Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 12, 1996, 8:39 PM CDT for Limestone County, Texas. It was in force for 36 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 12, 1996, 8:39 PM CDT (01:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 12, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Limestone County, TX
The radar
The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Ben Hur, TX | |
| Apr 12, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Prairie Hill, TX | |
| Apr 12, 9:10 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Thornton, TX | |
| Apr 12, 9:10 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Thornton, 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 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 158 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 121 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -333 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 955 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -305 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -269 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFTW 130140 TORFTW TXC293-130215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 839 PM CDT FRI APR 12 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...LIMESTONE COUNTY AT 839 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF BEN HUR. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. 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. r USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 7:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Ellis | 30 min |
| Apr 12, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Navarro | 69 min |
| Apr 12, 7:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone | 58 min |
| Apr 12, 7:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Hopkins | 54 min |
| Apr 12, 7:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Van Zandt | 62 min |
| Apr 12, 7:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | McLennan | 29 min |
| Apr 12, 8:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Henderson | 55 min |
| Apr 12, 8:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Milam | 52 min |
| Apr 12, 8:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Milam | 41 min |
| Apr 12, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Freestone | 65 min |
| Apr 12, 8:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Falls, Limestone | 61 min |
| Apr 12, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Anderson | 48 min |
| Apr 12, 9:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Robertson | 48 min |
| Apr 12, 10:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Robertson | 28 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.