Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 233, NWS Morristown, TN

August 26, 2002Cocke County, Greene County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 2002, 5:13 PM EDT for Cocke County, Greene County, Tennessee. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 26, 2002, 5:13 PM EDT (21:13 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 2002, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Cocke County, TN, Greene County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:15 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 277 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 484 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
484 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 26, 3:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 3:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
335 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

THE FOLLOWING ARE ALL THE FORECAST DISCUSSIONS FROM THE PAST 24
HOURS...WITH THE MOST RECENT ON TOP. THIS PROVIDES A HISTORY OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CURRENT FORECAST.
********************************************************************
AFTERNOON FORECAST DISCUSSION
335 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

MODELS AGREE ON UPPER LOW TRACK.  WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA THROUGH SATURDAY.  WILL SEE NEAR NORMAL
TEMPERATURES THROUGH THIS PERIOD.  IT IS DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN THE
TIMING FOR THE MAIN AREAS OF PRECIPITATION THAT WE EXPECT OVER THE
NEXT 48 HOURS.  MUST ADMIT THAT THE EXACT LOCATIONS OF THE
CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OVER THAT LAST 24 HOURS WERE NOT NAILED IN
ADVANCE.  THE ENTIRE AREA IS UNSTABLE...AND THE TRIGGERING
MECHANISMS RANGE FROM OROGRAPHY TO OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES TO SUNNY
SPOTS THAT OCCUR IN AREAS THAT DIDNT HAPPEN TO GET OVERNIGHT
CONVECTION.  IN THIS SCENARIO...PRECISION IS TRICKY.  HAVE GENERALLY
TRENDED WITH THE HIGHER POPS TO THE NORTH BASED ON UPSLOPE AND LOW
LEVEL CONVERGENCE SIGNATURES IN MOST MODEL DATA...BUT AM SURE WILL
SEE MORE COVERAGE IN SOME OTHER AREA SOMETIME DURING THE FORECAST
PERIOD.

CHA   67  86  67  85 /  20  40  30  40
TYS   66  84  66  82 /  30  50  40  50
TRI   65  80  65  79 /  40  60  50  50
OQT   65  84  65  82 /  30  50  40  50

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...NONE.
VA...NONE.

PARKER

*********************************************************************
MORNING FORECAST DISCUSSION
957 AM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

FORECAST CALLS FOR MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES...WHICH SHOULD MATERIALIZE IN
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AS THE SUN WARMS THE WET GROUND AND CU POPS
UP EVERYWHERE.  STILL FEEL POPS ARE WARRANTED AND CHANCES BEST IN
THE NORTH...SO NO UPDATE PLANNED AT THIS TIME.  WILL MONITOR TEMPS
AND ISSUE LATER UPDATE IF MAXES WILL NOT BE REACHED.

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...NONE.
VA...NONE.

29

*********************************************************************
EARLY MORNING FORECAST DISCUSSION
310 AM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

MODELS CONTINUE TO PROJECT AN UPPER LOW TO DEVELOP AND REMAIN
ESSENTIALLY STATIONARY OVER THE KY/TN REGION THROUGH MID WEEK. THIS
FEATURE WILL INDUCE UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS.
AXIS OF BEST MOISTURE WILL REMAIN EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA AND AS
SUCH THE BEST COVERAGE OF PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO BE IN OUR
NORTHEASTERN ZONES...WITH A GRADUAL GRADATION TO LOWER POPS IN THE
SOUTHWESTERN ZONES. THE UPPER LOW IS PROJECTED TO DRIFT SOUTH THROUGH
THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK BUT OUR FORECAST AREA WILL BE LEFT IN A MOIST
REGIME AS ITS LEGACY.

MORE CLIMATOLOGICALLY SEASONAL TEMPS ARE ALSO IN STORE AS A
RESULT OF MORE CLOUD COVER AND LOWERING HEIGHTS ASSOCIATED WITH
UPPER LOW. GUIDANCE TEMPS GENERALLY AGREE AND APPEAR REASONABLE.
FOLLOWED THOSE NUMBERS CLOSELY FOR THE MOST PART.

PRELIMINARY TEMPS AND POPS FOLLOW FOR COORDINATION:

CHA   89  69  88  68 /  40  30  40  30
TYS   85  66  84  65 /  50  40  50  40
TRI   79  63  79  62 /  70  50  60  50
OQT   85  65  84  65 /  40  30  50  40

LCM

********************************************************************
EVENING FORECAST DISCUSSION (UPDATE)
845 PM EDT SUN AUG 25 2002

ONGOING SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE PAST MIDNIGHT AND WITH LIS FORECAST
TO STAY NEGATIVE ALL NIGHT AND MULTIPLE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES TO WORK
FROM REDEVELOPMENT IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION.  WITH THIS IN
MIND...NO CHANGES PLANNED TO THE CURRENT FORECAST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 6:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion26 min
Aug 26, 6:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion31 min
Aug 26, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton31 min
Aug 26, 7:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton16 min
Aug 26, 7:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 2002Every severe thunderstorm 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.