Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Memphis, TN

September 16, 1996Lauderdale County, Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1996, 8:02 AM CDT for Lauderdale County, Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 33 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: Sep 16, 1996, 8:02 AM CDT (13:02 UTC)
Expired: Sep 16, 1996, 8:35 AM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lauderdale County, TN, Tipton County, TN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 16, 8:25 AM CDT	Tornado F0	Covington, TN
Sep 16, 8:30 AM CDT	Tornado F0	Pleasant Hill, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 284 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: 351 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 564 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 327 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 388 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 161306
TORMEM
TNC097-167-161335-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
802 AM CDT MON SEP 16 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 835 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
   ...TIPTON COUNTY
 
AT 800 AM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
WEATHER RADAR 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RIPLEY OR 4 MILES WEST OF
FULTON MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

THIS TORNADO WILL PASS NEAR FULTON BY 800 AM CDT... GILT EDGE BY
800 AM CDT... FT PILLOW BY 810 AM CDT... HENNING BY 820 AM CDT AND
RIPLEY BY 825 AM CDT.

.THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY 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, Sep 16, 5:04 AM CDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before

TNZ001>102-170000-

TENNESSEE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
500 AM CDT MON SEP 16 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE OVER TENNESSEE TODAY..ESPECIALLY OVER THE
WEST AND MIDDLE...

A LOW PRESSURE CENTERED IN WESTERN ARKANSAS THIS MORNING WILL BE
MOVING INTO KENTUCKY BY THIS MONDAY EVENING. ITS ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT
IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN MAKING ENTRANCE INTO WEST TENNESSEE DURING THE
COURSE OF THIS AFTERNOON..AND THEN REACHING THE PLATEAU BY MIDNIGHT.

MOISTURE HAS ALREADY INCREASED..AND THE STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS IN
ADVANCE OF THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A STEADY FEED OF
GULF MOISTURE. THE ATMOSPHERE IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO
BECOME MORE UNSTABLE AS TEMPERATURES WARM DURING THE DAY.

YOU ARE URGED TO REMAIN AWARE OF THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION
REGARDING THIS SITUATION BY MONITORING NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 16, 8:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crockett, Haywood	44 min
Sep 16, 9:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Madison	46 min
Sep 16, 9:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Gibson	33 min
Sep 16, 9:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Carroll, Henderson	44 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.