Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Mobile, AL

March 4, 1988Jackson County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 4, 1988, 12:46 AM CST for Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 59 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
Mar 4, 1988, 12:46 AM CST (06:46 UTC)
Expired
Mar 4, 1988, 1:45 AM CST
In force
59 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
Mar 4, 1:30 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Jackson, 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 00:00Z, 6.8 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 00:00Z on 1988-03-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 295 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 00:00Z on 1988-03-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 260 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
295 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
654 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
260 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 040646
SVRMOB
MSC059-040745-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1246 AM CST FRI MAR 4 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...JACKSON
 
RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR OCEAN SPRINGS
MISSISSIPPI. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
HARRISON COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED HAIL IN EASTERN HARRISON COUNTY.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN IoNTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Mar 3, 11:27 PM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1125 PM CST THU MAR 3 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 12 IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT...

HOWEVER...AT 1115 PM MOBILE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
JUST INLAND FROM THE COAST THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF A BROAD AREA
OF RAIN COVERING MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND THE SOUTHEAST HALF
OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL
...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL
HAIL DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

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.