Alert archive / Mississippi / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Mobile, AL

May 19, 1989George County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 19, 1989, 6:21 PM CDT for George County, Mississippi. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1989, 6:21 PM CDT (23:21 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1989, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County George County, MS

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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1989-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1927 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1989-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
1927 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
623 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 192323
FFWMOB
MSC039-200230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
621 PM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...EASTERN GEORGE
 
MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAINFALL 10 MILES
NORTHEAST OF LUCEDALE MISSISSIPPI. THIS STORM HAS BEEN STATIONARY THE
PAST SEVERAL HOURS AND THE HEAVY RAIN HAS LIKELY RESULTED IN FLASH
FLOODING IN LOW AREAS AND ALONG TRIBUTARIES ALONG THE ESCATAWPA RIVER.
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 19, 3:22 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
325 PM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS NEARING THE WEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

AT 325 PM CDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN...WERE
MOVING INTO THE WEST PORTIONS OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA. THUNDERSTORMS
EXTEND WEST OVER SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...COASTAL MISSISSIPPI AND THE
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

MOVEMENTS WERE TOWARD THE NORTHEAST ABOUT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 19, 4:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
445 PM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989

AT 435 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS INDICATING PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN
WERE SCATTERED OVER SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND NORTHERN ESCAMBIA COUNTY OF
FLORIDA. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN THE COASTAL WATERS FROM
PENSACOLA TO MOBILE BAY ALABAMA.

THR STRONGER STORMS WERE PRODUCING FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AND GUSTY
WINDS...IN ADDITION TO TORRE4NTIAL RAIN.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AROIND 20 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 3:12 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBHancock33 min
May 19, 3:18 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBHarrison12 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Mississippi, 1989Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.