Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Tallahassee, FL

December 7, 1996Bay County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Dec 7, 1996, 1:54 AM CST for Bay County, Florida. It was in force for 66 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
Dec 7, 1996, 1:54 AM CST (07:54 UTC)
Expired
Dec 7, 1996, 3:00 AM CST
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Bay County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:58 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 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 1996-12-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 16 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 1996-12-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 175 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTLH 070758 RRA
TORTLH
FLC005-070900-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
254 AM EST (154 AM CST) SAT DEC 7 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 AM EST (300 AM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
 
   ...BAY COUNTY
 
AT 152 AM CST RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ALONG THE BAY COUNTY
COAST NEAR SUNNYSIDE. THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH AND
WILL MOVE ACROSS AREAS FROM LYNN HAVEN TO SOUTHPORT.
 
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 Dec 6, 5:18 PM CST, 8 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 6, 5:18 PM CST, 8 hours 36 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
700 PM EST FRI DEC 6 1996

NO SIG DEVIATION FROM THINKING IN PREVIOUS AFD... ONLY MAJOR MOD TO
TAFS WAS TO BRING CIGS/VSBY DOWN A LITTLE EARLIER IN VIEW OF THE FACT
THAT WINDS ARE DYING DOWN ALREADY AND T/TD SPREAD ONLY 2DEG AT SOME
STNS. CLRG SHUD START AFT 19Z WRN STNS AND AROUND SS ERN STATIONS.
OTW NO SIG CHNGS. WSR88D INDICATING PCPN IN CSTL WTRS TRYING TO MV
INLAND AND HAVE INCLDD SML POPS OVERNIGHT FOR SRN STNS.

#4

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 7, 4:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAETaylor42 min
Dec 7, 5:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAELafayette48 min
Dec 7, 7:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDixie63 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.