Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Memphis, TN

May 28, 1996Hardin County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT for Hardin County, Tennessee. 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: May 28, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Hardin County, TN

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:29 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
May 28, 7:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Savannah, TN
May 28, 7:30 PM CDT	Hail 1	Savannah, TN

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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 166 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: 3264 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 944 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.4
Supercell composite: 10.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 290032
TORMEM
TNC071-290100-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
730 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST TENNESSEE

   ...HARDIN COUNTY
 
AT 730 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER WEATHER
RADAR 8 MILES WEST OF OLIVEHILL MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THIS TORNADO WILL PASS NEAR OLIVEHILL BY 740 PM CDT.

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 SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CL~OSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 28, 7:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman	32 min
May 28, 8:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman	49 min
May 28, 8:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette	49 min
May 28, 8:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 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.