Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988
Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 16, 1988, 11:08 PM CDT for Coosa County, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 16, 1988, 11:08 PM CDT (04:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 17, 1988, 3:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Coosa County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL
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
Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 281 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 608 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 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 KMGM 170414
FFWMGM
ALC037-123-170430-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1108 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS EXTENDED THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 3 AM SATURDAY
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
...COOSA...TALLAPOOSA
VERY HEAVY RAIN HAS PERSISTED FOR SEVERAL HOURS OVER COOSA AND
TALLAPOOSA COUNTIES AND IS CAUSING WIDESPREAD FLOODING IN THOSE AREAS.
NUMEROUS ROADS ARE UNDER WATER...AND U.S. 231 IS WASHED OUT AND CLOSED
AT MILE MARKER 187. COOSA COUNTY ROAD 40 IS WASHED OUT BETWEEN COUNTY
ROAD 18 AND U.S. 231. COUNTY ROAD 30 AT COTTAGE GROVE IS ALSO WASHED
OUT. STREETS ARE UNDER WATER IN GOODWATER...ALEX CITY...AND JACKSON
GAP.
THE RAIN HAS SHOWN NO SIGNS OF DIMINISHING...AND WILL LIKELY PERSIST
FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS.
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPT`H MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
DEVAUGHNWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Sep 16, 5:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 555 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988 ...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER MOBILE COUNTY...SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS RECEIVED... A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH INTENSE RAINFALL ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH ACROSS MOBILE COUNTY AT THIS HOUR. RADAR SHOWS SHOWERS DEVELOPING AND MOVING NORTHWARD INTO THE MISSISSIPPI COASTAL COUNTIES. SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLIC AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL IN MOBILE COUNTY. A THUNDERSTORM WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALL WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH MOBILE AT 545 PM. LOW...SCUD CLOUDS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED BRUSHING THE TOPS OF THE TREES TO THE EAST AND NORTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT...BUT NO ROTATION IN THE CLOUDS WAS OBSERVED. THE HEAVY RAINFALL IS BECOMING A CONCERN. OVER THREE AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN HAS OCCURRED AT THE AIRPORT TODAY AND ANY ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL COULD POSE FLOODING PROBLEMS. STREETS AND ROADS IN THE AREA ARE ALREADY COVERED WITH WATER AND STREAMS ARE AT BANKFULL. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL IS ANTICIPATED TONIGHT AND RESIDENTS... ESPECIALLY IN MOBILE COUNTY...SHOULD STAY ALERT TO THE POSSIBLITY OF FLASH FLOODING AND BE PREPARED TO ACT QUICKyLY IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.
Local storm report, Sep 16, 7:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
ATTN SELS STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 740 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988 WIND DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE IN OCEAN SPRINGS MISSISSIPPI WAS REPORTED BY THE JACKSON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE. T#HE STORM REPORTED AS A POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME OF OCCURRENCE 722 PM.
Local storm report, Sep 16, 7:48 PM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
ATTN SELS STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 740 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988 THE HANCOCK COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED THAT A TORNADO PARTIALLY UNROOFED A HOUSE A FEW MILES NORTH OF WAVELAND MIS/SISSIPPI AT 740 PM.
Local storm report, Sep 16, 7:57 PM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
ATTN SELS STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 755 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988 THE JACKSON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE ADVISES THAT THE RESIDENCE DAMAGED BY A POSSIBLE TORNADO AT 722 PM WAS IN M=OSS POINT MISSISSIPPI RATHER THAN OCEAN SPRINGS.
Special weather statement, Sep 16, 8:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL 835 PM CDT FRI SEP 16 1988 AT 830PM CDT...HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES OVER WESTERN OKALOOSA COUNTY BETWEEN CRESTVIEW AND MILTON. THE CURRENT HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH THE THREE TO FIVE INCHES THAT HAS FALLEN OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS IS CAUSING MINOR FLOODING OF SOME ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS. THE HEAVY RAIN APPEARS TO BE GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF BUT WILL STILL CAUSE SOME FURTHER FLOODING IN FLOOD-PRONE AREAS THIS EVENING. PERSONS LIVING IN LOW AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RISING WATERS AND BE PREPARED TO PROTECT LIFE AND MOVEABLE PROPERTY. ELSEWHERE...PATCHES OF RAIN...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS SPREAD FROM WALsTON COUNTY WEST TO SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 TO 25 MILES AN HOUR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 3:03 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Tallapoosa | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1988Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.