Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

May 25, 1988Citrus County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1988, 12:29 AM EDT for Citrus County, Florida. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1988, 12:29 AM EDT (04:29 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1988, 1:30 AM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Citrus 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2763 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, 1 hour 29 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.
Special weather statement, May 24, 11:48 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
ISSUED 1145 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 SILVER SPRINGS TO ST PETERSBURG TO 50 MILES
WEST OF SARASOTA.  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 OF FLORIDA NORTH OF
A SARASOTA TO VERO BEACH LINE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 11:04 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco41 min
May 24, 11:35 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPinellas40 min
May 24, 11:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk68 min
May 25, 12:03 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHernando27 min
May 25, 12:13 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco32 min

Nearby

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