Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Mobile, AL

July 1, 1987Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 1, 1987, 3:21 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 1, 1987, 3:21 PM CDT (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1987, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
54 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 164 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 1987-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1393 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 1987-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1393 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-5 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 KMOB 012021
SVRMOB
ALC097-012115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
321 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...NORTHERN MOBILE
 
AT 320 PM CDT RADAR AT MOBILE INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
SEMMES, ALABAMA.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTOR*MS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Jul 1, 10:35 AM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1035 AM CDT WED JUL 1
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 10:42 AM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1035 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

THUNDERSTORMS IN LINES AND CLUSTERS WERE DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN
FLORIDA PANHANDLE FROM PENSACOLA TO PANAMA CITY.

AT 1030 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING
RAPIDLY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA OVER ESCAMBIA...SANTA ROSA...AND OKALOOSA
COUNTIES. THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO NUMEROUS IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WILL CAUSE
FLOODING OF STREETS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO
REDUCE SPEED IN HEAVY RAIN AREAS AND ARE URGED TO AVOID AREAS OF
STANDING WATER.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWAWRD 6 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 10:49 AM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
SHORT-RANGE WEATHER SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1050 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...MAY PRODUCE SOME HEAVY RAINFALL...

WEATHER SERVICE RADARS AT 1045 AM SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN
CLUSTERS AND SHORT LINES FROM 20 MILES SOUTH OF THE ALABAMA COAST INLAND
OVER MOST OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.  ALSO A FEW CLUSTERS WERE DEVELOPING
OVER THE COASTAL MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS AND
HEAVY RAINFALL THAT MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF STREETS AND ROADS.  THOSE
STORMS LOCATjED IN THE COASTAL WATERS MAY PRODUCE WATERSPOUTS.

RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.  THEY
WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY DURING THE AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 11:39 AM CDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1140 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

AT 1130 AM CDT...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN LARGE
CLUSTERS OVER THE PANHANDLE COUNTIES OF ESCAMBIA...SANTA ROSA...
OKALOOSA...AND WALTON. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES. MOVEMENTS WERE NORTHWARD 8 TO 10 MILES
AN HOUR.

AN ESCAMBIA COUNTY DEPUTY REPORTED A SHORT LIVED FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR THE
BRENT LANE AND PALAFOX INTERSECTION IN PENSACOLA AROUND 11 AM.

MOTORISTS SHOULD REDUCE SPEED AND USE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS AND AVOID
STANDING WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.

RESIDENTS SHOULD PRACTICE LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES WHILE THE STORMS ARE
IN PROGRESS.

STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 3:21 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
320 PM CDT WED JUL 01 1987

AT 315 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT MOBILE INDICATED A
VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF THE MOBILE AIRPORT NEAR SEMMES,
ALABAMA. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN OR NEAR THIS STORM MAY EXPERIENCE BRIEF FLOODING OF
ROADWAYS FROM THE HEAVY RAINS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AND
VERY GUSTY WINDS.

ADDIT#IONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 2:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBAutauga, Montgomery56 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.