Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 22, 1989Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 22, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 15 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 22, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 1989, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 15 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, 10.5 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-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: 1508 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 760 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -56 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 222234
TORTBW
FLC105-222245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
630 PM EDT SAT JUL 22 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
          ...CENTRAL POLK
 
AT 625 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF WINTERHAVEN
MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.
 
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, Jul 22, 4:29 PM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
430 PM EDT SAT JUL 22 1989

...SUMMERTIME THUNDERSTORMS FORMING...

THIS STATEMENT FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST PENINSULA FLORIDA.

SUMMER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT WEST CENTRAL AND
AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON...BOTH OVER LAND AND
MARINE AREAS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE REMAINDER OF
TODAY AND BECOME QUITE NUMEROUS INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

THUNDERSTORM MOVEMENT WAS FROM THE SOUTHEAST TO THE NORTHWEST AT 15MPH.

OUTDOOR RECREATIONISTS AND BOATERS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN A WEATHER
VIGIL AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER OR SAFE HARBOR WITH THE APPROACH
OF THREATENING WEATHER.

HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEFLY GUSTY WINDS...DOWNPOURS OF
RAIN...AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. BE ESPECIALLY RESPECTFUL OF
LIGHTNING. LIGHTNING KILLS AN AVERAGE 10 PERSONS A YEAR IN THE STATE
AND INJURES ANOTHER 26 ANNUALLY.

BRIEF FUNNEL CLOUDS OR WATERSPOUTS OVER MARINE WATERS ARE ALWAYS A
REMOTE POSSIBILITY. BE PREPARED TO SAFEGUARD YOURSELF.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.