Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Mobile, AL

April 18, 1988Jackson County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1988, 3:31 PM CDT for Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 29 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
Apr 18, 1988, 3:31 PM CDT (20:31 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1988, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 18, 3:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Jackson, 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

Boothville, LA (KBVE), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Boothville, LA at 12:00Z on 1988-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 906 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Boothville, LA at 12:00Z on 1988-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 232 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 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
906 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
623 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
7.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 182031
SVRMOB
MSC059-182100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
331 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...JACKSON
 
MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NORTH OF PASCAGOULA.
THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND IS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.
GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED AT OCEAN SPRINGS AS IT MOVED
THROUGH.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Apr 18, 2:10 PM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
210 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM FOR ALL
   COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 2 PM MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
45 MPH. WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE RUMBLING THROUGH
PEARL RIVER AND LAMAR COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI.

LARGE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM SYSTEM. PEOPLE IN THE
PATHS OF THESE STORMS CAN EXPECT BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS
...AND HAIL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 2:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPearl River32 min
Apr 18, 2:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHancock28 min
Apr 18, 2:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBStone25 min
Apr 18, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBJackson25 min
Apr 18, 3:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge37 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 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.