Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 161, NWS Atlanta, GA

July 30, 1988Floyd County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 30, 1988, 6:56 PM EDT for Floyd County, Georgia. It was in force for 49 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1988, 6:56 PM EDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1988, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Floyd County, GA

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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-19 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 KATL 302257
SVRATL
GAC115-302345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
656 PM EDT SAT JUL 30 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...FLOYD
 
THE FLOYD COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WITH
THIS STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Jul 30, 2:16 PM EDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
 210 PM EDT SAT JUL 30, 1988

 THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE SPOTTED OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE LARGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...
BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...ALONG WITH KILLER CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

SHOULD THERE BE A STORM IN YOUR AREA SEEK SHELTER AT ONCE.
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE SURE THE STORM IS GOING TO BEC2OME
DAMAGING TO THE SURFACE AREA.
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 5:14 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
510 PM EDT FRI JUL 22 1988

AT 505 PM WEATHER RADAR AT COLUMBUS SHOWED SEVERAL VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN SUBURBS OF COLUMBUS.  THE STORMS WERE
COVERING A RATHER LARGE AREA AND WERE MOVING VERY LITTLE.

PERSONS THROUGHOUT THE EASTERN SECTONS OF COLUMBUS SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME
HAIL FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.  ALSO...BECAUSE OF THE VERY HEAVY RAINS
AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS...SOME BRIEF FLOODING OF
STREETS...RESIDENTIAL YARDS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS CAN BE EXPECTED.

THE STORMS SHOULD DISSIPATE IN THE NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS.
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 5:20 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED FOR DATE IN HEADING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
510 PM EDT SAT JUL 30 1988

AT 505 PM WEATHER RADAR AT COLUMBUS SHOWED SEVERAL VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN SUBURBS OF COLUMBUS.  THE STORMS WERE
COVERING A RATHER LARGE AREA AND WERE MOVING VERY LITTLE.

PERSONS THROUGHOUT THE EASTERN SECTONS OF COLUMBUS SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME
HAIL FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.  ALSO...BECAUSE OF THE VERY HEAVY RAINS
AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS...SOME BRIEF FLOODING OF
STREETS...RESIDENTIAL YARDS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS CAN BE EXPECTED.

THE STORMS SHOULD DISSIPATE IN THE NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS.
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 6:07 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ATLANTA GA
607 PM EDT THU JUL 28 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH NORTHWEST GEORGAIA.

AT 600 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN ATLANTA WAS SHOWING
A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CHEROKEE COUNTY AT THE NORTHERN END OF
LAKE ALATOONA.

PEOPLE IN CHEROKEE COUNTY AND ALONG LAKE ALATOONA CAN EXPECT PERIODS OF
HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND
POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL DURING THE NEXT HOUR. THIS STORM WAS NEARLY
STATIONARY.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN A BROAD BAND FROM NEAR ROME
TO BLUE RIDGE LAKE IN FANNIN COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DECREASE DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 4:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBurke, Jenkins, Screven53 min
Jul 30, 4:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDodge55 min
Jul 30, 5:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCRichmond51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.