Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 182, NWS Mobile, AL

December 16, 1996Monroe County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 16, 1996, 7:39 PM CST for Monroe County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 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
Dec 16, 1996, 7:39 PM CST (01:39 UTC)
Expired
Dec 16, 1996, 8:45 PM CST
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:40 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Dec 16, 8:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Monroeville, AL

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 187 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1996-12-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1996-12-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 723 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
723 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
888 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 KMOB 170140 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC099-170245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
739 PM CST MON DEC 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MONROE COUNTY
 
AT 737 PM...MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR URIAH. THIS
STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF
60 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
S.TAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Dec 16, 3:05 PM CST, 4 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 3:05 PM CST, 4 hours 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
305 PM MON DEC 16 1996

18Z SFC MAP INDICATES LOW PRESSURE ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY JUST SOUTH
OF JAN MS WITH WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING EAST FROM LOW ALONG
GULF COAST REGION. KMOB 88D SHOWING AREA OF RAIN WITH A FEW EMBEDDED
HEAVIER SHOWERS OVER PARTS OF SE MS...SW AL AND FLORIDA PANHANDLE.
EXTENSIVE MID/HIGH CLOUD COVER OVER AREA HAS NOT ALLOWED ATMOSPHERE
TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE DUE TO DAYTIME HEATING...AND RADAR
PRESENTATIONS OVER AREA NOT VERY CONVECTIVE IN NATURE ATTM. HOWEVER
MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE INCREASE IN THE LOLVL JET OVER MUCH THE
FCST AREA THRU REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND REGIONAL
88D VWP'S ARE INDICATING LOW LEVEL FLOW INCREASING OVER THE AREA. AS
WARM FRONT MOVES NORTH ACROSS CWA THIS EVENING...AND MOISTURE
INCREASES ALONG WITH INCREASING LOLVL SHEAR...COULD STILL SEE
ISOLATED SVR STORMS OVER EASTERN PART OF CWA THIS EVENING...MAINLY
NEAR THE COAST. THE LOW OVER MS WILL MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST TO GREAT
LAKES REGION BY 24 HOURS AS ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVES SLOWLY EAST
ACROSS THE FL PNHDL. COOLER AIR TO MOVE INTO FCST AREA BEHIND THIS
FRONT. SECOND FRONTAL SYSTEM TO MOVE TOWARD CWA BY PERIODS END.
CONVERGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM ...AND OVERRUNNING FROM
FRONTAL SYSTEM TO THE EAST (SW FLOW ALOFT) BRINGS HIGHER POPS TO
REGION AGAIN LATE IN THE PERIOD. COLDEST AIR OF SEASON FOR AREA
BEHIND SECOND FRONT EFFECTING AREA DURING EXTENDED PERIOD.

MOB 50/59/51/57 7255           PNS 54/62/54/61 7366
DTS 55/63/57/61 6366           EVR 44/53/46/54 7457 12

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 16, 7:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin30 min
Dec 16, 7:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia63 min
Dec 16, 7:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh65 min
Dec 16, 8:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington30 min
Dec 16, 8:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCrenshaw34 min
Dec 16, 8:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.