Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Mobile, AL

February 19, 1996Clarke County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 19, 1996, 3:46 PM CST for Clarke County, Alabama. It was in force for 59 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
Feb 19, 1996, 3:46 PM CST (21:46 UTC)
Expired
Feb 19, 1996, 4:45 PM CST
In force
59 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 22:05 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
Feb 19, 4:15 PM CSTHail 0.75Jackson, 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 194 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1996-02-19Temperature 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1996-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 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 192145
TORMOB
ALC025-192245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
346 PM CST MON FEB 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...CLARKE COUNTY
 
AT 345 PM CST MOBILE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
LEROY IN EASTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
AT 40 MPH IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF JACKSON.
 
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
SPUCH 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
Feb 19, 2:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw41 min
Feb 19, 2:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe69 min
Feb 19, 3:03 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBWashington57 min
Feb 19, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington55 min
Feb 19, 4:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe37 min
Feb 19, 4:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile63 min
Feb 19, 4:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin47 min
Feb 19, 5:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia46 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.