Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Tallahassee, FL
NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 3, 1988, 1:00 PM EDT for Dixie County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 3, 1988, 1:00 PM EDT (17:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 3, 1988, 1:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tallahassee, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Dixie 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
Jacksonville, FL (KAYS), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 176 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 243 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -63 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 750 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KTLH 031702
TORTLH
FLC029-031745-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
100 PM EDT MON OCT 3 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH FLORIDA
...EAST CENTRAL DIXIE
AT 1255 PM EDT STATE WARNING POINT REPORTED A TORNADO HAD MOVED
THROUGH CROSS CITY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AROUND 25 MPH.
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 B)LANKETS...PILLOWS...
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, Oct 3, 7:59 AM EDT, 5 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 755 AM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 AT 750 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM JUST WEST OF CAIRO GA TO JUST WEST OF THE TALLAHASSEE AIRPORT TO NEAR APALACHICOLA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE TALLAHASSEE AREA DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS MEDIA FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS ON THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 8:39 AM EDT, 4 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE APALACHICOLA FL 833 AM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 AT 825 AM EDT..A LINE OF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS..WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN... EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST OF MARIANNA TO PORT ST JOE AND ON OUT INTO THE GULF TO 70 MILES SOUTH OF PORT ST JOE. STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED AROUND CAPE SAN BAIS AND SOUTHERN LIBERTY COUNTY NEAR SUMATRA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE..A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...SOUTHWEST GEORGIA...AND IN THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. OVER THE GULF THIS MORNING...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM PANAMA CITY TO ALLIGATOR PO%INT AND EXTENDED OUT 125 MILES. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
Local storm report, Oct 3, 9:46 AM EDT, 3 hours 14 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 945 AM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 WCTV CHANNEL SIX REPORTED A TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE NORTHEAST OF TALLAHASSEE FL. ALSO SOME TREE LIMBS DOWN IN 6THE CRAWFORDVILLE FL AREA. THIS REPORT RECEIVED JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO.
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 9:46 AM EDT, 3 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE APALACHICOLA FL 945 AM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 AT 928 AM EDT..A LINE OF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS..WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN... EXTENDED FROM SOUTH OF TALLAHASSEE DOWN ALONG THE COAST TO NEAR ST MARKS...ALONG THE COAST TO EAST POINT...AND THEN INTO THE GULF TO 75 MILES SOUTH OF APALACHHCIOLA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE..A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHWEST GEORGIA...AND IN THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. OVER THE GULF THIS MORNING...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM PORT ST JOE TO ST MARKS AND EXTENDED OUT 125 MILES. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 11:31 AM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 1135 AM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 449 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EDT TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF BROOKS AND THOMAS IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA. AND THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF MADISON..JEFFERSON..TAYLOR AND DIXIE IN NORTHERN FLORIDA. AT 1130 AM EDT RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS..SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL EXTENDING FROM NEAR VALDOSTvA GA THROUGH CROSS CITY FL AND OUT OVER THE GULF OVER 75 MILES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AROUND 25 MPH. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 12:34 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 1235 PM EDT MON OCT 3 1988 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 449 CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN FLORIDA INCLUDING THE COUNTY OF DIXIE..ALSO FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN GEORGIA. AT 1230 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED SEVERAL INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTHEAST OF VALDOSTA GA TO NEAR CROSS CITY FL THEN SOUTHWEST OVER THE GULF OVER 75 MILES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AROUND 25 MPH. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADAR OR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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.