Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Mobile, AL

May 19, 1989Hancock County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1989, 3:12 PM CDT for Hancock County, Mississippi. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1989, 3:12 PM CDT (20:12 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1989, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
33 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 12:00Z, 8.2 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 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 192013 RRA
TORMOB
MSC045-192045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
312 PM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...SOUTH CENTRAL HANCOCK
 
THE HANCOCK SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A VERY LARGE WATERSPOUT IN
ST LOUIS BAY NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE JOURDAN RIVER. IT IS MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE ONSHORE ALONG
THE NORTH SHORE OF ST LOUIS BAY IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
 
 
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 BLANKETS...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

Local storm report, May 19, 11:56 AM CDT, 3 hours 16 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
115 AM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989

TIME      CO/STATE         EVENT
1230AM    MOBILE/AL        SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED STREET FLOODING
                           IN DOWNTOWN SEMMES(10MI NW OF MOB). A LARGE
                           OAK TREE WAS ALSO BLOWN DOWN IN THE SAME AREA.
                           A SVR TSTM WARNING WAS IN EFFECT FOR MOBILE
                           aCNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 3:18 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBHarrison12 min
May 19, 6:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBGeorge3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.