Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Memphis, TN

January 18, 1996DeSoto County, Marshall County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 18, 1996, 8:45 AM CST for DeSoto County, Marshall County, Mississippi. It was in force for 30 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: Jan 18, 1996, 8:45 AM CST (14:45 UTC)
Expired: Jan 18, 1996, 9:15 AM CST
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties DeSoto County, MS, Marshall County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:47 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
Jan 18, 8:50 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	South Haven, MS
Jan 18, 9:05 AM CST	Tornado F0	Byhalia, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -370 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -143 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 KMEM 181505 RRA
SVRMEM
MSC033-093-181515-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
845 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996...CORRECTED FOR TIME AND DATE

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 AM CST
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI

   ...EASTERN DESOTO COUNTY...WESTERN MARSHALL COUNTY

AT 847 AM CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EASTERN
DESOTO COUNTY ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BYHALIA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50
MPH. THE STORM WILL TRACK ACROSS BYHALIA BY 855 AM AND JUST WEST OF MT
PLEASANT BY 900 AM.
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jan 18, 6:16 AM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes before

TNZ001>102-181815-

TENNESSEE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
613 AM CST (713 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED OVER WEST AND SECTIONS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
TODAY...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST TENNESSEE DURING LATE
MORNING..AND IS FORECAST TO REACH THE NASHVILLE AREA TOWARD
EVENING.

NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD FRONT..AND SOME OF
THESE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE..WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.
FOLLOWING FRONTAL PASSAGE..THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ENDS..BUT
BLUSTERY CONDITIONS WILL THEN PREVAIL AS WINDS WILL
REMAIN STRONG AND TEMPERATURES WILL PLUNGE.

IN SUMMARY..PERSONS LIVING OVER WEST AND MIDDLE SECTIONS OF TENNESSEE
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR  SEVERE WEATHER TODAY BY MONITORING NOAA WEATHER
RADIO..OR COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 17, 8:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto, Marshall	30 min
Jan 17, 8:49 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Marshall	26 min
Jan 18, 8:49 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Marshall	26 min
Jan 18, 10:55 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss	35 min
Jan 18, 10:55 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tishomingo	35 min
Jan 18, 11:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Tishomingo	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.