Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Mobile, AL

August 1, 1987Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 1987, 9:45 PM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 1, 1987, 9:45 PM CDT (02:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 1987, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
45 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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 00:00Z on 1987-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1688 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 00:00Z on 1987-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
1688 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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 020256 COR
SVRMGM
ALC039-020330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
945 PM CDT SAT AUG 1 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...EAST COVINGTON

AT 940 PM RADAR INDICATED  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EAST COVINGTON
COUNTY.  OPP POLICE REPORTED DIME SIZE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS
AS THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MPH.
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 FLO|OR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD 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, Aug 1, 4:44 PM CDT, 5 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
435 PM CDT SAT AUG 1 1987

AT 430 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME VERY STRONG...WERE SCATTERED OVER
THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE...SOUTH ALABAMA...SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
...AND THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL WATERS.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF ESCAMBIA...
SANTA ROSA AND OKALOOSA COUNTIES OF FLORIDA...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS
JUST NORTH OF PENSACOLA...AND BETWEEN MILTON AND FORT WALTON.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING AND INDICATED LITTLE MOVEMENT.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING WITH WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR...AND DUE TO %THE
SLOW MOVEMENT SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
MOTORISTS SHOULD AVOID FLOOD PRONE STREETS.
PERSONS SHOULD TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THESE CONDITIONS...
AND EXERCISE THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 5:28 PM CDT, 4 hours 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
530 PM CDT SAT AUG 1 1987

AT 530 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME VERY STRONG...WERE SCATTERED OVER
THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE...SOUTH ALABAMA...SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
...AND THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL WATERS.
A LARGE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS CENTERED 15 MILES EAST OF
PENSACOLA...WITH OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH ESCAMBIA...
SANTA ROSA AND OKALOOSA COUNTIES OF FLORIDA.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING AND SPREADING OUT...WITH A SLOW DRIFT
TO THE SOUTH.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING WITH WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR...AND DUE TO THE
SLOW tMOVEMENT SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
MOTORISTS SHOULD AVOID FLOOD PRONE STREETS.
PERSONS SHOULD TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THESE CONDITIONS...
AND EXERCISE THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 6:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
635 PM CDT SAT AUG 1 1987

AT 630 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME VERY STRONG...WERE SCATTERED OVER
THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND SOUTH ALABAMA.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTHWEST HOLMES COUNTY NEAR
WESTVILLE...AND ALONG THE ALABAMA BORDER IN SOUTHEAST COVINGTON COUNTY
EAST OF LOCKHART.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MILES AN HOUR...AND HAVE
DECREASED IN COVERAGE DURING THE PAST HOUR.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN...
FREQUENT LIGHTNING...GUSTY WIND AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR...AND DUE TO
THE SLOW MOVEMENT SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE
AREAS MAY BE EXPECTED. MOTORISTS SHOULD AVOID FLOOD PRONE STREETS.
PERSONS SHOULD TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THESE CONDITIONS...
AND EXERCISE THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES WHILE THE STORMS
CONTINUE IN THE AREA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin50 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.