Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 24, 1988, 4:28 AM CST for Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 47 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
- Dec 24, 1988, 4:28 AM CST (10:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 24, 1988, 5:15 AM CST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Shelby County, TN
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24, 4:45 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Shelby, TN |
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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 40 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
- 3582 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 81 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 305 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 361 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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, Dec 24, 2:15 AM CST, 2 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 215 AM CST SAT DEC 24 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 515 IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 AM FOR WEST AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE ALONG WITH ADJACENT SECTIONS OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR MADISON COUNTY TENNESSEE UNTIL 230 AM... AT 210 AM THIS MORNING THE LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO PUMMEL WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI WITH HEAVY RAIN...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND STRONG WIND. WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MADISON COUNTY AT 200 AM AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS POSTED FOR THAT WEST TENNESSEE COUNTY UNTIL 230 AM. NUMEROUS REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED OF VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WIND GUSTS...AND QUITE FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES...BUT THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF DESTRUCTIVE WEATHER EVENTS. WEATHER RADAR AT 210 AM FOUND THE LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR PARIS TN... TO JACKSON TN... TO EAST MEMPHIS... TO NEAR HERNADO MS... AND TO NEAR CLARKSDALE MS. WHILE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS STILL WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT NEARLY 50 MPH...THE THUNDERSTORM LINE APPEARS TO HAVE SLOWED TO AROUND 20 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION AND BE READY TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A SAFE PLACE SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH.
Special weather statement, Dec 24, 2:25 AM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 225 AM CST SAT DEC 24 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH #515 IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 6 AM... AT 220 AM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTHWEST OF CLEVELAND MISSISSIPPI TO EAST OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE EXTENDING TO TEN MILES SOUTHWEST OF JACKSON TENNESSEE. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR. WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAINS... FREQUENT LIGHTENING AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE. PEOPLE IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI NEED TO BE WEATHER ALERT AND TAKE THE PROPER ACTION WHEN THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. STAY TUNE TO N0AA WEATHER RADIO OR THE NEWS MEDIA FOR ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Dec 24, 3:15 AM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24, 2:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | DeSoto | 28 min |
| Dec 24, 2:58 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Marshall | 32 min |
| Dec 24, 3:14 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Marshall | 31 min |
| Dec 24, 2:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Madison | 28 min |
| Dec 24, 4:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden | 32 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 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.