Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Miami, FL

May 18, 1994Miami-Dade County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1994, 5:24 PM EDT for Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1994, 5:24 PM EDT (21:24 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1994, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Miami-Dade County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 9 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:23 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1994-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1983 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1994-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 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
1983 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 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 KMIA 182126
TORMIA
FLC025-182230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
524 PM EDT WED MAY 18 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN DADE COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE SOUTHEAST FLORIDA COAST
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
SEVERAL TORNADOES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE OPALOCKA AIRPORT AT 520 PM
THIS AFTERNOON. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE
MORE TORNADOES AS THEY MOVE SOUTHEAST THROUGH DADE COUNTY. DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WIND ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER
STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A
SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMiami-Dade41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.