Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Melbourne, FL

May 14, 1991Palm Beach County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at May 14, 1991, 5:18 PM EDT for Palm Beach County, Florida. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1991, 5:18 PM EDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1991, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Palm Beach County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1991-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 709 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1991-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -27 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
709 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-17 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 KPBI 142118
TORPBI
FLC099-142215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEST PALM BEACH FL
518 PM EDT TUE MAY 14 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WEST PALM BEACH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL PALM BEACH COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACANT WATERS OF THE SOUTHEAST FLORIDA COAST
 
 
AT 515 PM EDT A PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN NORTH CENTRAL
PALM BEACH COUNTY 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE PRATT WHITNEY AIRPORT ON
STATE ROAD 710. THIS TORNADO WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A THUNDERSTORM IN THE
AREA WHICH WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. RESIDENTS OF
THIS AREA OF THE COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS DANGEROUS STORM FOR
THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
NNNN

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, May 14, 2:08 PM EDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
FLZ012-141930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAYTONA BEACH FL
208 PM EDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...THIS STATEMENT IS FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VOLUSIA
COUNTY.

THESE THUNDERSTOMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG AND
GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING
OUT OVER THE COASTAL WATERS OF VOLUSIA CO7UNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS AS THE MOVE
OFFSHORE.
Special weather statement, May 14, 2:48 PM EDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
FLZ017-011-016-012-009-141945-

SPECIAL EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WEATHER UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
248 PM EDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER OSCEOLA COUNTY...

AT 235 PM AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE GUSTY WINDS WERE FROM COCOA BEACH TO HOLOPAW
...ST CLOUD AND LAKELAND. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE JUST SOUTH OF
KISSIMMEE TO WEST OF HOLOPAW. PERSONS IN OSCEOLA COUNTY SHOULD
BE AWARE OF THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE EAST ACROSS THE COUNTY AND
WATCH FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 30 MILES OFFSHORE OF
DAYTONA BEACH TO DELAND TO CLERMONT NORTH TO BELLVIEW. SOME OF THESE
STORMS ALSO CONTAIN HEAVY DOWNPOURS. ALL THE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

OVER THE NEXT TWO HOURS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
OVER MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WITH THE STRONGEST ACTIVITY
OVcER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL OSCEOLA COUNTY AND 15 MILES NORTH OF
LEESBURG. NO RAIN IS EXPECTED IN AN AREA BOUNDED FROM TITUSVILLE TO
ORLANDO TO LONGWOOD.

R.SMITH
Special weather statement, May 14, 4:40 PM EDT, 38 minutes before
FLZ017-142145-

SPECIAL EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WEATHER UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
440 PM EDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER INDIAN RIVER COUNTY AND NORTHERN BREVARD
COUNTY...

AT 440 PM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR TITUSVILLE WHILE OTHERS
EXTENDED FROM JUST OFFSHORE SEBASTIAN TO WEST OF VERO BEACH. THE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...CAUSING EXTENSIVE
PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS. NUMEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE ALSO
OCCURRING WITH THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. PEOPLE IN EXTREME NORTHERN
BREVARD AND NEAR THE COAST IN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHOULD BE EXTRA
CAUTIOUS DURING THE NEXT HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
10 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA...PATCHES OF RAIN WERE OCCURRING
OFFSHORE VOLUSIA COUNTY. RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS LINGERED ACROSS
MUCH OF OSCEOLA COUNTY AND PARTS OF BREVARD COUNTY.

DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS...THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER MUCH
OF THE COASTAL WATERS OF BREVARD AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTIES...WHILE
RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER EASTERN PARTS OF THE
PENINSULA FROM CAPE CANAVERAL SOUTHWARD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 3:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.