Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 19, 1988Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 19, 1988, 6:00 PM CST for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 20 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 19, 1988, 6:00 PM CST (00:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 1988, 6:20 PM CST
In force
20 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1988-01-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 310 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1988-01-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
310 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
664 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
95 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 33 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 35 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 25 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, 9 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 19, 6:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall38 min
Jan 19, 8:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne62 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.