Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS New Orleans, LA

April 14, 1996Harrison County, Mississippi

NWS New Orleans, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 14, 1996, 2:38 PM CDT for Harrison County, Mississippi. It was in force for 52 min. 3 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 14, 1996, 2:38 PM CDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired: Apr 14, 1996, 3:30 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS New Orleans, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Harrison County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:38 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
Apr 14, 2:45 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Gulfport, MS
Apr 14, 3:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Pass Christian, MS
Apr 14, 3:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Long Beach, MS

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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 62 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: 1765 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 525 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 23 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 KNEW 141940
TORNEW
MSC047-142030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
238 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR RESIDENTS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...HARRISON COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA.
 
AT 235 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING A
POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHWEST HARRISON COUNTY...NEAR THE TOWN OF DE
LISLE.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE GULFPORT...BILOXI AND LYMAN.
 
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, Apr 14, 10:05 AM CDT, 4 hours 33 minutes before

LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-150010-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE
1000 AM CDT SUN APR 14 1996

...THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH
MISSISSIPPI...

AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WAS CENTERED OVER WEST KANSAS THIS SUNDAY
MORNING. ENERGY WAS BEING EJECTED EASTWARD FROM THIS SYSTEM INTO THE
WEST GULF STATES. THE AIRMASS ACROSS LOUISIANA HAS BECOME QUITE
UNSTABLE. WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO RISE INTO THE 80S THIS
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME ABUNDANT AND WITH FURY.

THE MAIN THREAT THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHTLINE WINDS THAT MAY EXCEED 80 MPH. THE AIRMASS IS ALSO
FAVORABLE FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.  LOCAL TECHNIQUES SUGGEST THAT 2
TO 4 INCHES OF RAINFALL MAY BE COMMON AND RATHER WIDESPREAD WITH
LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS TO EIGHT INCHES POSSIBLE.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS WEATHER DAY. RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO LOCAL TV AND RADIO OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. BE READY TO REACT IF A WARNING
IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PERSONNEL SHOULD ACTIVATE
STORM SPOTTERS THIS AFTERNOON AND HAVE OPERATION CENTERS MANNED UNTIL
THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IS DIMINIHED LATER THIS EVENING.

Local storm report, Apr 14, 11:13 AM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1108 AM CDT SUN APR 14 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION......STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION.....

1100 AM    PAINCOURTVILLE            LA   1.75 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
04/14/96   ASSUMPTION                     REPORTED BY ASSUMPTION
                                          S.O. KLIX 88D VIL 65
                                          KG/M2 THIS CELL.

24

Local storm report, Apr 14, 1:33 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
128 PM CDT SUN APR  14 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION......STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION.....

1135 AM    GRAMERCY                  LA   .75 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
04/14/96   ST. JAMES                      REPORTED BY ST. JAMES
                                          SHERIFF'S OFFICE. ALSO IN
                                          CONVENT.

1200 PM    NORCO                     LA   1 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
04/14/96   ST. CHARLES                    REPORTED BY ST CHARLES
                                          EOC.

1205 PM    LAPLACE                   LA   1 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
04/14/96   ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST           DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY C.D.

0106 PM    NEW ORLEANS EAST          LA   .75 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
04/14/96   ORLEANS                        REPORTED BY OFF DUTY NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE.

24

The office that day

Everything else NWS New Orleans, LA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 14, 1:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Hancock	54 min
Apr 14, 2:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Harrison	71 min
Apr 14, 2:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Amite, Wilkinson	50 min
Apr 14, 3:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Jackson	61 min
Apr 14, 3:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Pike	47 min
Apr 14, 3:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Wilkinson	54 min
Apr 14, 4:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Jackson	44 min
Apr 14, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Amite	47 min
Apr 14, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Amite, Pike	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.