Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Mobile, AL

March 18, 1987Mobile County, Alabama; Jackson County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 18, 1987, 1:32 AM CST for Mobile County, Alabama; Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 1987, 1:32 AM CST (07:32 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1987, 2:20 AM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mobile County, AL, Jackson County, MS

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, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 168 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

Local storm report, Mar 17, 10:12 PM CST, 3 hours 20 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, 2 hours 37 minutes 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, 2 hours 8 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, 1 hour 47 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.
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 12:40 AM CST, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1240 AM CST WED MAR 18 1987

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 AM CST FOR MUCH OF
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 1235 AM THE MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM NEAR CITRONELLE ALABAMA TO BILOXI MISSISSIPPI AND INTO
THE GULF TO JUST WEST OF THE CHANDELEUR ISLANDS.  THIS LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS HAS BEEN PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO OVER 50 MPH, VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL, AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.  THE LINE IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT
AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL BRING THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING WINDS INTO
MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

STAY TUNED TO -NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 12:40 AM CST, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1235PM CST MON MAR 18 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE COASTAL WATERS
MOVING TOWARD THE MOBILE AND PENSACOLA AREAS...

AT 1230 AM CST...SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A
LARGE RAIN AREA SOUTHWEST...WEST AND NORTH OF PENSACOLA. THE HEAVIEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING FROM SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY OF ALABAMA
SOUTH TO BILOXI ,MISSISSIPPI.

THE LARGE RAIN AREA COVERED MOST OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA...THE PENSACOLA AREA OF FLORIDA AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL
WATERS.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST WHILE THE AREA SPREAD
SLOWLY EAST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 11:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile55 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
Mar 17, 9:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHancock, Pearl River60 min
Mar 17, 10:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBForrest, Perry3 hr
Mar 17, 10:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHarrison, Stone45 min
Mar 17, 11:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge, Jackson60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1987Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 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.