Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Miami, FL

May 24, 1989Miami-Dade County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1989, 2:51 PM EDT for Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was in force for 69 min. 2 reports 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
May 24, 1989, 2:51 PM EDT (18:51 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1989, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Miami-Dade 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 24, 2:55 PM EDTHail 1.5Miami-Dade, FL
May 24, 3:42 PM EDTHail 0.75Miami-Dade, 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

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1460 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
1460 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1142 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 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 KMIA 241854
SVRMIA
FLC025-242000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
251 PM EDT WED MAY 24 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
          ...EASTERN DADE
 
AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN OCEAN REEF AND HAULOVER.
 
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED OVER EASTERN DADE COUNTY ARE MOVING
TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCALLY
SEVERE WITH HAIL TO ONE INCH...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS WHICH WILL
CAUSE ROUGH SEAS OVER THE COASTAL WATERS OF DADE COUNTY. FREQUENT
LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
 
SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING
WIND..HAIL..VERY HEAVY RAIN..AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE
IN THIS THUNDERSTORM. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
AND STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, May 24, 1:50 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
150 PM EDT WED MAY 24 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER DADE AND BROWARD COUNTIES...

RADAR AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
BEGUN TO DEVELOP OVER LAND.  AT 140 PM MOST OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM THE COAST WESTWARD ACROSS HOMESTEAD INTO THE
EVERGLADES.  CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THESE THUNDERSTORMS TO
INTENSIFY RAPIDLY.  RESIDENTS OF DADE ANsD BROWARD COUNTIES ESPECIALLY
IN THE WESTERN SUBURBS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO CURTAIL THEIR OUTSIDE
ACTIVITIES AS THESE STORMS MOVE EASTWARD LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, May 24, 2:29 PM EDT, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
230 PM EDT WED MAY 24 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHERN DADE COUNTY...

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHERN DADE
COUNTY.  AT 225 PM THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM HOMESTEAD NORTHWARD
TO EAST OF CORAL GABLES.  AT 200 PM SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED FROM ONE
OF THESE STORMS IN PERRINE.  THESE STORMS ARE INTENSIFYING RAPIDLY
NOW AND RESIDENTS OF SOUTHERN DADE COUNTY SHOULD CURTAIL THEIR OUTSIDE
ACTIVITIES AT THIS TIME.  THESE STORMS WILL BE ACOMPANIED BY
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS WELL AS
HEAVY RAIN.  ALSO BY 3 PM THESE STORMS SHOULD HAVE DEVELOPED INTO
NORTHEASERN DADE AND SOUTHEASTERN BROWARD COUNTIES.
Local storm report, May 24, 2:34 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
233 PM EDT WED MAY 24 1989

BETWEEN 220 PM AND 230 PM HAIL 1 INCH IN DIAMETER WAS OBSERVED IN
HOMESTEAD BY REPORTERS AT THE SOUTH DADE NEW LEADER NEWSPAPER.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 3:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLBroward, Miami-Dade46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.