Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

May 16, 1994Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1994, 3:59 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1994, 3:59 PM EDT (19:59 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1994, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
46 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, 8.0 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 1994-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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 12:00Z on 1994-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-161 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1210 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 16, 3:30 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-162035-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
330 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING JUST EAST OF BUSHNELL SOUTH TO JUST
EAST OF DADE CITY.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE WESTERN PENINSULA FROM MAYAKA
CITY NORTH TO BETWEEN LAKE GEORGE AND OTTER CREEK.

SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE BRIEF PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY
RAIN... GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 16, 3:35 PM EDT, 24 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-162035-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
330 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING JUST EAST OF BUSHNELL SOUTH TO JUST
EAST OF DADE CITY.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE WESTERN PENINSULA FROM MAYAKA
CITY NORTH TOV BETWEEN LAKE GEORGE AND OTTER CREEK.

SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE BRIEF PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY
RAIN... GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk68 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.