Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Mobile, AL

October 4, 1995Covington County, Escambia County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1995, 6:23 PM CDT for Covington County, Escambia County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Oct 4, 1995, 6:23 PM CDT (23:23 UTC)
Expired: Oct 4, 1995, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Covington County, AL, Escambia County, AL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 4, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	East, AL	Several short lived tornadoes were reported in the east part of the county near the center of Opal. Tornadoes briefly touched down in the Damascus area, in the Bradley area and along U.S. Highway 31 north of Brewton. Trees and power lines were blown down in
Oct 4, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Andalusia, AL	A tornado briefly touched down along U.S. Highway 29 between Pleasant Home and Andalusia. Several trees and power lines were blown down.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 222 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 536 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 78 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 KMOB 042324
TORMOB
ALC039-053-050030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
623 PM CDT WED OCT 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...COVINGTON COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...ESCAMBIA COUNTY
 
AT 620 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED TORNADO PRODUCING
THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN ESCAMBIA AND COVINGTON
COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AT 30 MPH. THESE TORNADOES ARE ASSOCIATED
WITH THE EYEWALL THUNDERSTORMS OF OPAL AND MAY BE MULTIPLE BUT
SHORT-LIVED. RESIDENTS OF BREWTON AND ANDALUSIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
THROUGH 730 PM.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  >AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 4, 9:52 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Covington	53 min
Oct 4, 12:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	60 min
Oct 4, 1:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Covington	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes in 1995

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.