Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Memphis, TN

January 17, 1996Marshall County, Mississippi; Fayette County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1996, 8:49 PM CST for Marshall County, Mississippi; Fayette County, Tennessee. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 17, 1996, 8:49 PM CST (02:49 UTC)
Expired
Jan 17, 1996, 9:15 PM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Marshall County, MS, Fayette County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:51 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 48 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1996-01-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1996-01-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 267 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1126 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
437 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Jan 17, 2:54 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes before
TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-180445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
255 PM CST WED JAN 17 1996

...BIG WEATHER CHANGES COMING FOR WEST TENNESSEE LATE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL BRING A
WIDE VARIETY OF WEATHER TO WEST TENNESSEE LATER TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.
THIS WILL INCLUDE THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER LATE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY MORNING...FOLLOWED BY MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND VERY LOW
WIND CHILLS THURSDAY NIGHT.

AS THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER MOVES EAST LATER TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...
A POWERFUL COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST TENNESSEE AROUND NOON
AND BE INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE BY SUNSET. AHEAD OF AND ALONG THE FRONT
STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL KEEPS TEMPERATURES MILD BUT WILL ALSO
BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO WEST TENNESSEE AFTER MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY MORNING. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
MAY BE SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING DAMAGING WINDS. RESIDENTS
OF WEST TENNESSEE SHOULD KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE WEATHER LATE TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY MORNING. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND COMMERCIAL
RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

BEHIND THE FRONT THURSDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL FALL SHARPLY
INTO THE 30S ON GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH. RAIN WILL
GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON AS THE COLDER AIR RUSHES
IN.

THURSDAY NIGHT WILL BE VERY COLD WITH LOW TEMPERATURES REACHING THE
TEENS BEFORE DAYBREAK. THIS COMBINED WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20
MPH WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS 10 BELOW ZERO. A FEW SNOW
FLURRIES WILL BE AROUND THURSDAY NIGHT BUT WILL BE OF LITTLE
CONSEQUENCE.

SO AFTER A FEW DAYS OF MILD WEATHER.P..RESIDENTS OF WEST TENNESSEE
SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR A QUICK RETURN OF WINTER THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
NIGHT.

RES
Special weather statement, Jan 17, 2:55 PM CST, 5 hours 54 minutes before
TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-180445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
255 PM CST WED JAN 17 1996

...BIG WEATHER CHANGES COMING FOR WEST TENNESSEE LATE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL BRING A
WIDE VARIETY OF WEATHER TO WEST TENNESSEE LATER TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.
THIS WILL INCLUDE THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER LATE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY MORNING...FOLLOWED BY MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND VERY LOW
WIND CHILLS THURSDAY NIGHT.

AS THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER MOVES EAST LATER TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...
A POWERFUL COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST TENNESSEE AROUND NOON
AND BE INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE BY SUNSET. AHEAD OF AND ALONG THE FRONT
STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL KEEPS TEMPERATURES MILD BUT WILL ALSO
BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO WEST TENNESSEE AFTER MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY MORNING. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
MAY BE SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING DAMAGING WINDS. RESIDENTS
OF WEST TENNESSEE SHOULD KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE WEATHER LATE TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY MORNING. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND COMMERCIAL
RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

BEHIND THE FRONT THURSDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL FALL SHARPLY
INTO THE 30S ON GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH. RAIN WILL
GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON AS THE COLDER AIR RUSHES
IN.

THURSDAY NIGHT WILL BE VERY COLD WITH LOW TEMPERATURES REACHING THE
TEENS BEFORE DAYBREAK. THIS COMBINED WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20
MPH WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS 10 BELOW ZERO. A FEW SNOW
FLURRIES WILL BE AROUND THURSDAY NIGHT BUT WILL BE OF LITTLE
CONSEQUENCE.

SO AFTER A FEW DAYS OF MILD WEATHER...RESIDENTS OF WEST TENNESSEE
SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR A QUICK RETURN OF WINTER THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
NIGHT.

RES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 17, 8:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Marshall30 min
Jan 18, 8:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Marshall30 min
Jan 18, 8:49 AM CSTTornado WarningMEGMarshall26 min
Jan 18, 10:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Lee, Prentiss35 min
Jan 18, 10:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTishomingo35 min
Jan 18, 11:26 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Tishomingo34 min
Jan 18, 8:18 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby42 min
Jan 18, 8:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHaywood, Lauderdale, Tipton56 min
Jan 18, 8:36 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette54 min
Jan 18, 8:41 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDyer, Lake, Obion49 min
Jan 18, 9:17 AM CSTTornado WarningMEGFayette, Haywood43 min
Jan 18, 9:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGWeakley33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1996Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.