Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Mobile, AL

April 4, 1989Hancock County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 8:20 PM CDT for Hancock County, Mississippi. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1989, 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Hancock 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 27 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 00:00Z on 1989-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2583 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 00:00Z on 1989-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2583 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 050121
SVRMOB
MSC045-050200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
820 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...HANCOCK
 
AT 815 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF
PICAYUNE MISSISSIPPI. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT
30 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
555 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

AT 550 PM DUANES CHEVRON LOCATED ABOUT TWO MILES SOUTH OF CAMP SHELBY IN
FORREST COUNTY MISSISSIPPI REPORTED DIME 1SIZE HAIL...ALSO HAD RECEIVED
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS COVERNING THE
GROUND AND CAUSING DRIVING PROBLEMS AT BROOKLYN IN THE SOUTH PART OF
THE COUNTY.

TIME OF OCCURRENCE WAS 500 PM.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:14 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
615 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

THE SHERIFFS OFFICE IN GROVE HILL ALABAMA...CLARKE COUNTY...REPORTED
HAIL MOSTLY MARBLE SIZE...BUT SOME UP TO GOLF> BALLS AT 540 PM CDT.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
640 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

THE SHERIFFS OFFICE IN MILLRY ALABAMA...WASHINGTON COUNTY...REPORTED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO THAT PARTIALLY UNROOFED THE IGoA STORE.  ALSO...
LARGE HAIL THAT DAMAGED VEHICLES.  TIME OF OCCURRENCE 440 TO 500 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 6:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
645 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES OF
NORTHWEST FLORIDA UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING...

AT 630PM CDT...A SOLID LINE OF STRONG...POTENTIALLY SEVERE...
THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED ACROSS SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.  THE LINE EXTENDED FROM TROY IN PIKE COUNTY OF ALABAMA
SOUTHWESTWARD TO CITRONELLE IN NORTHERN MOBILE COUNTY...THEN ACROSS
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST ABOUT
15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED AHEAD OF THE LINE IN THE WESTERN
END OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA. THESE WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN
HOUR.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 7:29 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
730 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

700 PM CDT...GREENE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED DIME
TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL.

725 PM CDT...JACKSON PD IN CLARKE COUNTY ALABAMA REPORTED DIME SIZE
HAIL OCCURRED AROUND 645 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 7:53 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
750 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES OF
NORTHWEST FLORIDA UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS BEGINNING TO ENTER THE NORTHWEST
CORNER OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL BRING
PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING
...SMALL HAIL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A TORNADO.

THE LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF BEING SEVERE WITH REPORTS OF
HAIL AND TORNADOES IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. RESIDENTS OF NORTHWEST
FLORIDA SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE SHELTER IF WARNINGS ARE
ISSUED AND STAY INFORMED OF THE DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge56 min
Apr 4, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBJackson67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.