Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 32, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Nov 19, 1988, 8:07 PM CST for Fayette County, Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 53 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 19, 1988, 8:07 PM CST (02:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 19, 1988, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 53 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Fayette County, TN, Shelby County, TN
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
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 200208
TORMEM
TNC047-157-200300-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
807 PM CST NOV 19 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN WEST TENNESSEE
...FAYETTE...EASTERN SHELBY
AT 800 PM CST A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED NEAR THE CORDOVA AREA MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WINDS HAVE
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, 4 hours 56 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.
Special weather statement, Nov 19, 6:16 PM CST, 1 hour 51 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, 52 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 19, 6:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lauderdale, Tipton | 55 min |
| Nov 19, 6:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 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.