Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 16, 1986Sumter County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1986, 8:55 AM EST for Sumter County, Florida. It was in force for 35 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 1986, 8:55 AM EST (13:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1986, 9:30 AM EST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Sumter County, FL

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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1986-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1986-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 289 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-405 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1029 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
432 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 KTBW 161351
TORTBW
FLC119-161430-

BULLETIN.....EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
855 AM EST SUN MAR 16 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 930 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA ... SUMTER


A TORNADO WAS OBSERVED NEAR INVERVESS AT 845 AM MOVING RAPIDLY EASTWARD
AT 30 MPH.

IF THREATENING CONDITIONS AREA SIGHTED GO TO A PLACE OF/ SAFETY
IMMEDIATELY. YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION.

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

Special weather statement, Mar 16, 3:28 AM EST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
300 AM EST SUN MAR 16 1986

THIS STATEMENT IS FOR CITRUS..HERNANDO..PASCO..SUMTER..POLK..PINELLAS
..HILLSBOURGH..MANATEE..HARDEE..HIGHLANDS..DESOTA..SARASOTA..CHARLOTTE
..AND LEE COUNTIES AND THE ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS OF CITRUS..HERNANDO
..PASCO..HILLSBOURGH..PINELLAS..MANATEE..SARASOTA..CHARLOTTE..AND LEE
COUNTIES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 AM EST THIS SUNDAY MORNING
ADVISING OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS
.. HAIL.. OR A TORNADO.

NUMEROUS VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF WEST
CENTRAL FLORIDA.

THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE EASTERLY rTHROUGHOUT THE NIGHT AND MORNING
AS THE ENTIRE AREA DRIFTS TO THE SOUTH.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.