Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

June 20, 1989Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1989, 4:47 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 20, 1989, 4:47 PM EDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1989, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 1989-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 248 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 1989-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
248 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
974 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 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 202044
TORTBW
FLC105-202115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
447 PM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
          ...WESTERN POLK
 
A POSSIBLE TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED NEAR THE BREWSTER AREA IN
SOUTHWEST POLK COUNTY. SEVERAL TELEPHONE POLES WERE REPORTED TO BE
SNAPED OFF AT MID-HEIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING NORTH AT NEAR 12
MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 5:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough36 min
Jun 20, 5:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus, Hernando, Pasco49 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.