Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 16, 1988Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1988, 4:16 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 16, 1988, 4:16 PM CDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1988, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 1988-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 326 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 1988-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 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
326 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 162120 COR
TORBHM
ALC027-117-162200-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
416 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...CLAY...SHELBY

AT 415 CDT...A REPORT WAS RECEIVED OF A TORNADO LOCATED NEAR THE SHELBY
COUNTY AIRPOT NEAR I-65. ANOTHER TORNADO WAS LOCATED IN THE SOUTH
PART OF CLAY COUNTY. BOTH THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

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 S+HELTER 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
Sep 16, 4:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay44 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.