Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1988, 2:49 PM EDT for Rockdale County, Georgia. It was in force for 26 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 1988, 2:49 PM EDT (18:49 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1988, 3:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 26 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rockdale 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, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 75 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
- 543 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1527 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -23 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -19 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 161850 RRA
SVRATL
GAC247-161915-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
249 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
...ROCKDALE
RADAR INDICATED A DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORM SOUTH OF CONYERS MOVING TO
THE EAST AT 10 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM LIKELY CONTAINS DAMAING WINDS
AND HAIL.
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 16, 1:47 PM EDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA 145 PM EDT MON MAY 16, 1988 THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED SMALL HAIL THIS AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS ARE SUCH THAT AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS AND HAIL OCCURENCES ARE EXPECTED INTO THE EVENING HOURS. PERSONS FROM COVINGTON TO MADISON TO ELBERTON AND NORTHWARD THROUGH NORTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY FOR STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS HAVING TO DO WITH THE STORMS AS THEY CONTINUE TO FORM. THE LARGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE HAIL AND GUSTY SURFACE WINDS WITH BRIEF DOWNPOURS.
Special weather statement, May 16, 1:54 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 155 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988 THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY ACROSS THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AREAS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. WEATHER CONDITIONS FAVOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOME INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. A THUNDERSTORM NEAR CORNELIA IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAD ALREADY PRODUCED PEA SIZE HAIL AROUND 130 PM. PEOPLE NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DARK THREATENING CLOUDS APPROCHING FROM THE NORTHWEST. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS... THEREFORE PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD MOVE INSIDE TO A SAFE AREA. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS WEATHER.
Special weather statement, May 16, 2:45 PM EDT, 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 245 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988 AT 240 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AREA. THIS BAND EXTENDED FROM NEAR ACWORTH IN NORTHWEST COBB COUNTY TO DOUGLASVILLE IN DOUGLAS COUNTY TO NEWNAN IN COWETA COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH AND ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF DOWNPOURS...GUSTY WINDS... AND SMALL HAIL. PEOPLE NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DARK THREATENING CLOUDS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS... THEREFORE PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD MOVE INSIDE TO A SAFE AREA. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS WEATHER.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Newton | 65 min |
| May 16, 3:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Clayton | 29 min |
| May 16, 3:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Elbert | 52 min |
| May 16, 3:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Coweta | 48 min |
| May 16, 3:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Henry | 46 min |
| May 16, 3:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding | 62 min |
| May 16, 3:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Butts | 62 min |
| May 16, 4:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Greene, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro | 56 min |
| May 16, 4:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Columbia | 43 min |
| May 16, 4:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Lincoln | 56 min |
| May 16, 4:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Lamar, Pike, Upson | 50 min |
| May 16, 5:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Columbia, McDuffie | 59 min |
| May 16, 5:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Johnson | 59 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.