Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 84, NWS Jackson, MS
NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Dec 31, 1988, 5:04 PM CST for Covington County, Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi. It was in force for 26 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 31, 1988, 5:04 PM CST (23:04 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 31, 1988, 5:30 PM CST
- In force
- 26 min
- Issued by
- NWS Jackson, MS
- Area
- Whole counties
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
Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 775 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 165 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KJAN 312305
TORJAN
MSC031-065-312330-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
504 PM CST SAT DEC 31 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
...SOUTHERN COVINGTON...SOUTHEASTERN JEFFERSON.DAVIS
AT 500 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO
DEVELOPING WAS INDICATED OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST JEFFERSON DAVIS COUNTY
5 MILES SOUTH OF BASSFIELD. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
60 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHERN COVINGTON COUNTY
WITHIN THE NEXT 10 TO 15 MINUTES.
IF YOU ARE #IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER STURDY FURNITURE.
USE PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR HEAD.
<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, Dec 31, 4:18 PM CST, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 420 PM CST SAT DEC 31 1988 ...A COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORMS INTENSIFYING OVER SOUTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 415 PM CST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ON THE PIKE-WALTHALL COUNTYLINE 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TYLERTOWN. AN EVEN STRONGER STORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA NEAR FRANKLINTON...WHICH SHOULD BE MOVING INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST WALTHALL AND SOUTHERN MARION COUNTIES TOWARD 5 PM. THESE STORMS APPEAR TO BE BELOW SEVERE LEVELS AT THE PRESENT TIME... BUT SEVERE WEATHER IS A POSSIBILITY OVER THIS PART OF MISSISSIPPI THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THESE TWO STORMS WILL CERTAINLY RESULT IN SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS. INTERESTS OVER SOUTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER AND BE READY TO TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...OR IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.
Special weather statement, Dec 31, 4:48 PM CST, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 448 PM CST SAT DEC 31 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TO INTENSIFY OVER SOUTH MISSISSIPPI.. AT 445 PM CST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST MARION COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF COLUMBIA. THIS STORM WAS LIKELY PRODUCING WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR...FREQUENT LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE IN JEFFERSON DAVIS COUNTY AROUND 5 PM. A CLUSTER OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI DURING THE PAST HOUR...MAINLY BETWEEN MCCOMB AND HATTIES- BURG. AT THE PRESENT TIME THE STORMS APPEAR TO BE JUST BELOW SEVERE LIMITS AND ANY FURTHER STRENGHTENING WOULD REQUIRE WARNINGS. INTERESTS OVER SOUTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER AND BE READY TO TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...OR IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 1:10 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Lauderdale | 6 hr |
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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.