Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Miami, FL

May 1, 1988Monroe County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1988, 11:23 AM EDT for Monroe County, Florida. It was in force for 67 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
May 1, 1988, 11:23 AM EDT (15:23 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1988, 12:30 PM EDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, FL

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
May 1, 11:37 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 59Monroe, FL

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

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 12:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 609 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 184 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
609 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
896 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMIA 011528
SVRMIA
FLC087-011630-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1123 AM EDT SUN MAY 1 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH FLORIDA
          ...UPPER KEYS OF MONROE COUNTY NORTH OF CRAIG KEY
 
AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN CRAIG KEY AND KEY LARGO.
 
 
AT 1115 AM 3/4 INCH HAIL AND 55 KT WINDS WERE OBSERVED IN A
THUNDERSTORM NEAR MARATHON AND CONCH KEY.
RADAR INDICATES THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 27 KNOTS.
 
SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING
WIND..HAIL..VERY HEAVY RAIN..AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE
IN THIS THUNDERSTORM. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
AND STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
THIS STORM WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY DEADLY LIGHTNING..WIND EXCEEDING
GALE FORCE..AND VERY ROUGH SEAS.  BOATERS SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR.
 
IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY..AND YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

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, May 1, 8:41 AM EDT, 2 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
830 AM EDT SUN MAY 1 1988

AT 830 AM A LARGE CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...ATTENDED BY
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
EXTENDED FROM WESTERN AND SOUTHEAST DADE COUNTY TO THE UPPER KEYS
AND JUST OFFSHORE ALONG THE FLORIDA STRAITS.  RESIDENTS AND BOATERS
SHOULD BE AWARE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA AND OFFSHORE DURING THE NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS.  MOVEMENT WAS
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

LARGE AREAS OF RAIN WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY RAINFALL
COVERED MOST OF THE SOUTH FLORIDA PENINSULA SOUTH OF A NAPLES/JUPITER
LINE. THIS AREA #EXTENDED SOUTH TO THE FLORIDA KEYS AND THE ADJACENT
GULF AND ATLANTIC WATERS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Miami, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 11:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMonroe55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 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.