Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Mobile, AL

March 20, 1989Forrest County, Perry County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1989, 5:12 PM CST for Forrest County, Perry County, Mississippi. It was in force for 48 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
Mar 20, 1989, 5:12 PM CST (23:12 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1989, 6:00 PM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Forrest County, MS, Perry County, MS

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
Mar 20, 5:30 PM CSTHail 0.75Forrest, MS
Mar 20, 5:40 PM CSTHail 1Perry, MS

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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 1989-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 517 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 1989-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
517 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 202313
SVRMOB
MSC035-111-210000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
512 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...EASTERN FORREST...NORTHERN PERRY
 
AT 510 PM MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CAMP
SHELBY MISSISSIPPI. IT WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND SHOULD
MOVE NEAR MAHNED IN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES AND OVER RICHTON IN THE
NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
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

Special weather statement, Mar 20, 4:35 PM CST, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
435 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE HATTIESBURG AREA...

AT 425 PM CST...MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. THE BAND WAS LOCATED
FROM NEAR MERIDIAN TO HATTIESBURG TO POPLARVILLE. THE STRONGEST THUNDER-
STORMS WERE BETWEEN MERIDIAN AND HATTIESBURG.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY HAIL AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THE REST OF THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 41 REMAINS
IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 9 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 5:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGreene38 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.