Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Tallahassee, FL

April 25, 1988Lee County, Terrell County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 25, 1988, 9:45 PM EDT for Lee County, Terrell County, Georgia. It was in force for 33 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
Apr 25, 1988, 9:45 PM EDT (01:45 UTC)
Expired
Apr 25, 1988, 10:18 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lee County, GA, Terrell County, GA

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 25, 10:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Lee, GA

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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 238 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 1988-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1515 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 1988-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
779 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCSG 260146
SVRCSG
GAC177-273-260230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
945 PM EDT MON APR 25 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBUS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...LEE...TERRELL
 
AT 940 PM EDT COUMBUS WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
JUST TO THE EAST OF PARROT GEORGIA MOVING NOW TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT
55 MPH. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, Apr 25, 5:11 PM EDT, 4 hours 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
510 PM EDT MON APR 25 1988

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 84 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SEMINOLE...DECATUR...
AND GRADY COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA.

AT 505 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NEAR DOTHAN ALABAMA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL
PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SVMALL
HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS MEDIA FOR ADDITIONAL
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 25, 8:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEChattahoochee, Muscogee23 min
Apr 25, 8:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEStewart23 min
Apr 25, 9:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAESumter, Webster47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.