Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 34, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Nov 26, 1988, 10:08 AM CST for Panola County, Quitman County, Mississippi. It was in force for 37 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 26, 1988, 10:08 AM CST (16:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 26, 1988, 10:45 AM CST
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Panola County, MS, Quitman County, MS
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 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 60 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
- 3565 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 78 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -91 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 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 26, 5:01 AM CST, 5 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 458 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 453 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI WITH MOST OF THE STRONGER ACTIVITY WEST OF A RIPLEY TO SOUTH CENTRAL LAFAYETTE COUNTY LINE. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING 10 MILES NORTHEAST AND 5 MILES EAST OF OXFORD. THE AREA IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE AREA ARE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. SINCE THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BECOlME MORE ACTIVE AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...ALL PERSONS IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER CONSCIOUS AND KEEP ABREAST OF THE WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Nov 26, 5:58 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 557 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 555 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF RIPLEY TO NEAR BUCKHORN IN SOUTHWEST PONTOTOC COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCATED NEAR BUCKHORN AND 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF PONTOTOC. THESE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO 45 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR AND VERY HEAVY RAINS. THE LINE IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE AREA ARE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. SINCE THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...ALL PERSONS IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER CONSCIOUS AND KEEP ABREAST OF THE WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Nov 26, 7:01 AM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 657 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS WEAKENING OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... AT 655 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM EASTERN PRENTISS COUNTY SOUTHWEST INTO PONTOTOC COUNTY. THE ACTIVITY HAS SHOWN A DECREASE IN INTENSITY DURING THE PAST HOUR. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF PONTOTOC. THE AREA IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE AREA ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN BRIEF BUT HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS. SINCE THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...ESPECIALLY FROM MIDDAY ON...PERSONS IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER CONSCIOUS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
Special weather statement, Nov 26, 8:02 AM CST, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 800 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 508 IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM FOR A PART OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 755 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF A LINE FROM NEAR IUKA TO 5 MILES WEST OF HOUSTON MISSISSIPPI. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF PONTOTOC AND 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF HOUSTON. THE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN BRIEF BUT HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS WEATHER SYSTEM...THEREFORE...ALL PEOPLE IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN HIGHLY ALERT AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Nov 26, 8:58 AM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 858 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 508 IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM FOR A PART OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 853 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF WIDELY SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI WHILE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING NEAR BOONEVILLE AND NORTHEAST UNION COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN BRIEF BUT HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY VERY DDANGEROUS WEATHER SYSTEM...THEREFORE...ALL PEOPLE IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN HIGHLY ALERT AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Nov 26, 9:58 AM CST, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 958 AM CST SAT NOV 26 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 508 IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM FOR A PART OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI... AT 953 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. HOWEVER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER WEST MISSISSIPPI. THE ACTIVITY HAS BECOME MORE ORGANIZED DURING THE PAST HOUR. THE ACTIVITY IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS WEATHER SYSTEM...THEREFORE...ALL PEOPLE IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN HIGHLY ALERT AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 26, 10:38 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lafayette, Pontotoc, Union | 52 min |
| Nov 26, 11:31 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Tippah, Union | 19 min |
| Nov 26, 11:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Prentiss, Union | 30 min |
| Nov 26, 12:27 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Prentiss | 18 min |
| Nov 26, 12:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Alcorn, Prentiss | 29 min |
| Nov 26, 1:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Prentiss, Tishomingo | 30 min |
| Nov 26, 2:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Oktibbeha | 29 min |
| Nov 26, 2:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Itawamba, Monroe | 42 min |
| Nov 26, 9:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby, Tipton | 58 min |
| Nov 26, 11:19 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 31 min |
| Nov 26, 11:31 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | McNairy | 59 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.