Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Jacksonville, FL

June 16, 1989Lafayette County, Suwannee County, Florida

NWS Jacksonville, FL issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1989, 12:35 PM EDT for Lafayette County, Suwannee County, Florida. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 1989, 12:35 PM EDT (16:35 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1989, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Jacksonville, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lafayette County, FL, Suwannee 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

Jacksonville, FL (KAYS), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 141 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 651 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
651 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
736 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAX 161637
TORJAX
FLC067-121-161700-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1235 PM EDT FRI JUN 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTH FLORIDA
          ...LAFAYETTE...SUWANEE
 
AT 1230PM EDT...LAFAYETTE COUNTY SHERRIFS OFFICE REPORT A POSSIBLE
TORNADO NEAR MAYO IN LAFAYETTE COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES
AN HOUR.
 
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 CLOSSET 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

Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:45 AM EDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
645 AM EDT FRI JUN 16 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 502 IS IN EFFECT FOR LAFAYETTE
COUNTY FLORIDA UNTIL 11AM EDT...

AT 640 AM EDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN LAFAYETTE COUNTY
NEAR MAYO AND DOWLING PARK MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST TOWARD HAMILTON AND
SUWANNEE COUNTIES.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR
ACCOMPANIED BY PERI]ODS OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING STRIKES AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS
ON THESE THUNDERSTORMS..OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THAT MAY BE NECESSARY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 8:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXDuval, Saint Johns50 min
Jun 15, 8:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXPutnam50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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.