Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Mobile, AL

September 9, 1988Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 9, 1988, 7:05 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 9, 1988, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
Expired
Sep 9, 1988, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
25 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 00:00Z on 1988-09-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 132 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 00:00Z on 1988-09-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 410 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
132 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
479 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
410 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
481 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 100006
TORMOB
ALC003-100030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
705 PM CDT FRI SEP 9 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
          ...BALDWIN
 
AT 7 PM CDT SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE RECEIVED FROM LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN BALDWIN COUNTY BETWEEN LOXLEY AND SEMINOLE.
THEY WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 25 MPH.
 
RESIDENTS OF STAPELTON AND SPANISH FORT ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MObVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 9, 10:02 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin28 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.