Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 10, 1988Irwin County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 10, 1988, 6:51 PM EDT for Irwin County, Georgia. It was in force for 69 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
May 10, 1988, 6:51 PM EDT (22:51 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1988, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Irwin 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 10, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Irwin, 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

Jacksonville, FL (KAYS), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 194 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-05-10Temperature 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1002 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 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 KMCN 102255
SVRMCN
GAC155-110000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
651 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MACON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...IRWIN
 
AT 645 PM RADAR IN MACON SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NORTH OF TIFTON
MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. IT SHOULD MOVE ACROSS IRWIN COUNTY
AND NEAR OCILLA BETWEEN 700 AND 800 PM.
 
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, May 10, 4:03 PM EDT, 2 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
400 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED IN THE GILMER AND FANNIN COUNTY
AREA BEWTWEEN ELLIJAY AND BLUERIDGE.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN
...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
EAST AT 25 MPH.  THIS THUNDERSTORM SHOULD MOVE INTO THE AREA BETWEEN
DAHLONEGA AND BLAIRSVILLE BY 5 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DARK THREATENING
CLOUDS APPROCHING FROM THE WEST.  DANGEROUS LIGHTINING WILL ACCOMPANY
THIS STORM...SO PEOPLE OUTDOORS SHOULD MOVE INSIDE TO A SAFE AREA.
Special weather statement, May 10, 5:29 PM EDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
525 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA
AND WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS BAND EXTENDS FROM NORTH OF
DAHLONEGA AND CORNELIA TO GREENVILLE SOUTH CAROLINA. SEVERAL
REPORTS OF HEAVY RAIN..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND SMALL HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST 25 MPH.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO INDICATED OVER WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.
Special weather statement, May 10, 5:45 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
540 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 8PM EDT FOR MUCH
OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA..

AT 535 PM EDT COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN SEVERAL LARGE AREAS OF RAIN FROM EAST CENTRAL
ALABAMA INTO SOUTHWEST GEORGIA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE SCATTERED
FROM 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF UNION SPRINGS ALABAMA TO JUST EAST OF
GEORGETOWN GEORGIA...ALSO JUST EAST OF EDISON GEORGIA. A VERY STRONG
STORM WAS ALSO IN MITCHELL COUNTY GEORGIA HALFWAY BETWEEN PELHAM AND
DOERUN. ALL THIS ACTIVITY WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

A HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL OVER GEORGETOWN GEORGIA IN
ONE OF THESE STORMS. PERSONS NEAR THESE STORMS CAN ALSO EXPECT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING..PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. YOU SHOULD ALSO
BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION WHEN THESE STORMS APPROCH AND
CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS MEDIA FOR LATER
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

                                                                         +
Special weather statement, May 10, 6:26 PM EDT, 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
625 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF ATHENS NEAR
MONROE..NEAR HARTWELL GEORGIA ANDH EAST OF ANDERSON SOUTH
CAROLINA. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST 30 MPH
ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS..FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND SMALL HAIL.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER
THE WESTERN CAROLINAS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 8:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDade54 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.