Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Fort Worth, TX

April 21, 1996Jones County, Taylor County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 21, 1996, 3:41 PM CDT for Jones County, Taylor County, Texas. It was in force for 64 min. 4 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
Apr 21, 1996, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1996, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jones County, TX, Taylor County, TX

The radar

The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:45 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 21, 3:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Abilene, TX
Apr 21, 4:00 PM CDTHail 4.5Stamford, TX
Apr 21, 4:03 PM CDTHail 1.75Abilene, TX
Apr 21, 4:30 PM CDTHail 2.75Hawley, TX

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 227 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-04-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 176 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2176 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 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 KABI 212042
TORABI
TXC253-441-212145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABILENE TX
341 PM CDT SUN APR 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABILENE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN JONES COUNTY...NORTHERN TAYLOR COUNTY
 
AT 335 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO BETWEEN MERKEL AND TRENT
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 7:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHenderson68 min
Apr 21, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDThrockmorton46 min
Apr 21, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJones, Taylor58 min
Apr 21, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCallahan, Shackelford67 min
Apr 21, 4:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHaskell59 min
Apr 21, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDThrockmorton61 min
Apr 21, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJones59 min
Apr 21, 4:56 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDShackelford64 min
Apr 21, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHaskell69 min
Apr 21, 5:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDThrockmorton63 min
Apr 21, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDYoung60 min
Apr 21, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDThrockmorton62 min
Apr 21, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack49 min
Apr 21, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDYoung46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.