Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Mobile, AL

January 19, 1988Forrest County, Lamar County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 19, 1988, 4:50 PM CST for Forrest County, Lamar County, Mississippi. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 19, 1988, 4:50 PM CST (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 1988, 5:30 PM CST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Forrest County, MS, Lamar 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 141 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1988-01-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1224 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1988-01-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 296 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1224 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
660 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
349 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
10.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 192250
SVRMOB
MSC035-073-192330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
450 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...FORREST...LAMAR
 
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF LUMBERTON
MISSISSIPPI. THE STORMS WAS LIKELY PRODUCING WINDS IN EXCESS OF
50 MILES AN HOUR AND HAIL. THE STORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH
PURVIS IN THE NEXT 20 MINUTES AND NEAR HATTIESBURG IN THE NEXT
1/2 HOUR.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, Jan 19, 12:22 PM CST, 4 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1220 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH #5 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
   MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 600 PM CST...

AT
Special weather statement, Jan 19, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
215 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH #5 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
   MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 600 PM CST...

AT 210 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM MERIDIAN
TO MCCOMB MISSISSIPPI THEN EXTENDING SOUTHWESTWARD INTO LOUISIANA.
THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. PATCHES OF
RAIN WERE SCATTERED OVER THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.

WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH HAVE ALREADY BEEN OBSERVED AT THE
MOBILE AIRPORT AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE COASTAL
SECTIONS UNTIL THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVES EAST OF THE COAST
THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, Jan 19, 4:24 PM CST, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
425 PM CST TUE JAN 19 1988

...TORNADO WATCH #7 IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
   AND ALL OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 1000 PM CST...
...TORNADO WATCH #5 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
   MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 600 PM CST...

AT 420 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM MERIDIAN
TO HATTIESBURG MISSISSIPPI AND EXTENDING SOUTHWESTWARD INTO LOUISIANA.
THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPI
AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVES THROUGH THE
WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAINFALL...AND
LARGE HAIL.

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.