Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Mobile, AL

June 27, 1988Henry County, Houston County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 27, 1988, 6:36 PM CDT for Henry County, Houston County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 min. 2 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 27, 1988, 6:36 PM CDT (23:36 UTC)
Expired
Jun 27, 1988, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Henry County, AL, Houston 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 27, 6:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Henry, AL
Jun 27, 7:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Houston, 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1229 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1988-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1229 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1180 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 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 272337
SVRMGM
ALC067-069-280045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
636 PM CDT MON JUN 27 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...SOUTHERN HENRY...HOUSTON
 
AT 634 PM CDT MONTGOMERY'S WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
10 NORTHEAST OF DOTHAN MOVING SOUTHSOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH. IF YOU LIVE
BETWEEN DOTHAN AND THE DOTHAN AIRPORT THIS STORM IS HEADED YOUR WAY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAEIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 27, 3:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
350 PM CDT MON JUN 27 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN MOBILE COUNTY...

AT 345 PM MOBILE RADAR SHOWED SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS IN THE S-OUTHER HALF
OF MOBILE COUNTY. ONE STORM WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF MOBILE WHILE A
SECOND STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR BAYOU LA BATRE. THESE STORMS WERE LIKELY
PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS THEY DRIFT SLOWLY
SOUTHWARD.
Local storm report, Jun 27, 5:56 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
545 PM CDT MON JUN 27 1988

SANTA ROSA COUNTY...
SANTA ROSA SHERIFF DISPATCHER RECEIVED REPORT OF A POSSIBLE TORNADO
NEAR ALLENTOWN CROSSROADS MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD WHITING FIELD NAS
REPORT RECEIVED AT 420 PM CDT.
APPROXIMATELY 445 PM ...SOME TREES REPORTED DOWN AROUND THE MILTON
AREA.
407 PM CDT...WHITING FIELD NEAR MILTON REPORTED GUSTS TO 44 MPH AND
AT 420 PM CDT WIND GUST TO 48 MPH WITH 3/4 INCH HAIL REPORTED BETWEEN
420 AND 430 PM.
NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES WERE ALSO REPORTED FROM SEVERE LIGHTNING
STRIKES. LIGHTNING ALSO STRUCK THE ROAD PAVEMENT SEVERAL TIMES.
THESE REPORTS WERE RECEIVED FROM GULF COAST ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE.
Special weather statement, Jun 27, 6:20 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
620 PM CDT MON JUN 27 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BALDWIN COUNTY ALABAMA CANCELED...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR SOUTH BALDWIN COUNTY HAS BEEN
CANCELED. AT 610 THE MOBILE RADAR INDICATED THE STORM HAD WEAKENED
AND WAS NO LONGER A THREAT.

IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER
THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF PERRY COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVI,NG TO
THE SOUTH AT 15 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 27, 6:34 PM CDT, 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
635 PM CDT MON JUN 27 1988

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN FLORIDA
EXPIRED AT 630 PM CDT...

AT 630 PM CDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS OVER SOUTHEAST JACKSON
COUNTY IN FLORIDA AND OVER COVINGTON AND HENRY COUNTIES IN ALABAMA.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...
SOUTH ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI IN AN AREA FROM TALLAHASSEE
TO DOTHAN TO MERIDIAN AND SOUTH TO GULFPORT.

ALTHOUGH THE INTENSITY OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAS DECREASED DURING THE
PAST HOUR THE POTENTIAL REMAINS BFOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCoosa69 min
Jun 27, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin53 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.