Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tallahassee, FL

May 10, 1988Colquitt County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1988, 7:26 PM EDT for Colquitt County, Georgia. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 1988, 7:26 PM EDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1988, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Colquitt County, GA

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 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 201 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 12:00Z on 1988-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1988-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1152 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 KCSG 102326
TORCSG
GAC071-110000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
726 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBUS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...COLQUITT
 
AT 720 PM EDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS JUST WEST OF
MOULTRIE NEAR FUNSTON GEORGIA IN COLQUITT 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..x.
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, May 10, 3:42 PM EDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
341 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR
PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA. THE COUNTIES
EFFECTED IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA ARE DECATUR...GRADY...SEMINOLE AND
THOMAS. THE COUNTIES EFFECTED IN THE NORTH FLORIDA ARE CALHOUN
...GADSDEN...JACKSON AND LIBERTY.

AT 330 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS
OVER SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA.

EVEN THOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS BEING CURRENTLY DETECTED THE THREAT
FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS REMAINS.

                                                                             [ ]
Special weather statement, May 10, 5:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
520 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR
PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA. THE COUNTIES
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA ARE DECATUR...GRADY...SEMINOLE AND THOMAS
THE COUNTIES IN NORTH FLORIDA ARE CALHOUN...GADSDEN...JACKSON...
AND LIBERTY.

AT 520 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL EXTEDNING FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW FL TO NEAR
COTTONWOOD AL THEN TO BAINBRIDGE GA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
OR LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL TV STATION FOUR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 10, 6:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
605 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR
PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA. THE COUNTIES
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA ARE DECATUR...GRADY...SEMINOLE AND THOMAS.
THE COUNTIES IN NORTH FLORIDA ARE CALHOUN...GADSDEN...JACKSON...
AND LIBERTY.

AT 605 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL EXTEDNING FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW FL TO NEAR
COTTONDALE FL TO JUST SOUTH OF DONALDSONVILLE GA. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITnIONS AND TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF NECESARY.
STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL TV STATIONS FOR THE
LATEST STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 10, 7:05 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
TTAASP KTLH 102305
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
705 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR
PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA AND NORTH FLORIDA. THE COUNTIES
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA ARE DECATUR...GRADY...SEMINOLE AND THOMAS.
THE COUNTIES IN NORTH FLORIDA ARE CALHOUN...GADSDEN...JACKSON...
AND LIBERTY.

AT 705 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL EXTENDING FROM NEAR CRESTVIEW FL TO NEAR DOTHAN AL TO JUST
NORTHWEST OF MOULTRIE GA. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND
30 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF NECESSARY.
STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL TV STATIONS FOR THE
LATEST STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 6:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Dougherty54 min
May 10, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAETift53 min
May 10, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEMitchell45 min
May 10, 7:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEColquitt39 min
May 10, 7:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGrady, Thomas64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 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.