Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 4, 1988, 1:09 PM CST for Cherokee County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 4, 1988, 1:09 PM CST (19:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 4, 1988, 2:00 PM CST
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cherokee 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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 205 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
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -155 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 926 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
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, Nov 4, 9:58 AM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, Nov 4, 11:27 AM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 1125 AM CST FRI NOV 4 1988 WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF FLORALA ALABAMA AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR. THE MOST INTENSE PORTION OF IT SHOULD PASS NEAR SAMSON WITHIN THE HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...INTENSE LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLE HAIL. SOUTHEAST ALABAMA RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR MORE RAPID DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Nov 4, 12:49 PM CST, 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1250 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
...SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS A THREAT FOR ALABAMA...
A MAJOR STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER AND MIDDLE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY PUSH INTO ALABAMA
LATER TODAY. EVEN THOUGH ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR
IN ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON...BEST INDICATIONS ARE THAT MORE WIDESPREAD
SEVERE WEATHER WILL DEVELOP LATE THIfS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.
YOU ARE URGED TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES...AND TO MONITOR
NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO..OR TV FOR LATER STATEMENTS...
AND POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS.The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 3:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 48 min |
| Nov 4, 3:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 65 min |
| Nov 4, 4:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Tuscaloosa | 40 min |
| Nov 4, 4:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 51 min |
| Nov 4, 4:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 61 min |
| Nov 4, 4:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 61 min |
| Nov 4, 4:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 53 min |
| Nov 4, 4:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 43 min |
| Nov 4, 4:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 44 min |
| Nov 4, 4:47 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 58 min |
| Nov 4, 4:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 55 min |
| Nov 4, 4:50 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert | 55 min |
| Nov 4, 4:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 66 min |
| Nov 4, 5:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens | 59 min |
| Nov 4, 5:01 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 53 min |
| Nov 4, 5:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 60 min |
| Nov 4, 5:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 65 min |
| Nov 4, 5:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Hale, Tuscaloosa | 58 min |
| Nov 4, 5:37 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 53 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.