Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

May 24, 1988Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1988, 11:35 PM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 24, 1988, 11:35 PM EDT (03:35 UTC)
Expired: May 25, 1988, 12:15 AM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Pinellas 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 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 40 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2763 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1048 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 250335
TORTBW
FLC103-250415-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
1135 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
          ...CENTRAL PINELLAS
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN CENTRAL DOWNTOWN ST.
PETERSBURG...MOVING EASWARD RAPI}DLY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER
TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET
INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, May 24, 11:00 PM EDT, 35 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
ISSUED 1050 PM EDT WED MAY 24 1988

.....TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR FOLLOWING COASTAL COUNTIES OF CENTRAL
     FLORIDA...LEVY...CITRUS...HERNANDO...PASCO...PINELLAS AND
     HILLSBOROUGH UNTIL 4AM EDT WEDNESDAY MORNING.....

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES
AN HOUR...IT EXTENDED FROM CHIEFLAND TO CRYSTAL RIVER TO 50 MILES WEST
OF ST PETERSBURG.  HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND
SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.
PERSONS NEAR THESE STORMS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER MOST OkF FLORIDA NORTH OF
A FORT MYERS TO VERO BEACH LINE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 11:04 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Pasco	41 min
May 24, 11:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	68 min
May 25, 12:03 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Hernando	27 min
May 25, 12:13 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Pasco	32 min
May 25, 12:29 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Citrus	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes in 1988

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.