Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Mobile, AL

January 26, 1996Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 26, 1996, 5:34 PM CST for Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 56 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 26, 1996, 5:34 PM CST (23:34 UTC)
Expired: Jan 26, 1996, 6:30 PM CST
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:33 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 26, 6:00 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Mt Vernon, AL
Jan 26, 6:10 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Tensaw, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 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 262332
TORMOB
ALC003-097-270030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
534 PM CST FRI JAN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...BALDWIN COUNTY...MOBILE COUNTY
 
 
 
 
AT 533 PM...NWS DOPPLER RADAR IN MOBILE INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
ABOUT 3 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF CHUNCHULA. THE STORM WILL PASS BETWEEN
CITRONELLE AND CHUNCHULA THROUGH 615 PM AS THE STORM MOVES
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER 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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 26, 1:53 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	52 min
Jan 26, 2:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	62 min
Jan 26, 3:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	49 min
Jan 26, 3:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	56 min
Jan 26, 4:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	64 min
Jan 26, 4:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	63 min
Jan 26, 4:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	56 min
Jan 26, 5:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Washington	59 min
Jan 26, 5:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	68 min
Jan 26, 5:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe, Wilcox	55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 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.