Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 32, NWS Jackson, MS
NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Nov 4, 1988, 4:30 PM CST for Kemper County, Mississippi. It was in force for 30 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
- Nov 4, 1988, 4:30 PM CST (22:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 4, 1988, 5:00 PM CST
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Jackson, MS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Kemper County, MS
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 4:30 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Kemper, MS |
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
Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 136 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -155 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 926 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMEI 042232
TORMEI
MSC069-042300-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MERIDIAN MS
430 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MERIDIAN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
...KEMPER
AT 430 PM CST RARAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF
DEKALB MISSISSIPPI MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH 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.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Nov 4, 1:54 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
150 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING RAPIDLY OVER MISSISSIPPI...
A STRONG STORM SYSTEM OVER THE PLAIN STATES AND A COLD FRONT ARE
MOVING EASTWARD TOWARD MISSISSIPPI. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PUSH INTO
WESTERN MISSISSIPPI TONIGHT...BUT NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY
DEVELOPED IN A BAND FROM NEAR VICKSBURG TO OXFORD.
AT 140 PM...ONE OF THESE STORMS PRODUCED PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AT
WINONA IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE THROUGHOUT
THE AFTERNOON WITH SOME OF THE STORMS LIKELY BECOMING SEVERE. A TORNADO
WATCH NOW COVERS PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 700 PM AND
OTHER WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED FOR OTHER PORTIONS OF THE STATE
LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
<
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WANTS MISSISSIPPIANS TO BE AWARE OF
THE THREATENING WEATHER SITUATION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PEOPLE
ARE URGED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND BE READY TO TAKE COVER IF A
WARNING IS ISSUED OR IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.Special weather statement, Nov 4, 3:27 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MERIDIAN MS 325 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988 TORNADO WATCHS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF MISSISSIPPI AND PARTS OF ALABAMA FOR THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND SOME OF THIS EVENING. THESE WATCHS INCLUDE ALL COUNITES IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI AND SUMTER COUNTY IN EXTREME WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. AT 320 PM CST MERIDIAN RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED ALONG AND 60 MILES NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM PRENTISS TO CARTHAGE MISSISSIPPI TO TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. NUMEROUS SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT ALONG THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. <<
Local storm report, Nov 4, 4:22 PM CST, 8 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MERIDIAN MS
420 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
417 PM CST. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN DEKALB MISSISSIPPI REPORTED
BY KEMPER COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE.The office that day
Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 2:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Holmes | 25 min |
| Nov 4, 2:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Yazoo | 57 min |
| Nov 4, 2:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Hinds, Warren | 33 min |
| Nov 4, 2:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Holmes | 27 min |
| Nov 4, 2:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Warren | 51 min |
| Nov 4, 2:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Hinds | 48 min |
| Nov 4, 3:01 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala | 44 min |
| Nov 4, 3:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Yazoo | 38 min |
| Nov 4, 3:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Madison | 52 min |
| Nov 4, 3:36 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Hinds | 54 min |
| Nov 4, 3:41 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Rankin | 49 min |
| Nov 4, 3:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Simpson | 31 min |
| Nov 4, 3:46 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala | 29 min |
| Nov 4, 3:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper | 39 min |
| Nov 4, 3:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Smith | 47 min |
| Nov 4, 4:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lawrence | 35 min |
| Nov 4, 4:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jefferson Davis | 29 min |
| Nov 4, 4:31 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Rankin | 29 min |
| Nov 4, 4:43 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Covington, Jefferson Davis | 47 min |
| Nov 4, 5:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Simpson | 35 min |
| Nov 4, 5:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Hinds, Rankin | 30 min |
| Nov 4, 5:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clarke | 34 min |
| Nov 4, 5:48 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jones, Wayne | 27 min |
| Nov 4, 5:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jones | 46 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.