Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 182, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 5, 1988, 2:20 PM EST for Bradley County, Tennessee; Catoosa County, Whitfield County, Georgia. It was in force for 55 min. 3 reports 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
- Nov 5, 1988, 2:20 PM EST (19:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 5, 1988, 3:15 PM EST
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Catoosa County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Bradley County, TN
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2:25 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Bradley, TN | |
| Nov 5, 2:30 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Catoosa, GA | |
| Nov 5, 2:30 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Whitfield, GA |
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
Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 191 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 830 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 88 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -123 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -154 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 KCHA 051924 RRA
SVRCHA
GAC047-313-TNC011-107-052015-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
220 PM EST SAT NOV 5 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHATTANOOGA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
...CATOOSA...NORTHWESTERN WHITFIELD
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
...BRADLEY...MCMINN
RADAR INDICATED A LING OF POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING
HAIL DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGEING WIND GUST IN EAST HAMILTON
COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
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, Nov 5, 12:36 PM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
1235 PM EST SAT NOV 5 1988
.....THUNDERSTORM REDEVELOPMENT OVER NORTHWEST GEORGIA.....
A SMALL AREA OF SHOWERS WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS QUICKLY DEVELOPED
OVER NORTHEAST ALABAMA JUST BEFORE NOON. EARLY THIS AFTERNOON RADAR
INDICATED THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE JUST STRADDLING THE ALABAMA BORDER
WITH CHATTOGA AND FLOYD COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA.
THE AREA WAS MOVING RAPIDLY EAST NEAR 30 MPH. SEVERAL SMALLER SHOWERS
WERE ALSO INDICATED ON RADAR SOUTH OF THE THUNDERSTORM AREA AND MAY
PASS OVER HARALSON AND CARROLL COUNTIES WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS.
PERSONS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD BE ALERT OVER (THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS AS AN UPPER AIR FEATURE TRIGGERS SHOWERS IN MOIST POCKETS OF
WARMER AIR STILL LINGERING IN THE WAKE OF THE INTENSE FRONTAL SYSTEM
NOW NEARING THE GEORGIA COAST. THE RISK OF A STORM WILL BE DIMINISHED
LATER THIS AFTERNOON.Special weather statement, Nov 5, 2:14 PM EST, 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 214 PM EST SAT NOV 5 1988 .....SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS RAKE ACROSS NORTHERN GEORGIA..... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE RAPIDLY ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS WERE PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AS WELL AS SMALL HAIL. WIND SPEEDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED IN STORMS IN COBB COUNTY NEAR THE MARIETTA AREA, NEAR WOODSTOCK IN SOUTH CHEROKEE COUNTY AND IN NORTH FULTON COUNTY. THERE HAVE BEEEN NUMEROUS REPORTS OF PEA SIZE HAIL AND GUSTING WINDS IN THESE LOCALITIES. THE GENERAL AREA OF DEVELOPMENT HAS SPREAD STEADILY SOUTH OVER THE PAST HOUR. RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSHOWERS AS FAR SOUTH AS TROUP, MERIWETHER, AND UPSON COUNTIES AT 205 PM. SMALL HAIL WAS OBSERVED IN A STORM IN NORTH FAYETTE COUNTY. PERSONS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD BE ALERT TO THESE STORMS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
Local storm report, Nov 5, 2:16 PM EST, 4 minutes before
STORM REPORT...DELAYED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
215 PM EST SAT NOV 5 1988
REF STORM ACTIVITY.....FRIDAY NOV 4 1988
COUNTY..... RUSSELL (ALABAMA)
SOURCE..... CO-OP OBSERVER AT HURTSBORO
TIME....... AROUND 7PM
LOCATION... HURTSBORO
TYPE STORM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
HAIL....... DIME AND MARBLE SIZE
DAMAGE..... NO HAIL OR WIND DAMAGE REPORTED SO FAR WITH THIS STORM
INJURIES... NONE
WATCHES.... NONE
WARNINGS... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FOR RUSSELL COUNTY FROM
6.49 PM EST UNTIL 7.45 PM EST.The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | McMinn | 55 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1988Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.