Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 28, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Nov 19, 1988, 6:02 PM CST for Coahoma County, Mississippi. It was in force for 58 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, 6:02 PM CST (00:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 19, 1988, 7:00 PM CST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Coahoma 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 19, 6:40 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Coahoma, 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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 90 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMEM 200003
TORMEM
MSC027-200100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
602 PM CST NOV 19 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
...COAHOMA
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF CLEVELAND. RADAR
INDICATES THIS STORM MAY BE PRODUCING A TORNADO. PRESENT TRACK AND
SPEED WILL PUT IT IN THE CLARKSDALE VICINITY AROUND 615 CST. GOLF BALL
SIZED HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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 19, 3:11 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 305 PM CST SAT NOV 19 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 8:00 PM THIS EVENING... AT 255 PM CST...TUPELO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING SCATTERED RAINSHOWER ACTIVITY OVER ALL OF THE NORTHWESTERN SECTION OF MISSISSIPPI WHERE THE TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT AT THIS TIME. NO STRONG DEVELOPMENT WAS INDICATED. ELSEWHWERE OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI...RADAR WAS INDICATING A RATHER LARGE AREA OF WIDESPREAD LIGHT RAIN WITH EMBEDDED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS. THE HEAVIEST CONCENTRATIONS OF THUNDERSHOWER ACTIVITY WAS INDICATED JUST EAST OF FULTON IN CENTRAL ITAWAMBA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MIES AN HOUR. STAY TUNED TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...TELEVISION OR RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THE WEATHER AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 19, 6:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Quitman | 38 min |
| Nov 19, 7:09 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Coahoma, Quitman, Tunica | 66 min |
| Nov 19, 7:13 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Panola | 32 min |
| Nov 19, 7:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Tate | 36 min |
| Nov 19, 7:44 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Marshall | 61 min |
| Nov 19, 8:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Union | 15 min |
| Nov 19, 9:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lafayette | 33 min |
| Nov 19, 10:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Pontotoc, Union | 60 min |
| Nov 19, 11:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Itawamba | 43 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.