Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Memphis, TN

April 20, 2003Fayette County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 2003, 3:38 PM CDT for Fayette County, Tennessee. It was in force for 52 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 20, 2003, 3:38 PM CDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 2003, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fayette County, TN

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 20, 1:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 55 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: 339 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

467 
WFUS54 KMEG 202038
TORMEM
TNC047-202130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
338 PM CDT SUN APR 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  FAYETTE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT.

* AT 331 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF ROSSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 430 PM CDT INCLUDE...
  OAKLAND...
  MOSCOW...
  WILLISTON...
  SOMERVILLE...

.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

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

LAT...LON 3521 8960 3500 8964 3501 8927 3525 8924

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 3:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	40 min
Apr 20, 3:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette	49 min
Apr 20, 3:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Haywood, Lauderdale	62 min
Apr 20, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman	42 min
Apr 20, 4:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crockett, Gibson	38 min
Apr 20, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette	16 min
Apr 20, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Haywood	38 min
Apr 20, 4:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	McNairy	52 min
Apr 20, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Carroll, Weakley	30 min
Apr 20, 5:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardin	38 min
Apr 20, 5:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Henry	26 min
Apr 20, 5:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Carroll	37 min
Apr 20, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tipton	48 min
Apr 20, 6:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lauderdale	23 min
Apr 20, 6:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lauderdale	28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.