Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 4, 1988, 1:26 PM CST for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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
- Nov 4, 1988, 1:26 PM CST (19:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 4, 1988, 2:00 PM CST
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Baldwin 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 1:45 PM CST | Hail 1.5 | Baldwin, 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
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 192 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1472 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 628 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 130 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 159 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 3.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMOB 041930
TORMOB
ALC003-042000-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
126 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
...NORTHERN BALDWIN
AT 125 PM...MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST NORTHEAST
OF AXIS. IT WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH TOWARDS STOCKTON IN
BALDWIN COUNTY.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 11:47 AM CST, 1 hour 39 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 37 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, 54 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 11:50 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Geneva | 55 min |
| Nov 4, 12:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Geneva | 51 min |
| Nov 4, 1:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Houston | 69 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.