Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Morristown, TN

May 17, 20035 counties in Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at May 17, 2003, 4:53 PM EDT for 5 counties in 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 17, 2003, 4:53 PM EDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Anderson County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:56 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 201 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: 1273 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 140 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 KMRX 172057
FFWMRX
TNC001-013-129-145-151-180000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
453 PM EDT SAT MAY 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 451 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD
  ALONG THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU. THEY WILL SLIDE EASTWARD FOR THE NEXT
  FEW HOURS. SOME LOCATIONS WILL RECEIVE  HEAVY RAIN FROM DIFFERENT
  STORMS MOVING OVER THE SAME SPOT.

NUMEROUS STREAMS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS. MOUNTAINOUS AREAS
HOLLOWS WITH WATER IN THEM ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS PLACES TO BE. ALSO, 
URBANIZED AREAS WILL FLOOD EASILY.

MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW. IF YOU COME TO A CLOSED OR FLOODED ROAD, 
TURN AROUND DONT DROWN IT IS NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE...OR YOUR CHILDRENS...
TO MAKE A SHORT CUT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS THAT
CARRY WEATHER INFORMATION FOR MORE DETAILS.

LAT...LON 3580 8474 3565 8458 3618 8398 3624 8403
          3640 8398 3641 8393 3656 8401 3657 8474
          3614 8487

$$

BB

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KMRX 172336
FFSMRX
TNC001-013-129-143-145-151-180000-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
734 PM EDT SAT MAY 17 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ROANE...RHEA...ANDERSON...MORGAN...
UNION...CAMPBELL...SCOTT AND MEIGS COUNTIES HAS BEEN CANCELED...

AT 734 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE
RAINFALL HAS ENDED OR DECREASED ACROSS THE WARNED AREA...AND THE FLOOD 
THREAT WAS DIMINISHING. SOME VERY MINOR FLOODING OCCURRED IN VARIOUS 
LOCATIONS...BUT THE THREAT OF SERIOUS FLOODING HAS ENDED. THEREFORE 
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS STILL IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM.

IF YOU SEE WATER OVER A ROAD...OR A ROAD IS CLOSED...TURN AROUND DONT
DROWN ITS NOT WORTH RISKING. THE ROAD MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY BE THERE UNDER
THE WATER.

LAT...LON 3657 8402 3619 8398 3569 8457 3576 8467
          3545 8502 3552 8510 3576 8488 3658 8471

$$

BB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 12:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Blount	41 min
May 17, 3:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Bledsoe	41 min
May 17, 3:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Morgan	63 min
May 17, 3:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hamilton, Meigs, Rhea	61 min
May 17, 3:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott	63 min
May 17, 4:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Roane	57 min
May 17, 4:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Bradley, McMinn	55 min
May 17, 4:30 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MRX	Rhea	4 hr
May 17, 4:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Meigs	13 min
May 17, 4:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Anderson, Campbell	58 min
May 17, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Morgan	40 min
May 17, 4:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Jefferson	47 min
May 17, 5:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Loudon	56 min
May 17, 5:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Knox	64 min
May 17, 5:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Claiborne, Union	67 min
May 17, 5:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Grainger	61 min
May 17, 6:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hamblen, Jefferson	61 min
May 17, 6:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hancock, Hawkins	62 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 2003 Every 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.