Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 4, 1988Cherokee County, Alabama

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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1988-11-04Temperature 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 km15 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 1988-11-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 147 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
-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

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, Nov 4, 9:58 AM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
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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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 4, 3:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens48 min
Nov 4, 3:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Franklin65 min
Nov 4, 4:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Tuscaloosa40 min
Nov 4, 4:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry51 min
Nov 4, 4:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens61 min
Nov 4, 4:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale61 min
Nov 4, 4:22 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa53 min
Nov 4, 4:32 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXFayette43 min
Nov 4, 4:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa44 min
Nov 4, 4:47 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale58 min
Nov 4, 4:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson55 min
Nov 4, 4:50 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXColbert55 min
Nov 4, 4:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker66 min
Nov 4, 5:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Pickens59 min
Nov 4, 5:01 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLawrence53 min
Nov 4, 5:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin60 min
Nov 4, 5:25 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLimestone65 min
Nov 4, 5:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Tuscaloosa58 min
Nov 4, 5:37 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson53 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.