Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Morristown, TN

May 15, 2003Knox County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2003, 5:23 PM EDT for Knox County, Tennessee. It was in force for 37 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 15, 2003, 5:23 PM EDT (21:23 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2003, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Knox County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:25 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 239 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 2003-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 663 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 2003-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
663 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

289 
WFUS54 KMRX 152123
TORMRX
TNC093-152200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
523 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 520 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR LAKE FOREST...OR
  5 MILES SOUTH OF KNOXVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS UP TO 90
MPH...AND GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL OR LARGER.

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.

LAT...LON 3619 8394 3593 8425 3579 8413 3590 8379
          3603 8365

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 3:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan, Scott49 min
May 15, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan, Scott45 min
May 15, 3:47 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXMorgan, Scott28 min
May 15, 3:54 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXAnderson66 min
May 15, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Knox43 min
May 15, 4:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox42 min
May 15, 4:48 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXKnox27 min
May 15, 5:05 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXBlount55 min
May 15, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan43 min
May 15, 5:24 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXSevier51 min
May 15, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXLoudon, Monroe37 min
May 15, 6:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount30 min
May 15, 6:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSevier33 min
May 15, 6:18 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXMonroe42 min
May 15, 6:28 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXBlount32 min
May 15, 6:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXRoane31 min
May 15, 6:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Knox39 min
May 15, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount46 min
May 15, 7:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSevier47 min
May 15, 7:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXLoudon43 min
May 15, 7:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene40 min
May 15, 7:39 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXLoudon36 min
May 15, 7:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount29 min
May 15, 7:49 PM EDTTornado WarningMRXMonroe41 min

Nearby

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