Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Mobile, AL

June 26, 1988Coffee County, Dale County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 26, 1988, 4:12 PM CDT for Coffee County, Dale County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. 3 reports 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
Jun 26, 1988, 4:12 PM CDT (21:12 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1988, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL

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
Jun 26, 4:15 PM CDTHail 1Coffee, AL
Jun 26, 4:21 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 67Dale, AL
Jun 26, 5:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Coffee, AL

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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1403 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1403 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 262116
SVRMGM
ALC031-045-262215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
412 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...COFFEE...DALE
AT 410 PM RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM JUST
NORTHEAST OF NEW BROCKTON TO FORT RUCKER MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF Y+OUR 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, Jun 26, 3:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
305 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
COUNTIES AND ALMOST ALL SOUTHWEST ALABAMA COUNTIES...

AT 300 PM RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN CLARK COUNTY
 ALABAMA AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS JUST NORTHWEST OF MOBILE AND EAST
OF FAIRHOPE. IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING NEAR
HURLEY IN JACKSON COUNTY AND NEAR HATTIESBURG. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
SHOWING LITTLE MOVEMENT.

DURING THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOPE
IN OTHER AREAS. IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO WITNESS HEAVY RAINFALL
...DO SO IN A SAFE STRUCTURE. THyE HEAVY RAIN WILL LIKELY BE ACCOMPANED
BY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 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.