Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Memphis, TN

May 27, 1996Itawamba County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 6:53 PM CDT for Itawamba County, Mississippi. It was in force for 37 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
May 27, 1996, 6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Itawamba County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 7:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Fulton, MS
May 27, 7:10 PM CDTThunderstorm WindFulton, 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, 11.9 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1996-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2617 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 236 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
2617 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
655 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.2
Supercell composite
11.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 272354
TORMEM
MSC057-280030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
653 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...ITAWAMBA COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM..NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST ITAWAMBA COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST
AND WILL AFFECT AREAS AROUND EVERGREEN AND FULTON BY 700 PM...AND
TRMEONT AND NEW SALEM BY 720 PM.
 
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, May 27, 6:06 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
TNZ014>018-036>047-067>074-083>087-099>102-280100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
7 05 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 463 HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 9 00 PM
EDT FOR EAST TENNESSEE FROM THE EAST TENNESSEE VALLEY TO THE NORTH
CAROLINA BORDER.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR GRAINGER AND JEFFERSON
COUNTIES IN EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 7 30 PM EDT.

A WARM HUMID AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO COVER TENNESSEE
THROUGH TONIGHT. THE GREATEST INSTABILITY FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WATCH AREA IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH 9 PM
EDT THIS EVENING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCoahoma46 min
May 27, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCoahoma, Quitman41 min
May 27, 4:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPanola34 min
May 27, 4:53 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGPanola37 min
May 27, 5:02 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLafayette43 min
May 27, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGPontotoc41 min
May 27, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGYalobusha25 min
May 27, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLowndes25 min
May 27, 6:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLee39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.