Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Mobile, AL

March 18, 1996Wilcox County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 6:13 PM CST for Wilcox County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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, 6:13 PM CST (00:13 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1996, 7:00 PM CST
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Wilcox County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:16 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
Mar 18, 6:30 PM CSTHail 1.75Pine Hill, 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 264 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, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1996-03-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1996-03-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -63 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
759 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-42 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 190012
TORMOB
ALC131-190100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
613 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WILCOX COUNTY
 
MOBILE DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED TWO DIFFERENT TORNADOES MOVING INTO
WILCOX COUNTY. THE FIRST TORNADO WILL BE MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWEST PART
OF THE COUNTY ALONG A SIMILAR TRACK OF THE PREVIOUS TORNADO.
IT WILL MOVE IN NEAR PINE HILL AND WILL MOVE TO NEAR MILLERS FERRY BY
645 PM.
 
THE SECOND TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO THE COUNTY JUST EAST OF HYBART NEAR
HWY 41 AND WILL PASS NEAR CAMDEN BY 630 PM.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 6:00 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke45 min
Mar 18, 7:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh55 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.