Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 18, 1988Union County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 18, 1988, 3:01 PM EDT for Union County, Georgia. It was in force for 44 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: Jun 18, 1988, 3:01 PM EDT (19:01 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 1988, 3:45 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

County Union 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 18, 3:20 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Union, 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 117 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: 309 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -168 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1391 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 44 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 KAHN 181902
SVRAHN
GAC291-181945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
301 PM EDT SAT JUN 18 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATHENS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
          ...UNION
 
AT 3 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN WESTERN UNION
COUNTY AND WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 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.

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 18, 2:13 PM EDT, 48 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
210 PM EDT SAT JUN 18 1988

THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA. WITH
ABUNDANCE OF HEAT THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY WITH
SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING STRONG SURFACE WINDS...HEAVY
DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTING AND POSSIBLE SMALL
HAIL.

AT 2PM EDT THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONFINED TO THE NORTH SECTIONS
OF NORTHEAST...NORTH OF A LINE FROM TOCCOA TO GAINSVILLE. HOWEVER...
THE STORMS WILL GRADUALLY MOVE SOUTH DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE STORMS AND
SEEK SAFE SHELTER AS THEY MOVE INTO THEIR AREA.

BOATERS ON NORTHEAST GEORGIA LAKES SHOULD MAINTAIN A CLOSE WATCH
AND SEEK SAFE HARBOR WELL AHEAD OF THE APPROACH OF THESE STORMS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 18, 3:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow	69 min
Jun 18, 4:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Gwinnett	41 min
Jun 18, 5:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Barrow, Walton	38 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.