Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Mobile, AL

January 26, 1996Monroe County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 26, 1996, 6:38 PM CST for Monroe County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 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, 6:38 PM CST (00:38 UTC)
Expired
Jan 26, 1996, 7:45 PM CST
In force
67 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 00:37 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, 6:50 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 55Jeddo, 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 267 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1996-01-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 219 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1996-01-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 236 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
219 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
275 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 270036
TORMOB
ALC099-270145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
638 PM CST FRI JAN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MONROE COUNTY
 
AT 634 PM...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
CHRYSLER ...ALONG HIGHWAY 59. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH
AND WILL APPROACH FRISCO CITY THROUGH 715 PM.
 
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 6ON 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 26, 6:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe, Wilcox66 min
Jan 26, 6:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke62 min
Jan 26, 6:26 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke34 min
Jan 26, 6:29 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin31 min
Jan 26, 6:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington58 min
Jan 26, 6:52 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke68 min
Jan 26, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe, Wilcox65 min
Jan 26, 9:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBMonroe6 hr

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.