Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Mobile, AL

July 6, 1987Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 6, 1987, 1:28 PM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 6, 1987, 1:28 PM CDT (18:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 1987, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Covington 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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 1987-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1372 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 1987-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 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
1372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
806 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-4 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 KMGM 061828
SVRMGM
ALC039-061915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
128 PM CDT MON JUL 6 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...COVINGTON
 
AT 1 35PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTH OF
ANDALUSIA MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FL.OOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 6, 11:48 AM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1149 AM CDT MON JUL 6 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLE OVER SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI...

AT 1147 AM CDT MOBILE RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.  HEAVIEST RAINS
WERE DETECTED...JUST EAST OF JACKSON ALABAMA...NEAR MOUNT VERNON...
JUST WEST OF PERDIDO...OVER WESTERN MOBILE...AND FROM NEAR BAYOU
LA BATRE ALABAMA TO WEST OF HURLEY MISSISSIPPI.  SOME OF THESE STORMS
MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS THEY MOVE TO THE NORTH AT
ABOUT 15 MPH.

THE STORMS CONTINUE TO REDEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN MOBILE COUNTY AND THEN
MOVE NORTHWARD...SO IT LOOKS LIKE A SOGGY AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA.
Special weather statement, Jul 6, 12:49 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1235 PM CDT MON JUL 6 1987

AT 1230 PM CDT...A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER NORTH WALTON
COUNTY ABOUT 15 MILES EAST OF CRESTVIEW...AND WAS MOVING NORTH AT
20 MILES AN HOUR.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG...WERE SCATTERED OVER NORTHWEST
FLORIDA...SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND THE ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS.
SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WERE 10 MILES NORTH OF MILTON...
15 MILES NORTHWEST OF CRESTVIEW...AND JUST NORTH OF ATMORE ALABAMA.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN...
GUSTY WINDS AROUND 45 MILES AN HOUR...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...POSSIBLE
SMALL HAIL...AND SOME BRIEF FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
PERSONS SHOULD TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THESE CONDITIONS
AND EXERCISE THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES AS THE THUNDER-
STORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

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.