Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 9, 1988Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1988, 7:20 PM CDT for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 9, 1988, 7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 1988, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Jackson County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 9, 7:25 PM CDT	Tornado F2	Jackson, AL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 160 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2283 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 298 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 100022
TORHSV
ALC071-100100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
720 PM CDT MON MAY 9 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...JACKSON
 
AT 719 THIS EVENING HUNTSVILLE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
THE TOWN OF STEVENSON IN JACKSON COUNTY ALABAMA. THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO
WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 30 MPH.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 8:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Walker	65 min
May 9, 9:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	41 min
May 9, 9:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	62 min
May 10, 1:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount, Etowah	55 min
May 10, 2:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount, Cullman	59 min
May 10, 2:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker, Winston	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.