Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

August 13, 1990Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 13, 1990, 4:43 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 13, 1990, 4:43 PM EDT (20:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 1990, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
62 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 13, 5:02 PM EDTTornado F0Polk, FL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 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 1990-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 132047
SVRTBW
FLC105-132145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
443 PM EDT MON AUG 13 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
 
A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS DETECTED BY RADAR MOVING INTO
THE LAKELAND AND MULBERRY AREAS. A WIND GUST TO 47 KNOTS WAS REPORTED
RECENTLY BY BARTOW TOWER.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE
NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 20 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES ARE NOT SAFE. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVE TO A REINFORCED BUILDING.
 
IF YOU SEE A TORNADO... WATERSPOUT... HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND...
CALL THE WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SEVERE WEATHER LINE AT
1-800-282-5584.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Aug 13, 3:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
FLZ013-014-015-018-132200-

SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN FL
310 PM EDT MON AUG 13 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AND WILL BE MOVING
OVER WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA AND OFFSHORE OVER THE GULF. THE THUNDERSTORMS NOW
STRETCH FROM SANIBEL ISLAND SOUTHWARD ALONG THE COAST AND NORTHEASTWARD INTO
HIGHLANDS COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST TOWARD THE
GULF AND THE TAMPA BAY AREA AT 5 TO 10 MPH.

RESIDENTS OF SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA AS WELL AS ANY MARINERS IN THE
GULF AND BAY WATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY RAIN... STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
FREQUENT LIGHTNING... HAIL AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR A WATERSPOUT THIS EVENING.

BOATERS IN PARTICULAR SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY AND SHIFTING WIND AND ROUGH
SEAS NEAR THE THUNDERSTORMS.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.