON...FRAYSER...DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS...
DIXONVILLE...BRIGHTON...

.EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...EXCESSIVE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND
UNDERPASSES...AS WELL AS OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING
SPOTS.

.BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...
ACT QUICKLY.

.STAY TUNED TO THIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES AND INFORMATION. TO REPORT FLOODING ONLY...CALL 1 800 4 3 2 0
8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3553 8965 3504 8969 3500 9013 3555 8997

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 18, 10:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	59 min
Dec 19, 9:56 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Chester, Crockett, Fayette, Hardeman, Haywood, Henderson and 2 more	3 hr
Dec 19, 10:25 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Carroll, Decatur, Gibson	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

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.