Alert archive / Florida / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Tallahassee, FL

August 15, 1988Bay County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 15, 1988, 8:59 PM CDT for Bay County, Florida. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 15, 1988, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1988, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Bay County, FL

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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 625 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -14 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
625 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
855 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 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 KPNS 160201 RRA
FFWPNS
FLC005-160500-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
859 PM CDT MON AUG 15 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENSACOLA HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
          ...BAY
 
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES OVER THE GULF
ADJACENT TO WALTON AND BAY COUNTIES FLORIDA. THESE STORMS CONTINUE TO
MOVE INLAND OVER BAY AND WALTON COUNTIES. THIS CONDITION IS EXPECTED
TO REMAIN THE SAME WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL HOURS.
 
BAY COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTS NO ROADS CLOSED AT THIS TIME. SOME
LOW WATER CROSSING ARE BLOCKED. LAKES AND STREAMS ARE RISING. REPORTS
OF NUMEROUS CARS FLOODED OUT AND MANY ACCIDENTS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT MTO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 15, 7:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE APALACHICOLA FL
850 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 1988

..A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR GULF AND FRANKLIN
  COUNTIES OF NORTH FLORIDA FOR THIS EVENING..

AT 825 PM EDT...SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
FROM NORTHERN BAY COUNTY AND EXTENDED OUT INTO THE GULF TO 30 MILES
SOUTH OF FORT WALTON. GULF COUNTY SHERRIFF`S OFFICE HAS REPORTED MINOR
FLOODING ON HIGHWAY 98 IN WESTERN GULF COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST
ALABAMA..SOUTH GEORGIA..NORTH FLORIDA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE.

OVER THE GULF..THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM OFFSHORE OF PENSACOLA TO
CEDAR KEY AND EXTENDED OUT 60 MILES.

MOVEMENT OF THUNDERSORMS OVER NORTH FLORIDA WAS TO THE NORTH AT 10 MILES
AN HOUR WHILE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PANHANDLE WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST
AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 8:03 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY..CORRECTION..
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE APALACHICOLA FL
850 PM EDT MON AUG 15 1988

..A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR GULF AND FRANKLIN
  COUNTIES OF NORTH FLORIDA FOR THIS EVENING..

AT 825 PM EDT...SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
FROM NORTHERN BAY COUNTY AND EXTENDED OUT INTO THE GULF TO 30 MILES
SOUTH OF FORT WALTON. GULF COUNTY SHERRIFF`S OFFICE HAS REPORTED MINOR
FLOODING ON HIGHWAY 98 IN WESTERN GULF COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST
ALABAMA..SOUTH GEORGIA..NORTH FLORIDA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE.

OVER THE GULF..THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM OFFSHORE OF PENSACOLA TO
CEDAR KEY AND EXTENDED OUT 60 MILES.

MOVEMENT OF THUNDERSORMS OVER NORTH FLORIDA WAS TO THE NORTH AT 10 MILES
AN HOUR WHILE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PANHANDLE WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST
AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 7:02 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTAEBay118 min
Aug 16, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Florida, 1988Every flash flood 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.