Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 19, 1988, 5:59 PM CST for Blount County, Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 19, 1988, 5:59 PM CST (23:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 19, 1988, 7:00 PM CST
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Blount County, AL, Jefferson County, AL
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 19, 6:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Jefferson, AL | |
| Jan 19, 6:50 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Blount, AL |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 263 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 686 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 290 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 299 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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
Special weather statement, Jan 19, 12:27 PM CST, 5 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1225 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988 ...A STRONG SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR ALABAMA... THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IN ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PERSONS IN ALABAMA NEED TO KEEP IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH LATE-BREAKING WEATHER INTORMATION AS THE DAY GOES ON. ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 5 CONTINUES FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTH AND WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA UNTIL 6 PM CST. AT 1225 PM...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WERE OCCURRING OVER NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. HOWEVER... MORE NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST MISSISSIPPI WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA AS EARLY AS 100-130 CST THIS; AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE MORE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE APPROACHING NORTHWEST ALABAMA. KEEP IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH LATE-BREAKING WEATHER INFORMATION.
Local storm report, Jan 19, 2:25 PM CST, 3 hours 34 minutes before
STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 225 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988 ...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH AT THE FAYETTE AIRPORT AT ABOUT 210 PM CST. FAYETTE POLICE REPORT SOME MINOR WIND DAMAGE...A COUPLE OF AWNINGS BLOWN OFF.
Special weather statement, Jan 19, 4:35 PM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 425 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988 A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OT SOUTHWEST... CENTRAL...AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA UNTIL 10PM... AT 420 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA FROM MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTH OF TUSCALOOSA TO DEMOPOLIS AND SOUTHWARD TO NEAR BUTLER. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE BETWEEN BUTLER AND DEMOPOLIS. THE LINE WAS DRIFTING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH...WITH THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST. THE STORMS WILL BEGIN MOVING INTO DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES AROUND 530PM. THIS COULD BE A VERY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. PLEASE REMAIN ALERT ...REVIEW YOUR TORNADO SAFETY RULES...AND KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST INFORMATION. THE WEATHER SERVICE WILL MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS OR TO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO STATION FOR LATEST INFORMATION. DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, Jan 19, 5:51 PM CST, 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 545 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988 A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OT SOUTHWEST... CENTRAL...AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA UNTIL 10PM... AT 541 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR BIRMINGHAM TO CENTREVILLE TO NEAR DEMOPOLIS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE FROM CENTREVILLE TO SOUTHERN HALE COUNTY. THERE WERE STRONG INDICATIONS OF HAIL IN SOME OF THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS. THE LINE WAS DRIFTING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH...WITH THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST. THIS COULD BE A VERY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. PLEASE REMAIN ALERT ...REVIEW YOUR TORNADO SAFETY RULES...AND KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST INFORMATION. CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THE WEATHER SERVICE WILL MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO OR TV STAlTIONS OR TO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO STATION FOR LATEST INFORMATION. DEVAUGHN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 19, 12:43 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 62 min |
| Jan 19, 12:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 59 min |
| Jan 19, 12:53 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 67 min |
| Jan 19, 1:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 64 min |
| Jan 19, 1:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 61 min |
| Jan 19, 2:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 61 min |
| Jan 19, 3:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 62 min |
| Jan 19, 3:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 55 min |
| Jan 19, 3:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 60 min |
| Jan 19, 4:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison | 54 min |
| Jan 19, 4:06 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 54 min |
| Jan 19, 5:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 54 min |
| Jan 19, 5:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Hale, Tuscaloosa | 54 min |
| Jan 19, 5:31 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 29 min |
| Jan 19, 5:35 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 2 hr |
| Jan 19, 5:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 61 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.