Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 72, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 23, 1988Ben Hill County, Telfair County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1988, 7:11 PM EDT for Ben Hill County, Telfair County, Georgia. It was in force for 49 min. 2 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
May 23, 1988, 7:11 PM EDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1988, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ben Hill County, GA, Telfair 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 23, 7:20 PM EDTHail 1.75Ben Hill, GA
May 23, 7:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Telfair, 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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 199 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 1988-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 160 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
160 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-136 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
129 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 232312
SVRMCN
GAC017-271-240000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
711 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MACON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...BEN HILL
IN CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...TELFAIR
 
AT 710 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH
OF MCRAE AND NEAR FITZGERALD MOVING NORTHEAST 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 RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGlascock, Warren66 min
May 23, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLincoln52 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.