Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Morristown, TN

May 5, 2003Morgan County, Roane County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at May 5, 2003, 6:23 PM EDT for Morgan County, Roane 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
May 5, 2003, 6:23 PM EDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2003, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Morgan County, TN, Roane County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 616 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 575 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
616 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-70 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
622 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
575 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
604 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
12.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KMRX 052228
FFWMRX
TNC129-145-060130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
623 PM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MORGAN COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE
  ROANE COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT

* AT 618 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING EAST       
  AROUND 50 MPH ACROSS MORGAN AND ROANE COUNTIES. THIS AREA OF       
  THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FARTHER WEST INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE...WITH    
  HEAVY RAIN LIKELY TO CONTINUE ACROSS THESE COUNTIES FOR THE NEXT   
  FEW HOURS.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
  BRADBURY...DEARMOND...KINGSTON...HARRIMAN...OAKDALE...FAIRVIEW...
  PETROS...PAINT ROCK...PINE ORCHARD...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR HAS ESTIMATED THAT UP TO AN 
INCH OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN OVER THE PAST HOUR. AN ADDITIONAL 
TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT TWO TO 
THREE HOURS.

AT 623 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED SOME FLOODING OF LOW 
LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO
ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3615 8488 3568 8458 3592 8425 3623 8454

$$

DMG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 5:27 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan48 min
May 5, 5:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Sequatchie44 min
May 5, 5:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan42 min
May 5, 5:44 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion46 min
May 5, 5:58 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton, Meigs, Rhea47 min
May 5, 6:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion14 min
May 5, 6:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton30 min
May 5, 8:32 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan43 min
May 5, 9:10 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion, Sequatchie35 min
May 5, 9:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Hamilton, Rhea19 min
May 5, 9:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMeigs24 min
May 5, 9:44 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton, McMinn31 min
May 5, 9:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion41 min
May 5, 10:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe40 min
May 5, 2:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion, Sequatchie26 min
May 5, 2:35 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXSequatchie25 min
May 5, 2:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamilton32 min
May 5, 3:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley35 min
May 5, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMcMinn, Polk35 min
May 5, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Rhea56 min
May 5, 6:38 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXAnderson, Blount, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Sevier3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 2003Every flash flood warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.