Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 17, 1988Burke County, Emanuel County, Jefferson County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1988, 1:19 PM EDT for Burke County, Emanuel County, Jefferson County, Georgia. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 1988, 1:19 PM EDT (17:19 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1988, 2:15 PM EDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Burke County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Jefferson 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 209 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 253 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1306 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAGS 171720
SVRAGS
GAC033-107-163-171815-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
119 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUGUSTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...BURKE...EMANUEL...JEFFERSON
 
WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT 1:15PM EDT INDICATES A VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORM IN JEFFERSON COUNTY GEORGIA JUST SOUTH OF LOUISVILLE.
THIS THUNDERSTORM CONTAINS HAIL AND IS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. A
SECOND THUNDERSTORM 10 WEST OF WAYNESBORO GEORGIA ALSO INDICATES IT
CONTAINS HAIL.BOTH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS.
 
 
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 FlLOOD 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

Local storm report, May 17, 8:18 AM EDT, 5 hours 1 minute before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA 815AM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988

COUNTY........ NEWTON AND BUTTS

SOURCE........ CENTERAL GA ELEC COOP MEMBERSHIP

TIME.......... 330 PM EDT MON MAY 16

LOCATION...... SOUTHERN PART OF NEWTON AND NORTHERN PART OF BUTTS

TYPE STORM.... THUNDERSTORM

HAIL.......... PEA TO MARBLE SIZE

DAMAGE........ SEVERAL POWER OUTAGES TO TO LIMBS ON LINES

INJURIES...... NONE

WARNING....... SEVERE THUNDERS-TORM

Local storm report, May 17, 9:18 AM EDT, 4 hours 1 minute before

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
915 AM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988

...DELAYED STORM REPORTS...
REF STORM ACTIVITY OF MONDAY MAY 16 1988

.COUNTY...SUMTER CO GEORGIA
.TYPE STORM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
.TIME...ABOUT 730 PM EDT.
.LOCATION...LAKE BLACKSHEAR AREA OF EASTERN SUMTER COUNTY.
.DAMAGE...MANY PINE AND OAK TREES BLOWN DOWN..NEAR 200 RESIDENTS
          WITHOUT POWER FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS.
.WIND...VERY STRONG ESTIMATED GREATER THAN 50 MPH.
.HAIL...SIZE OF QUARTERS.
.SOURCE...GEORGIA POWER EMPLOYEE IN AMERICUS WHO LIVES IN
          LAKE BLACKSHEAR AREA.
.INJURIES..NONE KNOWN.
.WATCHES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 136.
.WARNINGS...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 708 UNTIL 745 PM EDT.
.HAIL... 3/4 OF AN INCH.
.WATCHES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 122.
.WARNINGS...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FROM 621 UNTIL 715 PM EDT.
.SOURCE...BAKER COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE

.COUNTY...COLQUITT
.TYPE STORM...TORNADO.
.TIME...725 PM EDT
.LOCATION...TOWN OF FUNSTON GEORGIA ABOUT 6 MILES WEST OF MOULTRIE.
.DAMAGE...6 TO 8 TREES UPROOTED OR DOWNED...SOME BLOCKING ROADS.
          ONE MOBILE HOME MOVED OFF OF FOUNDATION.
          SEVERAL POWER LINES DOWN...GENERAL POWER OUTAGES THROUGHOUT
          CENTRAL PART OF COLQUITT COUNTY INCLUDING CITY OF MOULTRIE.
.HAIL...SIZE UNKNOWN BUT CONSIDERABLE CROP DAMAGE FUNSTON AREA.
.INJURIES...NONE
.WATCHES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NUMBER 122 AND 126.
.WARNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 721 TO 800 PM EDT...SUPERCEDED BY
          TORNADO WARNING 725 TO 800 PM EDT.
.SOURCE...COLQUITT EMA...COLQUITT SHERIFFS OFFICE...WALB-TV ALBANY GA
.COMMENTS...TORNADO WARNING BASED UPON SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTS
          AND ONE REPORT OF TORNADO TOUCHING GROUND.c  INFO FROM GENERAL
          PUBLIC.

Local storm report, May 17, 9:26 AM EDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
915 AM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988 CORRECTION
                                     ONE REPORT ONLY
...DELAYED STORM REPORTS...
REF STORM ACTIVITY OF MONDAY MAY 16 1988

.COUNTY...SUMTER CO GEORGIA
.TYPE STORM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
.TIME...ABOUT 730 PM EDT.
.LOCATION...LAKE BLACKSHEAR AREA OF EASTERN SUMTER COUNTY.
.DAMAGE...MANY PINE AND OAK TREES BLOWN DOWN..NEAR 200 RESIDENTS
          WITHOUT POWER FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS.
.WIND...VERY STRONG ESTIMATED GREATER THAN 50 MPH.
.HAIL...SIZE OF QUARTERS.
.SOURCE...GEORGIA POWER EMPLOYEE IN AMERICUS WHO LIVES IN
          LAKE BLACKSHEAR AREA.
.INJURIES..NONE KNOWN.
.WATCHES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER q136.
.WARNINGS...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 708 UNTIL 745 PM EDT.

Local storm report, May 17, 1:10 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE ATLANTA GA
1250 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988

UPDATED INFORMATION ON STORM DAMAGE...

SURVEY CONDUCTED BY NWS METEOROLOGIST...

A THUNDERSTORM WITH WINDS ESTIMATED AROUND 50 MILES AN HOUR STRUCK
AN APARTMENT COMPLEX UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEAR LITHONIA GEORGIA IN
DEKALB COUNTY (NEAR PANOLA ROAD AND HILLANDALE DRIVE).

STORM OCCURRED ABOUT 210 PM EDT MONDAY MAY 16TH. ONE UNIT COLLAPSED
RESULTING IN ONE DEATH AND 4 INJURIES. THE UNIT HAD A ROOF ON IT BUT
THE FRAMING WAS EXPOSED WITH NO SIDING ON THE BUILDING YET. THE
BUILDING'S BROADSIDE WAS FACING WEST AND ACCORDING TO CONSTRUCTION
WORKERS THE WIND BLEW VERY STRONG FROM THE WEST FOR ABOUT 2 MINUTES.
ZTHE COMPLEX WAS SITUATED IN AN EAST-WEST ORIENTED VALLEY. THERE WAS
LITTLE IF ANY DAMAGE TO OTHER BUILDINGS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BEHIND
THE UNIT BUT ONLY ONE SMALL BRANCH WAS BROKEN.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 12:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Habersham	57 min
May 17, 2:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Screven	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1988 Every 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.