Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Tallahassee, FL

September 10, 1988Walton County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 10, 1988, 11:39 AM CDT for Walton County, Florida. It was in force for 66 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: Sep 10, 1988, 11:39 AM CDT (16:39 UTC)
Expired: Sep 10, 1988, 12:45 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Walton County, FL

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
Sep 10, 12:15 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Walton, FL

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 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 150 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1373 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 660 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPNS 101641
TORPNS
FLC131-101745-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1139 AM CDT SAT SEP 10 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENSACOLA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
          ...WALTON
 
REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEVIED FROM WALTON COUNTY OFFICIALS THAT A TORNADO
WAS MOVING NORTHWARD TOWARD THE DE FUNIAK SPRINGS AREA. WEATHER RADAR
SHOWS NO STRONG STORMS IN THAT AREA...HOWEVER...THE CLOUD MOVEMENTS
FOR THIS REPORTED STORM WERE TO THE NORTH AT 35 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE 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 Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 10, 1:30 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TAE	Santa Rosa	6 hr
Sep 10, 10:06 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TAE	Okaloosa, Santa Rosa	2 hr
Sep 10, 11:27 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Okaloosa	63 min
Sep 10, 12:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Okaloosa, Walton	64 min
Sep 10, 3:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Walton	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.