Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Mobile, AL

March 17, 1987Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1987, 11:55 PM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 1987, 11:55 PM CST (05:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1987, 12:50 AM CST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Boothville, LA (KBVE), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 190 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, Boothville, LA at 00:00Z on 1987-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 937 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, Boothville, LA at 00:00Z on 1987-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 526 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
937 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
526 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
619 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
14.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 17, 8:00 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE, AL.
800 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 34 IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
   COUNTIES OF LAMAR..FORREST..PERRY..PEARL-RIVER..STONE AND HANCOCK
   UNTIL 10 PM...

MOBILE RADAR AT 755 PM CST SHOWED THE LEADING EDGE OF THE VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS ARE ENTERING THE WESTERN PART OF LAMAR AND PEARL-RIVER
COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. OTHER SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED OVER
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THEIR COASTAL WATERS. THE STORMS WERE TRACKING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

RESIDENTS IN THE EFFECTED COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CHANGING
WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF SEVERE WEATHER IlS
SIGHTED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR LOCAL AREA.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERICAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATER STATEMENTS
ON THIS WEATHER PROBLEM AS IT TRACES EAST ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT.
Local storm report, Mar 17, 10:12 PM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1010 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

AT 955 PM THE PEARL-RIVER SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED TREES AND POWER
LINES DOWN AT CROSSROADS..6 MILES EAST OF BOGALOUSA LOUISIANA..IN
THE WESTERN EXTREMITIES OF PEARL-RIVER COUNTY..

AT 1000 PM HANCOCK COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE ESTIMATED WINDS OF 50 MPH
JUST NORTH OF TOWN..
Local storm report, Mar 17, 10:55 PM CST, 1 hour before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1055 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

HANCOCK COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED THAT TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN
IN WAVELAND..4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BAY ST" LOUIS..AT 1040 PM.  ALSO
LIGHTNING STARTED A LARGE WOODS FIRE.
Local storm report, Mar 17, 11:24 PM CST, 31 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1125 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

THE HARRISON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE IN MISSISSIPPI REPORTED TREES
DOWN JUST SOUTH OF LYMAN IN THAT COUNTY..77 MILES NORTH OF GULFPORT.
TIME OF OCCURRENCE AROUND 1105 PM..
Local storm report, Mar 17, 11:45 PM CST, 10 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1145 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

THE GEORGE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED WIND DAMAGE
TO A RESIDENCE IN SHIPMAN..ABOUT 8 MILESC SOUTHEAST OF LUCEDALE.
TIME OF OCCURRENCE 1135 PM.  THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE IS NOT KNOWN..BUT
A SHERIFFS DEPUTY IS CHECKING IT NOW.   REPORTED AS A POSSIBLE TORNADO.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 1:32 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile48 min
Mar 18, 2:22 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin58 min
Mar 18, 3:30 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin60 min
Mar 18, 3:47 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBMobile2 hr
Mar 18, 5:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.