Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Memphis, TN

January 18, 1996Fayette County, Haywood County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 18, 1996, 9:17 AM CST for Fayette County, Haywood County, Tennessee. It was in force for 43 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: Jan 18, 1996, 9:17 AM CST (15:17 UTC)
Expired: Jan 18, 1996, 10:00 AM CST
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, TN, Haywood County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:18 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
Jan 18, 9:20 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Brownsville, TN
Jan 18, 9:30 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Dancyville, 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 12:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 83 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: 9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -370 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 181518
TORMEM
TNC047-075-181600-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
917 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM CST
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST TENNESSEE
 
   ...NORTHERN FAYETTE COUNTY...HAYWOOD COUNTY
 
AT 915 AM...DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A TORNADO ASSOCIATED WITH A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF HIGHWAY 64 2 MILES WEST OF SOMERVILLE.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL MOVE NORTH OF THE
HIGHWAY AND NEAR LACONIA AND FAYETTE CORNERS BY 945 AM.
 
STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED NICKEL SIZE HAIL WITH THE STORM AT 912 AM.
 
 
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
0 
 
 
&

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, Jan 18, 6:16 AM CST, 3 hours 1 minute before

TNZ001>102-181815-

TENNESSEE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
613 AM CST (713 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED OVER WEST AND SECTIONS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
TODAY...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST TENNESSEE DURING LATE
MORNING..AND IS FORECAST TO REACH THE NASHVILLE AREA TOWARD
EVENING.

NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD FRONT..AND SOME OF
THESE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE..WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.
FOLLOWING FRONTAL PASSAGE..THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ENDS..BUT
BLUSTERY CONDITIONS WILL THEN PREVAIL AS WINDS WILL
REMAIN STRONG AND TEMPERATURES WILL PLUNGE.

IN SUMMARY..PERSONS LIVING OVER WEST AND MIDDLE SECTIONS OF TENNESSEE
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR  SEVERE WEATHER TODAY 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
Jan 17, 8:49 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Fayette	26 min
Jan 18, 8:18 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Shelby	42 min
Jan 18, 8:34 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Haywood, Lauderdale, Tipton	56 min
Jan 18, 8:36 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette	54 min
Jan 18, 8:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Dyer, Lake, Obion	49 min
Jan 18, 8:49 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Fayette	26 min
Jan 18, 9:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Weakley	33 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.