Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Memphis, TN

April 18, 1988Tippah County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1988, 4:59 PM CDT for Tippah 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
Apr 18, 1988, 4:59 PM CDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1988, 5:29 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Tippah 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 18, 5:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Tippah, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1988-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1988-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Apr 18, 3:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
245 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 65 IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF
NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

AT 330 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING ACROSS PART OF NORTH
MISSISSIPPI. RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER NEAR GREENVILLE TO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TUPELO.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL
AS THEY DEVELOPE AND MOVE ACROSS PORTION OF NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE DRIVING
ON NORTH MISSISSIPPI ROADS AND HIGHWAYS THIS AFTERNOON YOU SHOULD USE
EXTRA CAUTION.

YOU ARE URGED TO KEEP ALERT AND BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DEVELOPING
SEVERE WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK A SA	FE SHELTER IF IT SHOULD
BECOME NECESSARY.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENT AND POSSIBLE WARNING.
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 4:40 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
440 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 65 IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF
NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

AT 430 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL PUSHING NORTHEASTWARD
ACROSS NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI. RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS
WITH EMBEDDED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS  FROM WEST OF CLARKSDALE IN
NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI EAST AND SOUTHEASTWARD TO FAYETTE IN FAYETTE
COUNTY OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY WAS NOTED FROM
BATESVILLE IN PANOLLA COUNTY TO NORTHWEST OF OXFORD IN LAFAYETTE
COUNTY OF NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS,FREQUENT
LIGHTNING,HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING THE PASSAGE.

THE EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI NEED TO KEEP UP WITH THE CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND TO LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND THE MEDIJA
FOR ANY WEATHER UPDATES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 1:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc105 min
Apr 18, 5:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGAlcorn45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.