Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Tallahassee, FL

September 17, 1996Walton County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 1996, 2:24 PM CDT for Walton County, Florida. It was in force for 36 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
Sep 17, 1996, 2:24 PM CDT (19:24 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 1996, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Walton County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 35 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2006 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-09-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
2006 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
843 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 KTLH 171928
TORTLH
FLC131-172000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
324 PM EDT (224 PM CDT) TUE SEP 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM EDT (300 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
 
   ...SOUTHERN WALTON COUNTY
 
AT 227 PM CDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR SANDESTIN
NORTH OF HIGHWAY 98 MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. WATERSPOUTS OVER
CHOTOWATCHEE BAY WERE ALSO REPORTED JUST WEST OF THE HWY 231 BRIDGE.
 
 
 
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 Sep 17, 2:00 PM CDT, 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 2:00 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
300 PM EDT TUE SEP 17 1996

DRIER PERIOD WL BEGIN WED AS STG UPR LO MOVES INTO NE AND CDFRNT
MANAGES TO CLEAR THE AREA IN 48 HRS. THE LAST OF THE SIG MSTR IS
MOVING ACRS FA THIS AFTN AND XPCT WX TO BCM MR FALL-LIKE NEXT
FEW DAYS. HAVE INCLDD TSRA FOR THIS AFTN AS CNVCTN FIRING UP ALG
WK SFC TROF AHEAD OF CDFRNT.

12Z SOUNDING INDICATES QUITE A BIT OF MID LEVEL DRYING RELATIVE TO
YDA AND PW DECREASED TO 1.75. CDFRNT WL BE DRAPED ACRS FA WED AM
BUT MEAN RH GENLY LT 50 PCT AND NOT A LOT OF FOCUSSING MECHANISMS SO
WL GO WITH VCSH INVOF PFN IN THE AM FOR LAND BRZ SHRA AND NO POPS ANY
OTHER STATIONS. MAY HAVE TO AMD FOR ISOLD SHRA TTHAT MIGHT BE SQUEEZED
OUT BY FRNTL BNDY WED AFTN AT SELECTED LOCATIONS BUT FEEL TAF IS
REPRESENTATIVE. HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO INCLD FOG AT SR AS WE USUALLY DO AS
THINK WNDS AND LACK OF MSTR WILL BE A DETERENT.

#4

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.