Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 24, 1988Richmond County, Georgia; Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1988, 5:08 PM EDT for Richmond County, Georgia; Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 52 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: May 24, 1988, 5:08 PM EDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired: May 24, 1988, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Richmond County, GA, Aiken County, SC

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
May 24, 5:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Richmond, 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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 145 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: 426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 828 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 186 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 KAGS 242109
TORAGS
GAC245-SCC003-242200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
508 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUGUSTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...RICHMOND
IN WEST CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...AIKEN
 
AT 5 PM WEATHER RADAR AND REPORTS FROM THE PUBLIC DETECTED TORNADOES
IN AUGUSTA GA AND BEECH ISLAND SC. THE TORNADO IN AUGUSTA WAS IN THE
DOWNTOWN AREA. THE TORNADOES WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES
AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBEBNCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 3:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Butts	40 min
May 24, 3:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bibb, Jones	42 min
May 24, 4:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Houston, Peach	57 min
May 24, 4:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Twiggs	69 min
May 24, 4:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Pulaski	66 min
May 24, 5:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Ben Hill, Irwin	55 min
May 24, 6:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Turner	69 min
May 23, 8:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Aiken	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1988 Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.