Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tallahassee, FL
NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 2, 1996, 3:31 PM EST for Franklin County, Florida. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 2, 1996, 3:31 PM EST (20:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 2, 1996, 4:00 PM EST
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tallahassee, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Franklin County, FL
The radar
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:35 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 81 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 141 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -132 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 728 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 176 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTLH 022033 TORTLH FLC037-FLZ505-022100- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 331 PM EST (231 PM CST) FRI FEB 2 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EST (300 PM C )FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH FLORIDA ...EASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY AND FOR MARINE INTERESTS ON THE GULF COASTAL WATERS FROM THE ...OCHLOCKONEE RIVER TO ST. MARKS AT 330 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST OFFSHORE OF ALLIGATOR POINT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES PER HOUR. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ACROSS ALLIGATOR POINT WITHIN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES. PEOPLE IN EASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY...SPECIFICALLY ALLIGATOR POINT...NEED TO TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. BOATERS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS AND SEEK SAFE HARBOR IF POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Feb 2, 3:24 PM EST, 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 3:24 PM EST, 7 minutes before
ALZ065>069-FLZ007>019-026>029-034-030800- AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 253 PM EST FRI FEB 2 1996 18 UTC MAPS DATA SHOWS 1006 MB LOW 100 MILES SW OF AQQ. ISALOBARIC ANALYSIS SHOWS BEST 3-HOUR PRESSURE FALLS ACROSS NORTH FL (4 MB FALLS)...SO ETA/NGM LOOK REASONABLE IN TIMING & MOVEMENT OF SFC LOW. THIS MEANS COLD FRONT & PRECIP WILL CLEAR FA WELL BEFORE SUNRISE...THEN COLD AIR ADVECTION BEGINS...WITH BITTERLY COLD ARCTIC AIR ARRIVING SUNDAY MORNING (AND STAYING THRU MONDAY). LOOKS LIKE NGM/FWC GUIDANCE IS WAY TOO WARM. ETA 1000 MB TEMP FORECAST LOOKED MORE REASONABLE...AS DID FAN GUIDANCE. EVEN SO...I DECIDED TO GO COLDER THAN THIS GUIDANCE BASED ON ARCTIC OUTBREAKS OF THE PAST. THIS EVENT LOOKS SIMILAR TO THE OUTBREAKS OF DEC 1983 AND JAN 1985...WHERE THERE WAS A LOT OF SNOW AND COLD GROUND IN THE PLAINS TO KEEP ARCTIC AIR FROM MODIFYING. LOOKS LIKE LOWS WILL BE IN LOWER TEENS MONDAY MORNING. FIGURE` ITS BETTER TO GO ON THE COLD SIDE FOR AGRICULTURAL & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT INTERESTS (WE HAVE ALREADY HAD CALLS ABOUT OPENING SHELTERS THIS WEEKEND). 1) 45/45/16/32 9000 2) 49/49/18/34 9000 3) 48/48/17/33 9000 FOURNIER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2, 4:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Taylor | 55 min |
| Feb 2, 4:43 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Madison | 62 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.