Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 22, 1988, 9:12 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 22, 1988, 9:12 PM CDT (02:12 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 1988, 10:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pickens 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 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 93 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
- 969 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 582 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 66 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 235 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 316 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.7
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
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, May 22, 6:08 PM CDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 605 PM CDT MON MAY 16 1988 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT... WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED SCATTERED PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN... ALONG WITH A FEW ISOLATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 6 PM CDT. THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST NORTHEAST OF AUBURN...AND 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SYLACAUGA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN MISSISSIPPI...AND THAT ACTIVITY WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA LATER THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO...OR THE LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 22, 6:13 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 615 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN ALABAMA... AT 615 PM CDT...A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED IN EASTERN MISSISSIPPI...ABOUT 50 MILES FROM THE ALABAMA BORDER. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNINGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING TOWARD THE ALABAMA BORDER AND CONDITIONS DO REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR TORNADO DEVELOPMENT. ALSO AT 615 PM...A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA...BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS INDICATED. PEOPLE IN ALABAMA SHOULD KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING. IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...BE PREPARED TO HEAD IMMEDIATELY FOR SAFE SHELTER.
Special weather statement, May 22, 7:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 715 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN ALABAMA... AT 715 PM CDT...A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED IN EASTERN MISSISSIPPI...ABOUT 20 TO 25 MILES FROM THE ALABAMA BORDER. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNINGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MPH AND WILL BE ENTERING EXTREME WESTERN PORTIONS OF ALABAMA. AT 715 PM CDT...SHOWERS OVER THE REMAINDER OF ALABAMA HAD DISSIPATED BUT THE AIR REMAINED EXTREMELY MOIST AND UNSTABLE. PEOPLE IN ALABAMA SHOULD KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING. IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...BE PREPARED TO HEAD IMMEDIATELY FOR SAFE SHELTER.
Special weather statement, May 22, 7:26 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 725 PM CDT MON MAY 16 1988 ...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT... WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 720 PM CDT. THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN MISSISSIPPI...AND THAT ACTIVITY WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA LATER THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO...OR THE LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 22, 9:11 PM CDT, 1 minute before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 7:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 66 min |
| May 22, 8:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Marion | 59 min |
| May 22, 8:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 40 min |
| May 22, 8:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 48 min |
| May 22, 9:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 44 min |
| May 22, 9:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 54 min |
| May 22, 10:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Morgan | 59 min |
| May 22, 10:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 67 min |
| May 23, 1:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 34 min |
| May 23, 2:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 57 min |
| May 23, 2:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton, Shelby | 64 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.