1998 Nashville Tornado Outbreak - Meteorological Synopsis

Meteorological Synopsis

One week after the Birmingham Tornado Outbreak took place across Alabama and Georgia on April 8–9, 1998 and several other states on April 7, a similar pattern developed across the Midwest and southeastern United States starting on April 15, 1998. A very strong low pressure system developed across the central part of North America and was associated with a long cold front. Ahead of the storm, the warm moist air generated from the Gulf of Mexico increased the likelihood for a significant weather event. On April 15, activity developed across the Mid-Mississippi Valley and southern Ohio Valley where several tornadoes touched down in Illinois starting in the late afternoon before moving in Arkansas during the overnight hours where the first fatalities were reported.

On April 16, as the main low pressure system was near the Great Lakes and its cold front crossing the Mississippi River, dew points reached the mid to upper 60s across the Tennessee Valley while later in the day, CAPE values reached 1600 J/kg while dry air intrusion was also on the rise increasing the threat of severe weather across the area. As the bulk of the supercells moved out of Arkansas, the tornadic activity was slower during the morning hours before re-intensifying west of Nashville early in the afternoon. Major tornadoes struck from southern Tennessee to southern Kentucky with additional storms as far north as Michigan and several other storms in Alabama across Walker and Cullman Counties, which was slightly north of the areas that were hardest hit by the previous outbreak.