Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 24, 1988Marengo County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1988, 5:47 PM CDT for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 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 24, 1988, 5:47 PM CDT (22:47 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1988, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marengo 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 24, 6:00 PM CDTTornado F1Marengo, 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

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1988-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 119 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1988-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 138 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
119 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
987 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 242249
TORBHM
ALC091-242315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
547 PM CDT TUE MAY 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...MARENGO
 
AT 545 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN MARENGO COUNTY 5
MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST OF LINDEN MOVING TOWARD THE CITY OF LINDEN.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 5:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo58 min
May 24, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo28 min
May 24, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.