Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 96, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 17, 1988Baldwin County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 1988, 7:16 PM EDT for Baldwin County, Georgia. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 1988, 7:16 PM EDT (23:16 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1988, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Baldwin 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 139 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
139 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-207 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1480 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 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 172315
SVRMCN
GAC009-180000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
716 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 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 CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...BALDWIN
 
AT 610 PM MILLEDGEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
IN THE CITY. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAUSING THE HAIL WAS MOVING EAST
AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, Jun 17, 3:41 PM EDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
340 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEST GEORGIA MOUNTAINS...

AT 330 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER TOCCOA
GEORGIA. MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

PERSONS IN STEPHENS COUNTY OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA CAN EXPECT STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUNS CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING FOR THE NEXT HOUR.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DEVELOPING OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA
THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

ELSEWHERE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OCCURRING FROM EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA INTO
NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOSTLY FROM THE NORTHEAST GEORGIA MOUNTAINS INTO
THE WESTERN CAROLINAS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 5:03 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
TTAASP KAHN 172103
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
450 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONTINUING OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

AT 435 PM EDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..A FEW VERY STRONG..WERE FORMING
OVER THE AREA ALONG AND UP TO 50 MILES EATHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM
LA GRANGE TO SHELBY NORTH CAROLINA.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA 5 MILES EAST OF GREENVILLE AND
OVER SPARTANBURG.

IN GEORGIA..VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST WEST OF ATHENS..
OVER FORSYTH AND OVER LAKE SINCLAIR.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVVNG TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND
MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..DANGEROUS LIGHTING AND SMALL HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 5:04 PM EDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
TTAASP KAHN 172104
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
450 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONTINUING OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

AT 435 PM EDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..A FEW VERY STRONG..WERE FORMING
OVER THE AREA ALONG AND UP TO 50 MILES EATHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM
LA GRANGE TO SHELBY NORTH CAROLINA.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA 5 MILES EAST OF GREENVILLE AND
OVER SPARTANBURG.

IN GEORGIA..VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST WEST OF ATHENS..
OVER FORSYTH AND OVER LAKE SINCLAIR.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVVNG TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND
MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..DANGEROUS LIGHTING AND SMALL HAIL.
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 5:44 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
TTAASP KAHN 172144
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
540 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988

AT 530 PM EDT...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED JUST SOUTH
OF SPARTANBURG SOUTH CAROLINA AND OVER CENTRAL GEORGIA 5 MILES WEST OF
LAKE JACKSON AND OVER LAKE SINCLAIR.

A CLUSTER OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHWEST
GEORGIA BETWEEN BLUE RIDGE AND ELLIJAY.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HO,UR AND
MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.
Local storm report, Jun 17, 7:06 PM EDT, 10 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
705 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988

COUNTY........ WALTON COUNTY GEORGIA

SOURCE........ WKUN RADIO MONROE GEORGIA

TIME.......... 500-505 PM EDT...2100-2105Z

LOCATION...... MONROE GEORGIA

TYPE STORM.... THUNDERSTORM WITH WINDS ESTIMATED 50-55 MPH

HAIL.......... NONE REPORTED

DAMAGE........ TREES DOWN ON 10 STREETS...TREES DOWN ON CARS...

INJURIES...... TWO INJURED WHEN TREE FEEL ON CAR

WARNING....... NONE                                                                 ]

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.