Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 1988, 1:40 PM EDT for Bibb County, Jones County, Monroe County, Georgia. It was in force for 50 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
- Apr 23, 1988, 1:40 PM EDT (17:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 23, 1988, 2:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bibb County, GA, Jones County, GA, Monroe County, GA
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2:10 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Bibb, GA | |
| Apr 23, 2:30 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Jones, GA | |
| Apr 23, 2:30 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Monroe, 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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
- 731 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -196 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 648 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 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 KATL 231741
SVRMCN
GAC021-169-207-231830-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
ISSUED BY ATLANTA GA
140 PM EDT SAT APR 23 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN CENTRAL GEORGIA
...BIBB...JONES...MONROE
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN MONROE COUNTY MOVING
EAST AT 40 MPH.
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 RAOINS 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, Apr 23, 12:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 1210 PM EDT SAT APR 23 1988 SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD BEGUN FORMING OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA COUNTIES BY 1205 PM EDT. RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD MOVED INTO WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA JUST SOUTH OF LAGRANGE IN TROUP COUNTY. THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING GENERALLY EST AT NEAR 50 MPH. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN ALABAMA AND WEST GEORGIA ARE AHEAD OF A LARGER AREA OF PRECIPITATION OVER MISSISSIPPI...ARKANSAS ...LOUISIANA...AND TEXAS. THIS LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS... SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN. PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA... INCLUDING THE LAGRANGE AREA SHOULD STAY ALERT TO THIS CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION AND BE READY TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS AS NECESSARY.
Special weather statement, Apr 23, 12:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA 1225 PM EDT SAT APR 23 1988 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL ALABAMA FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...CHAMBERS...LEE... RUSSELL UNTIL 6 PM EDT... ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA... AT 1220 PM EDT COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM LANETT ALABAMA EXTENDING EAST TO WOODBURY AND DURAND IN MERIWEATHER COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MPH. THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS... SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS. PERSONS IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD STAY ALERT TO THIS CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION AND BE READY TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS AS NECESSARY.
Special weather statement, Apr 23, 1:19 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 120 PM EDT SAT APR 23 1988 SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING OVER WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. AT 115PM EDT RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER UPSON... PIKE... AND LAMAR COUNTIES. ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD BEGUN JUST WEST OF GRIFFIN IN SPAULDING COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY MOVING EAST AT SPEEDS AROUND 45 MPH. SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONTINUING IN ALABAMA AND WEST INTO MISSISSIPPI... ARKANSAS... LOUISIANA... AND TEXAS. THIS PRECIPI- TION AREA WILL CONTINUE EAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON INTO GEORGIA. THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS... HAIL AND +VERY HEAVY RAIN. PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA INCLUDING THE GRIFFIN AREA SHOULD STAY ALERT TO THIS CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION AND BE READY TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS AS NECESSARY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin, Jones | 46 min |
| Apr 23, 5:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Jenkins | 36 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.