Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 12, 19884 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 12, 1988, 5:53 PM CST for 4 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 12, 1988, 5:53 PM CST (23:53 UTC)
Expired
Mar 12, 1988, 7:00 PM CST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bibb County, AL, Hale County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Perry 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

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 36 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1988-03-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1988-03-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 253 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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, Mar 12, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
330 PM CST SAT MAR 12 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 18 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CST...

AT 325PM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN PICKENS
COUNTY JUST WEST OF ALICEVILLE.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY WITHIN THE HOUR.  VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND SOME
HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST TUSCALOOSA
COUNTY...NORTHEAST ALONG THE JEFFERSON/WALKER COUNTY LINE.

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN MISSISSIPPI JUST WEST OF SUMTER
AND PICKENS COUNTIES. v THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE
ABOVE COUNTIES SHORTLY.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER.
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 4:23 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
418 PM CST SAT MAR 12 1988

..A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND
WEAT ALABAMA UNTIL 9PM..

RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO
WEST ALABAMA AT 415 PM. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR BIRMINGHAM TO
MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI...WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORMS JUST NORTH OF
LIVINGSTON ALABAMA AND NEAR MERIDIAN. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
ABOUT 60 MPH...AND THE ONES OVER MISSISSIPPI WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST
ALABAMA BETWEEN 430 AND 5 PM.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR SELMA AND LINDEN...AND A FEW
THUNDERSHOWERS WERE JUST SOUTH OF SYLACAUGA OVER NORTHERN COOSA COUNTY.

RESIDENTS OF CENTRAL AND WEST ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATRER CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL
RADIO OR TV STATIONS OR TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO FOR LATER
INFORMATION.

DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 5:30 PM CST, 23 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 3:57 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXGreene63 min
Mar 12, 4:32 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXHale43 min
Mar 12, 5:18 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Hale42 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.