Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 99, NWS Mobile, AL

November 4, 1988Geneva County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 4, 1988, 12:59 PM CST for Geneva County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 4, 1988, 12:59 PM CST (18:59 UTC)
Expired
Nov 4, 1988, 1:50 PM CST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Geneva 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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 172 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 1988-11-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1841 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-11-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
1841 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Nov 4, 7:19 AM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
715 AM CDT FRI NOV 4 1988

...PATCHY DENSE FOG IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

DENSE FOG HAS DEVELOPED OVER WEST MOBILE REDUCING VISIBILITY TO
NEAR ZERO IN PLACES.  PERSONS SHOULD EXPECT TO TAKE A LITTLE
LONGER TO GET TO WORK THIS MORNING.

MOTORISTS IN THE AREA...AND ALONG INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS 10 AND 65
...SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THIS DENSE FOG UNTIL AROUND 9 AM.
Special weather statement, Nov 4, 11:47 AM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1145 AM CST FRI NOV 4 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROMING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

AT 1140 AM CST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
OVER NORTH WALTON COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF FLORALA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO GENEVA
COUNTY ALABAMA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

THIS THUNDERSTORM ALONG WITH OTHER THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE RESULTING IN
WINDS OF AT LEAST 58 MILES AN HOUR...HAIL OF AT LEAST THREE-QUARTERS
OF AN INCH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS.

YOU SHOULD TRY TO KEEP INFORMED OF THE CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION AND
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IF DANGEROUS WEATHER DEVELOPES AND WARNINGS
ARE ISSUED.
Special weather statement, Nov 4, 11:49 AM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1145 AM CST FRI NOV 4 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FORMING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

AT 1140 AM CST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
OVER NORTH WALTON COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF FLORALA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO GENEVA
COUNTY ALABAMA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

THIS THUNDERSTORM ALONG WITH OTHER THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE RESULTING IN
WINDS OF AT LEAST 58 MILES AN HOUR...HAIL OF AT LEAST THREE-QUARTERS
OF AN INCH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS.

YOU SHOULD TRY TO KEEP INFORMED OF THE CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION AND
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IF DANGEROUS WEATHER DEVELOPES AND WARNINGS
ARE ISSUED.
Special weather statement, Nov 4, 12:32 PM CST, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1235 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN HOLMES COUNTY
   EXPIRED AT 1230 PM CST...

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST
FLORIDA THE POSSIBILITY WILL REMAIN FOR OTHERS TO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

AT 1230 PM CST..SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED OVER
THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE.V..SOUTH ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI WITH
THE HEAVIEST RAIN ALONG THE STATE LINE NEAR THE CHOCTWAHATCHEE RIVER.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 4, 11:50 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBGeneva55 min
Nov 4, 1:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHouston69 min
Nov 4, 1:26 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin34 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.