Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 410

May 17, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 17, 2003, 5:40 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2003, 5:40 PM EDT (21:40 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2003, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 52 counties

Bell County, KY, Clay County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Knox County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Buncombe County, NC, Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Carter County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Polk County, TN, Roane County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Union County, TN, Washington County, TN, City of Bristol, VA, City of Norton, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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.

Warnings issued inside it

6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGrainger61 min
May 17, 6:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen, Jefferson61 min
May 17, 6:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBell, Knox45 min
May 17, 6:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins62 min
May 17, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLHarlan, Leslie57 min
May 17, 7:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLKnott, Letcher62 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 257 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 2003-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
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

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 2:14 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Clinton, Knox, McCreary, Wayne, Whitley91 min
May 17, 2:30 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Anderson, Barren, Bell, Boyle, Breathitt and 46 more6 hr
May 17, 12:50 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham5 hr
May 16, 9:38 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrockett, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Haywood, Lauderdale and 3 more97 min
May 16, 10:35 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCChester, Crockett, Decatur, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin and 7 more6 hr
May 17, 12:41 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Coffee, Decatur, Franklin, Giles, Hardin and 10 more94 min
May 17, 1:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBedford, Cannon, Coffee, Decatur, Franklin, Giles and 12 more4 hr
May 17, 3:37 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Lawrence and 6 more53 min
May 17, 6:42 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChester, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, McNairy63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.