Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1994
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jan 30, 1994, 4:03 PM EST for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 24 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 30, 1994, 4:03 PM EST (21:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 30, 1994, 4:27 PM EST
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, FL
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1380 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 598 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 250 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 291 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 8.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 302105 TORTBW FLC105-302145- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 403 PM EST SUN JAN 30 1994 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM EST FOR PEOPLE...... IN CENTRAL FLORIDA ...NORTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO MAY BE FORMING NORTHWEST OF LAKELAND NEAR THE COUNTY LINE. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED IN THIS VICINTY MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST NEAR 35 MPH. THIS WOULD PUT THE TOWNS OF KATHLEEN... GIBSONIA.. GALLOWAY... AND PROVIDENCE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM. 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! IF YOU SEE A TORNADO... WATERSPOUT... HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND... CALL THE WEST2 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 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, Jan 30, 1:35 PM EST, 2 hours 28 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-301935- SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 135 PM EST SUN JAN 30 1994 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OFFSHORE OF FLORIDA WEST CENTRAL COAST... AT 130 PM EST... RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM THE EAST COAST NEAR DAYTONA BEACH SOUTHWEST SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE PENINSULA TO THE WEST COAST BETWEEN ST. PETERSBURG AND CRYSTAL RIVER THEN OUT OVER THE GULF FOR 140 MILES. THE HEAVIEST CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WAS OBSERVED OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO 10 MILES WEST OF CLEARWATER TO 80 MILES WEST OF VENICE. MARINERS AND RESIDENTS IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF LOCALLY STRONG GUSTY WINDS ...ROUGH SEAS... VERY HEAVY RAINFALL... AND POSSIBLE WATERSPOUTS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER SHOWERS WERE ALSO DETECTED OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO AND APALACHEE BAY STRETCHING NORTHEAST TO GAINESVILLE.
Special weather statement, Jan 30, 1:45 PM EST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-301935- SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 135 PM EST SUN JAN 30 1994 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OFFSHORE OF FLORIDA WEST CENTRAL COAST... AT 130 PM EST... RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM THE EAST COAST NEAR DAYTONA BEACH SOUTHWEST SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE PENINSULA TO THE WEST COAST BETWEEN ST. PETERSBURG AND CRYSTAL RIVER THEN OUT OVER THE GULF FOR 140 MILES. THE HEAVIEST CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WAS OBSERVED OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO 10 MILES WEST OF CLEARWATER TO 80 MILES WEST OF VENICE. MARINERS AND RESIDENTS IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF LOCALLY STRONG GUSTY WINDS ...ROUGH SEAS... VERY HEAVY RAINFALL... AND POSSIBLE WATERSPOUTS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER SHOWERS WERE ALSO DETECTED OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO AND APALACHEE BAY STRETCHING NORTHEAST TO GAINESVILLE.
Special weather statement, Jan 30, 2:40 PM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-302235- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 440 PM EST SUN JAN 30 1994 ... A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA UNTIL 800 PM... AT 435 PM EST... RADAR DETECTED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN POLK COUNTY AND ALSO NEAR LONGBOAT KEY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE PATCHES OF RAIN... ALONG WITH A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE PENINSULA FROM DAYTONA BEACH AND MELBOURNE... WEST TO BETWEEN CEDAR KEY AND CAPTIVA... AND EXTENDED WEST OVER THE GULF 110 MILES. CELL MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR... AREA MOVEM0ENT WAS SOUTHEAST AROUND 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.UR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 30, 2:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee, Sarasota | 62 min |
| Jan 30, 2:45 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 45 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.