Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Memphis, TN

May 27, 1996Lee County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 7:24 PM CDT for Lee County, Mississippi. It was in force for 36 min. 1 report 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, 7:24 PM CDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 7:55 PM CDTHail 0.75Tupelo, 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 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1996-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2600 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 1996-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 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
2600 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
885 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
8.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 280025
TORMEM
MSC081-280100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
724 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 720 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF
TUPELO. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR TUPELO BY
740 PM.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, 1 hour 18 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, 7:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc39 min
May 27, 8:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba52 min
May 27, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGBenton, Tippah44 min
May 27, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto34 min
May 28, 12:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba35 min
May 28, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Tate50 min
May 28, 1:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTippah, Union27 min
May 28, 2:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee, Prentiss26 min
May 28, 4:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCoahoma40 min
May 28, 5:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTallahatchie40 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.