Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Tallahassee, FL

July 4, 1989Okaloosa County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 1989, 9:48 AM CDT for Okaloosa County, Florida. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 1989, 9:48 AM CDT (14:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1989, 10:15 AM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Okaloosa 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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1183 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1989-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
1183 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
798 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KPNS 041457
TORPNS
FLC091-041515-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
948 AM CDT TUE JUL 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENSACOLA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
          ...OKALOOSA
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR HIGHWAY FOUR IN OKALOOSA COUNTY BY COUNTY
OFFICIALS.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 1u5 MILES AN HOUR. BE PREPARED TO
SEEK VERY SAFE SHELTER IF THIS TORNADO IS SIGHTED.

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, Jul 4, 9:23 AM CDT, 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1016 AM EDT TUE JUL 4 1989

AT 1014 AM EDT A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE
APPROACHING THE WESTERN PARTS OF CALHOUN AND JACKSON COUNTIES.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE ALSO NOTED OVER
DIXIE COUNTY AND WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING OFFSHORE THEN MOVING ONSHORE OVER DIXIE COUNTY.
WATERSPOUTS MAY BE POSSIBLE AROUND THE COASTAL WATERS OF DIXIE COUNTY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF
RAIN...DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

MARINE INTEREST SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BE PREPARED TO FIND
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY FROM AND THREATING WEATHER.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 12:56 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEEscambia49 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.