Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Mobile, AL

January 26, 1996Clarke County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 26, 1996, 1:53 PM CST for Clarke County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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
Jan 26, 1996, 1:53 PM CST (19:53 UTC)
Expired
Jan 26, 1996, 2:45 PM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Clarke County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:56 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
Jan 26, 2:05 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Thomasville, 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 184 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-01-26Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-01-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 339 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
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
339 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
347 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 261951
TORMOB
ALC025-262045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
153 PM CST FRI JAN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...CLARKE COUNTY
 
AT 150 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN MOBILE ALABAMA
INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER CLARKE COUNTY ALABAMA SOUTHEAST OF
COFFEEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE TOWN OF THOMASVILLE.
 
MOVEMENT IS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITUNRE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER 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 Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 26, 2:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile62 min
Jan 26, 3:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox49 min
Jan 26, 3:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin56 min
Jan 26, 4:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile64 min
Jan 26, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw63 min
Jan 26, 4:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw56 min
Jan 26, 5:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington59 min
Jan 26, 5:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke68 min
Jan 26, 5:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe, Wilcox55 min
Jan 26, 5:34 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.