Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Mobile, AL

July 28, 1987Escambia County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1987, 4:25 PM CDT for Escambia County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 28, 1987, 4:25 PM CDT (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Escambia 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1987-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3203 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 1987-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
3203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 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 282119
SVRMOB
ALC053-282215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
425 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...WESTERN ESCAMBIA
 
AT 415 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES WEST OF
BREWTON. IT WAS MOVING TO THE WEST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD ATMORE.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 28, 3:31 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
335 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 1987

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH ALABAMA WERE MOVING TOWARD
NORTHWEST FLORIDA...

AT 330 PM CDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SEVERAL VERY STRONG...OVER
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTH ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA...WERE
INCREASING IN INTENSITY. STRONGEST WERE OVER BALDWIN...GENEVA...AND
HOUSTON COUNTIES OF ALABAMA. THEY WERE MOVING] TOWARD THE SOUTH ABOUT 10
MILES AN HOUR.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN
AND POSSIBLE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
Local storm report, Jul 28, 3:43 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
337 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 1987

335 PM CDT...HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE REPORTED IN STAPLETON ALABAMA
JUST SOUTH OF BAY MINETTE.

336 PM CDT...WiINDS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 50 MPH BY STATE TROOPER
EAST OF ROBERTSDALE...CENTRAL BALDWIN COUNTY...REPORTEDLY HAD TROUBLE
STAYING ON THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 2:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBDale55 min
Jul 28, 2:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHouston62 min
Jul 28, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeneva60 min
Jul 28, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin60 min
Jul 28, 4:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile55 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.