Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 66

March 28, 20215 counties in North Carolina; 20 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 28, 2021, 3:07 AM EDT for 5 counties in North Carolina; 20 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2021, 3:07 AM EDT (07:07 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 2021, 9:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 25 counties

Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Graham County, NC, Macon County, NC, Swain County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, White County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:09 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 5:07 AM EDTFlash Flood Warning Considerable damage threatMRXAnderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Morgan, Scott, Union5 hr
Mar 28, 5:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXAnderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Union17 min
Mar 28, 5:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion47 min
Mar 28, 6:36 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBledsoe, Marion, Rhea, Sequatchie6 hr
Mar 28, 6:40 AM EDTFlash Flood Warning Considerable damage threatMRXAnderson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Union5 hr
Mar 28, 7:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Sequatchie6 hr
Mar 28, 7:49 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXGrainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Sevier5 hr
Mar 28, 7:52 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBradley, Hamilton, Polk5 hr
Mar 28, 8:03 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Monroe, Polk and 1 more4 hr
Mar 28, 8:26 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount, Cocke, Sevier5 hr
Mar 28, 8:47 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCherokee, Clay4 hr

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 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 216 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 00:00Z on 2021-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 200 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 00:00Z on 2021-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 341 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
200 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-290 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
839 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
341 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
458 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

242 
WWUS20 KWNS 280704
SEL6  
SPC WW 280704
NCZ000-TNZ000-281300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 66
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
305 AM EDT Sun Mar 28 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Western North Carolina
  Eastern Tennessee

* Effective this Sunday morning from 305 AM until 900 AM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...A well-organized band of storms will continue eastward
across eastern Tennessee into far western North Carolina through the
early morning. Isolated thunderstorm wind damage can be expected,
and a brief tornado risk cannot be entirely ruled out.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 35
statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles southeast of
Knoxville TN to 40 miles northwest of Chattanooga TN. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 64...WW 65...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few
cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
26035.

...Guyer

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 2:25 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAvery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 7 more2 hr
Mar 28, 12:38 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 19 more3 hr
Mar 28, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Cumberland and 26 more4 hr
Mar 28, 4:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck and 13 more67 min
Mar 27, 9:42 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChester, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, McNairy, Shelby93 min
Mar 27, 10:01 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCChester, Crockett, Decatur, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin and 9 more7 hr
Mar 27, 11:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFayette, Giles, Hardeman, Hardin, Lawrence, McNairy and 1 more90 min
Mar 28, 12:27 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman and 6 more8 hr
Mar 28, 2:57 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Hamilton, Lincoln, Marion93 min
Mar 28, 5:56 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley94 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.