Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Mobile, AL

June 26, 1988Coosa County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 26, 1988, 8:21 PM CDT for Coosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 26, 1988, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1988, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Coosa 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 89 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1988-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 893 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1988-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 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
893 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1700 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 270123
SVRMGM
ALC037-270230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
821 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...COOSA
 
AT 821 CDT RADAR AT MONTGOMERY OBSERVED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN COOSA
COUNTY BETWEEN ROCKFORD AND LAKE JORDAN THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
SOUTH AT ABOUT 10 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS LIKELY TO CARRY HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.
 
 
 
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 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, Jun 26, 3:05 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 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.
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 6:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
635 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988

AT 630 PM CDT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...
WERE OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE FROM CRESTVIEW TO DESTIN. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL DURING THE PAST
FEW HOURS.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS...THUNDERSTORMS...AND PATCHES OyF LIGHT
RAIN WERE OVER NORTHWEST FLORIDA...SOUTH ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTH AT 5 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 27, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin53 min
Jun 27, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHenry, Houston69 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.