Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Mobile, AL

July 5, 1994Coffee County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1994, 2:33 PM CDT for Coffee County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 5, 1994, 2:33 PM CDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1994, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Coffee County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1994-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1485 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1994-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1485 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 051936
TORMGM
ALC031-052030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
233 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
 
   ...COFFEE COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED A TORNADO OVER NORTHERN COFFEE
COUNTY...15 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELBA. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 15
MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 5, 1:41 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
FLZ001>010-012-051930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
135 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHERN ESCAMBIA AND
SANT ROSA COUNTIES...

AT 130 PM...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES. THESE STORMS ARE DUMPING
RAIN AT RATES HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE STANDING WATER IN LOCATIONS
SUFFERING FROM POOR DRAINAGE. THE COMMUNITES OF MOLINO AND MCDAVID AND
PARTS OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY NEAR THERE WILL EXPERIENCE SOME FLOODING OF
LOW AREAS...DITCHES...AND VERY SMALL STREAMS FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
SOUxTH ALABAMA...THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...AND THE GULF UP TO 125
MILES OFFSHORE.

MOVEMENTS WERE TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 1:43 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
FLZ001>010-012-051930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
135 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHERN ESCAMBIA AND
SANTA ROSA COUNTIES...

AT 130 PM...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES. THESE STORMS ARE DUMPING
RAIN AT RATES HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE STANDING WATER IN LOCATIONS
SUFFERING FROM POOR DRAINAGE. THE COMMUNITES OF MOLINO AND MCDAVID AND
PARTS OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY NEAR THERE WILL EXPERIENCE SOME FLOODING OF
LOW AREAS...DITCHES...AND VERY SMALL STREAMS FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...|
SOUTH ALABAMA...THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...AND THE GULF UP TO 125
MILES OFFSHORE.

MOVEMENTS WERE TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 1:56 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
FLZ001>010-012-051930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
135 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHERN ESCAMBIA AND
SANTA ROSA COUNTIES...

AT 130 PM...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES. THESE STORMS ARE DUMPING
RAIN AT RATES HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE STANDING WATER IN LOCATIONS
SUFFERING FROM POOR DRAINAGE. THE COMMUNITES OF MOLINO AND MCDAVID AND
PARTS OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY NEAR THERE WILL EXPERIENCE SOME FLOODING OF
LOW AREAS...DITCHES...AND VERY SMALL STREAMS FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
SOUTH ALABAMA...THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...AND THE GULF UP TO 125
MILES OFFSHORE.

MOVEMENTS WERE TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 5, 9:26 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin34 min
Jul 5, 2:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPike55 min
Jul 5, 3:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin, Escambia58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.