Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Memphis, TN

May 28, 1996Tippah County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1996, 8:15 PM CDT for Tippah County, Mississippi. It was in force for 35 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, 8:15 PM CDT (01:15 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 1996, 8:50 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Tippah County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:19 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, 8:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Walnut, MS
May 28, 9:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Falkner, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 290117
TORMEM
MSC139-290150-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 850 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI

   ...TIPPAH COUNTY
 
AT 813 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR
AND SPOTTER REPORTS 8 MILES WEST OF WALNUT MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30
MPH.

THIS TORNADO WILL PASS NEAR WALNUT BY 825 PM CDT AND FALKNER BY 830
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
CLOSET 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	Benton	32 min
May 28, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Tippah	38 min
May 28, 8:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tishomingo	36 min
May 28, 9:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	32 min
May 28, 10:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Marshall	51 min
May 28, 10:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	33 min
May 28, 10:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Prentiss	33 min
May 28, 10:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Prentiss	36 min
May 28, 10:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tishomingo	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.