Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1988, 5:18 PM CST for Greene County, Hale County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 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
- Mar 12, 1988, 5:18 PM CST (23:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 12, 1988, 6:00 PM CST
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Greene County, AL, Hale 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 5:45 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Hale, 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 56 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
- -15 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 630 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 379 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBHM 122318
TORBHM
ALC063-065-130000-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
518 PM CST SAT MAR 12 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
...SOUTHERN GREENE...HALE
AT 500 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC NEAR COATOPA IN
IN EASTERN SUMTER COUNTY. THIS STORM IS NOW LOCATED ALONG THE
SOUTHERN GREENE AND HALE COUNTY LINE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 60
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 INTER
IOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Mar 12, 3:30 PM CST, 1 hour 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 330 PM CST SAT MAR 12 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 18 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CST... AT 325PM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN PICKENS COUNTY JUST WEST OF ALICEVILLE. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO TUSCALOOSA COUNTY WITHIN THE HOUR. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND SOME HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS. OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST TUSCALOOSA COUNTY...NORTHEAST ALONG THE JEFFERSON/WALKER COUNTY LINE. VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN MISSISSIPPI JUST WEST OF SUMTER AND PICKENS COUNTIES. v THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE ABOVE COUNTIES SHORTLY. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER.
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 4:23 PM CST, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 418 PM CST SAT MAR 12 1988 ..A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND WEAT ALABAMA UNTIL 9PM.. RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA AT 415 PM. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR BIRMINGHAM TO MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI...WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORMS JUST NORTH OF LIVINGSTON ALABAMA AND NEAR MERIDIAN. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 60 MPH...AND THE ONES OVER MISSISSIPPI WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 430 AND 5 PM. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR SELMA AND LINDEN...AND A FEW THUNDERSHOWERS WERE JUST SOUTH OF SYLACAUGA OVER NORTHERN COOSA COUNTY. RESIDENTS OF CENTRAL AND WEST ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATRER CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS OR TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO FOR LATER INFORMATION. DEVAUGHN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 3:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 63 min |
| Mar 12, 4:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Hale | 43 min |
| Mar 12, 5:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Hale, Marengo, Perry | 67 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.