Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 12, 1993Pasco County, Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1993, 11:38 PM EST for Pasco County, Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 12, 1993, 11:38 PM EST (04:38 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1993, 12:15 AM EST
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 00:00Z on 1993-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 645 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 00:00Z on 1993-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
645 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1480 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 130438
TORTBW
FLC101-103-130515-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
1138 PM EST FRI MAR 12 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE...S...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...PASCO COUNTY...PINELLAS COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
INCLUDING THE BAY AND INLAND WATERS
 
A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR THE TARPON SPRINGS / NEW PORT
RICHEY AREA. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 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.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE OPEN...GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!

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, Mar 12, 9:39 PM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
FLZ006-008>021-130335-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
935 PM EST FRI MARCH 12 1993

... TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR LEVY COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL
    WATERS UNTIL 4 AM EST...

AT 930 PM EST... RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM 100
MILES WEST OF BAYPORT... TO 120 MILES OFFSHORE OF VENICE. THE LINE WAS
MOVING EAST AT 65 TO 70 MILES AN HOUR. THESE DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE APPROACHING THE COASTAL WATERS OF WEST FLORIDA BY 1030 PM.

DUE TO THE RAPID MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS... BOATERS SHOULD SEEK SAFE
HARBOR IMMEDIATELY AND PLAN TO STAY IN PORT FOR TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.

rELSEWHERE... A LARGE AREA OF RAIN WAS OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF FROM NEAR
APALACHEE BAY... TO NEAR CEDAR KEY.

THIS ACTIVITY WAS MOVING NORTH AT 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 10:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus, Hernando, Levy115 min
Mar 12, 10:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas115 min
Mar 12, 10:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee115 min
Mar 12, 11:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSarasota101 min
Mar 12, 11:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSumter61 min
Mar 12, 11:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk2 hr
Mar 13, 12:08 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough52 min
Mar 13, 12:23 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, DeSoto, Lee2 hr
Mar 13, 12:23 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee2 hr
Mar 13, 12:43 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWManatee47 min
Mar 13, 1:34 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands116 min
Mar 13, 1:37 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSarasota2 hr
Mar 13, 1:52 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk2 hr
Mar 13, 2:31 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, DeSoto, Lee119 min
Mar 13, 3:30 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands60 min
Mar 13, 3:56 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWSarasota34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.