Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Memphis, TN

November 19, 1988Lafayette County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 19, 1988, 9:37 PM CST for Lafayette County, Mississippi. It was in force for 33 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 19, 1988, 9:37 PM CST (03:37 UTC)
Expired
Nov 19, 1988, 10:10 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette 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
Nov 19, 9:40 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Lafayette, 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 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 00:00Z on 1988-11-20Temperature 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 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 00:00Z on 1988-11-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
313 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, Nov 19, 6:16 PM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
615 PM CST SAT NOV 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 492 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 610 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...PRENTISS...TISHOMINGO AND NORTHERN ITAWAMBA. THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

MORE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER DURING THE LAST HOUR. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF WARNINGS FOR SOME OF THE WESTERN COUNTIES.

STAY TUNE FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND MAKE PLANS TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IF AND WHEN A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
Special weather statement, Nov 19, 7:15 PM CST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
715 PM CST SAT NOV 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 492 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 710 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED ISOLATED
THUNDERSHWERS OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.

HOWEVER...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS WEST
MISSISSIPPI. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED NEAR BATESVILLE.
THIS STORM HAS PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF A TORNADO WARNING FOR PANOLA
COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNE FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND MAKE PLANS TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IF AND WHEN A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
Special weather statement, Nov 19, 8:08 PM CST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
810 PM CST SAT NOV 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 492 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ALL OF
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 493 IN EFFECT FOR A PART OF NORTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI UNTIL MIDNIGHT...

AT 805 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS UNION AND LAFAYETTE COUNTIES. THIS
ACTIVITY HAS SHOWN AN INCREASE IN INTENSITY DURING THE PAST 30
MINUTES.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCATED JUST WEST OF NEW ALBANY
AND SOUTHCENTRAL LAFAYETTE COUNTY. THE ACTIVITY IS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNE FOR FURTHER UPDATES MAND MAKE PLANS TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IF AND WHEN A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
Special weather statement, Nov 19, 9:14 PM CST, 23 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 19, 6:02 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGCoahoma58 min
Nov 19, 6:22 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGQuitman38 min
Nov 19, 7:09 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGCoahoma, Quitman, Tunica66 min
Nov 19, 7:13 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGPanola32 min
Nov 19, 7:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTate36 min
Nov 19, 7:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMarshall61 min
Nov 19, 8:30 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGUnion15 min
Nov 19, 10:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc, Union60 min
Nov 19, 11:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba43 min
Nov 19, 6:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLauderdale, Tipton55 min
Nov 19, 6:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby55 min
Nov 19, 8:07 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGFayette, Shelby53 min
Nov 19, 6:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden, Mississippi66 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.