Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Morristown, TN

May 5, 2003Marion County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 7:04 PM CDT for Marion County, Tennessee. It was in force for 41 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: May 5, 2003, 7:04 PM CDT (00:04 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2003, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marion County, TN

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:08 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 124 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: 968 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 289 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 301 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.8
Supercell composite: 7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

427 
WFUS54 KMRX 060004
TORMRX
TNC115-060045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
704 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARION COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT

* AT 653 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  MONTEAGLE...OR 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF WINCHESTER...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MARTIN SPRINGS AROUND 730 PM CDT
  WHITWELL AROUND 735 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IF IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE...LEAVE IT IMMEDIATELY AND GET INSIDE
A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A
SAFE PLACE.

LAT...LON 3538 8594 3521 8599 3504 8547 3524 8541

$$

DH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 7:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Bradley, McMinn, Polk	39 min
May 5, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Monroe	45 min
May 6, 12:00 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MRX	Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Marion, Meigs and 4 more	6 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.