Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Mobile, AL

March 18, 1996Monroe County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 5:47 PM CST for Monroe County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 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
Mar 18, 1996, 5:47 PM CST (23:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1996, 6:45 PM CST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 18, 6:07 PM CSTTornado F2Claiborne, 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 1996-03-18Temperature 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 1996-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -165 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
812 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-145 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 182348
TORMOB
ALC099-190045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
547 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MONROE COUNTY
 
AT 545 PM...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO EXITING
SOUTH-CENTRAL CLARKE COUNTY AL. THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED 10 MILES EAST OF
JACKSON AND WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THIS MOVMENT WILL TAKE
THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL MONROE
COUNTY. THE TOWNS OF CLAIBORNE...MEXIA AND MONROEVILLE WILL BE AFFECTED
BY THIS STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
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
Mar 18, 3:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile, Washington44 min
Mar 18, 3:30 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile60 min
Mar 18, 4:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin60 min
Mar 18, 4:17 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBWashington58 min
Mar 18, 4:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw65 min
Mar 18, 4:51 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke69 min
Mar 18, 4:57 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBWashington63 min
Mar 18, 5:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox67 min
Mar 18, 5:35 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBChoctaw25 min
Mar 18, 5:37 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBWilcox38 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.