Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Fort Worth, TX

April 12, 1996Tarrant County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 12, 1996, 4:39 PM CDT for Tarrant County, Texas. It was in force for 36 min. 5 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 12, 1996, 4:39 PM CDT (21:39 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 1996, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Tarrant County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:40 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 12, 4:44 PM CDTHail 1.5White Settlement, TX
Apr 12, 4:48 PM CDTHail 1.75Keller, TX
Apr 12, 5:11 PM CDTHail 0.75Ft Worth, TX
Apr 12, 5:13 PM CDTHail 0.88Ft Worth, TX
Apr 12, 5:15 PM CDTHail 1.25Arlington, 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 7 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1074 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-04-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 198 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
1074 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 122139
TORFTW
TXC439-122215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
439 PM CDT FRI APR 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...TARRANT COUNTY
 
AT 439 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR SAGINAW IN
NORTHERN TARRANT COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. KELLER IS IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM.
 
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 Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 12, 9:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDThrockmorton54 min
Apr 12, 9:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDYoung65 min
Apr 12, 10:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack47 min
Apr 12, 11:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker, Tarrant67 min
Apr 12, 11:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMontague, Wise56 min
Apr 12, 11:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDenton65 min
Apr 12, 12:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin68 min
Apr 12, 12:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMontague47 min
Apr 12, 12:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDYoung43 min
Apr 12, 12:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack61 min
Apr 12, 12:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFannin63 min
Apr 12, 1:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin53 min
Apr 12, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLamar48 min
Apr 12, 1:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMontague46 min
Apr 12, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDPalo Pinto62 min
Apr 12, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDWise62 min
Apr 12, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCooke61 min
Apr 12, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker62 min
Apr 12, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDTarrant57 min
Apr 12, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker32 min
Apr 12, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDenton66 min
Apr 12, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas, Tarrant61 min
Apr 12, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJohnson60 min
Apr 12, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin67 min
Apr 12, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas63 min
Apr 12, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis57 min
Apr 12, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDRockwall31 min
Apr 12, 6:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill67 min
Apr 12, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDKaufman62 min
Apr 12, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan53 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.