Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 9, 1989Lee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 9, 1989, 6:34 PM EDT for Lee County, Florida. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 9, 1989, 6:34 PM EDT (22:34 UTC)
Expired
Sep 9, 1989, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee 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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 1989-09-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1050 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 1989-09-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -33 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
1050 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 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 092237
TORTBW
FLC071-092300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
634 PM EDT SAT SEP 9 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
          ...WESTERN LEE
 
AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS .
 
 
A TORNADO AND WATERSPOUTS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN THE CAPE CORAL AND
SANIBEL ISLAND AREAS OF WESTERN LEE COUNTY. THIS ACTIVITY WAS MOVING
TO THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE GULF WATERS.
 
.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER
TO A SMALL INTyERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET
INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
MARINE INTERESTS IN THESE WATERS SHOULD AVOID THESE STORMS AND
SEEK SAFE HARBOR.

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, Sep 9, 6:21 PM EDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
620 PM EDT SAT SEP 09 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NEAR COASTAL AREAS OF LEE COUNTY...

 A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHWEST
 NEAR THE COASTAL AREA OF LEE COUNTY. A FEW FUNNEL CLOUDS ALOFT
 WERE SIGHTED THIS PAST HOUR OVER CORAL CABLES.

RSIDENTS AND BOATERS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER
...HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...FREQUENTr LIGHTNING AND BRIEF STRONG
GUSTY WINDS.  WATERSPOUTS MAY FORM AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE
OVER THE INTERCOASTAL WATERS.

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.