Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 25, 1988, 6:31 PM CDT for Lee County, Macon County, Alabama. It was in force for 59 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
- Apr 25, 1988, 6:31 PM CDT (23:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 25, 1988, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lee County, AL, Macon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 6:41 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Macon, AL | |
| Apr 25, 6:41 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Lee, 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
Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 163 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1827 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 437 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMGM 252331
TORMGM
ALC081-087-260030-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
631 PM CDT MON APR 25 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
...LEE...MACON
AT 6 30PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN WEST MACON
COUNTY NEAR SHORTER MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.
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, Apr 25, 2:39 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 235 PM CDT MON APR 25 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 800 PM CDT... NO THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS CURRENTLY OCCURRING IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. HOWEVER...MOIST UNSTABLE AIR WAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A WARM FRONT WHICH WAS LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT FROM THE WEST IS EXPECTED TO TRIGGER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS? WITHIN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. MOST OF THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE ALONG AND NEAR THE WARM FRONT WHICH WAS LOCATED FROM JUST SOUTH OF JACKSON MISSISSIPPI EASTWARD TO MONTGOMERY ALABAMA.
Special weather statement, Apr 25, 5:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 515 PM CDT MON APR 25 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 800 PM CDT... AT 510 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF MONROEVILLE ALABAMA ALONG THE MONROE-WILCOX COUNTY LINE. THIS STORM WAS RACING EASTWARD AT 60 MPH. THE STORM SHOULD TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF WILCOX COUNTY. OTHER THUNDERSHOWERS WERE FORMING IN CENTRAL CLARKE COUNTY NEAR GROVE HILL ALABAMA. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE...WILL LIKELY CONTINUE ALONG AN EAST-WEST LINE FROM CHATOM TO EVERGREEN ALABAMA. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CON'DITIONS DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
Special weather statement, Apr 25, 6:25 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 625 PM CDT MON APR 25 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 84 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 800 THIS EVENING... MOBILE RADAR AT 620 PM CDT SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS OVER THE ALABAMA COASTAL WATERS AND THE NORTHERN PARTS OF CLARKE AND MONROE COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THE MAIN AREA OF SHOWERS HAVE SHIFTED TO THE COASTAL WATERS IN THE PAST HOUR. RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER WISE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS AS THE AIR MASS OVER SOUTHWEST ALABAMA REMAINS UNSTABLE. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI SHOULD MOVE EAST OF THE REGION AROUND MIDNIGHT PULLING WITH IT A COLD FRONT. DRIER AIR WILL BEGAN TO FILTER INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST RETURNING MORE STABLE AIRMASS BEFORE SUNRISE TUESDAY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 5:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 61 min |
| Apr 25, 3:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Chambers, Coosa, Tallapoosa | 64 min |
| Apr 25, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Chambers | 30 min |
| Apr 25, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Lowndes | 63 min |
| Apr 25, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Montgomery | 55 min |
| Apr 25, 6:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 56 min |
| Apr 25, 6:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Montgomery | 52 min |
| Apr 25, 6:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Macon | 65 min |
| Apr 25, 6:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Bullock | 66 min |
| Apr 25, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Barbour | 32 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.