Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Nashville, TN

April 20, 1996Cannon County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 7:46 AM CDT for Cannon County, Tennessee. It was in force for 29 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
Apr 20, 1996, 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1996, 8:15 AM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Cannon County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:46 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
Apr 20, 8:00 AM CDTThunderstorm WindHollow Spgs, TN

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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 60 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 32 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -99 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-238 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
882 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 201246
TORBNA
TNC003-015-031-201315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
746 AM CDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
 
   ...EASTERN BEDFORD COUNTY...SOUTHERN CANNON COUNTY
   ...COFFEE COUNTY
 
AT 745 AM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST NORTH O FBELL
BUCKLE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THE STORM SHOULD REACH BEECH GROVE BY 755
AM AND INTO SOUTHERN CANNON COUNTY NEAR HOLLOW SPRINGS BY 805 AM.
 
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 Nashville, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 2:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXBenton42 min
Apr 20, 2:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHouston, Stewart37 min
Apr 20, 2:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHumphreys37 min
Apr 20, 2:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMontgomery27 min
Apr 20, 2:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCheatham, Dickson45 min
Apr 20, 3:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDavidson, Robertson41 min
Apr 20, 3:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXSumner27 min
Apr 20, 4:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXClay, Macon43 min
Apr 20, 5:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDecatur, Perry38 min
Apr 20, 6:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHickman, Lewis40 min
Apr 20, 6:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMaury42 min
Apr 20, 7:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMarshall, Williamson28 min
Apr 20, 7:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXBedford41 min
Apr 20, 7:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCannon, Rutherford45 min
Apr 20, 7:46 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXBedford, Coffee29 min
Apr 20, 7:59 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXWarren31 min
Apr 20, 8:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXFranklin29 min
Apr 20, 8:06 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXFranklin39 min
Apr 20, 8:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCoffee, Grundy43 min
Apr 20, 8:21 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXCoffee, Grundy39 min
Apr 20, 8:33 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXBledsoe, Van Buren27 min
Apr 20, 8:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMarion, Sequatchie39 min
Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOHXLawrence, Wayne3 hr
Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOHXGiles, Lincoln3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 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.