Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Melbourne, FL

March 31, 1996Indian River County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 1996, 8:43 PM EST for Indian River County, Florida. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Mar 31, 1996, 8:43 PM EST (01:43 UTC)
Expired: Mar 31, 1996, 9:45 PM EST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Indian River County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 31, 8:44 PM EST	Tornado F0	Vero Beach, FL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 180 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -136 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 010143
TORMLB
FLC061-010245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
843 PM EST SUN MAR 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...INDIAN RIVER COUNTY
 
 
AT 845 PM...A WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR ROUTE 60 AND
U.S 1 NEAR VERO BEACH. IF VOU LIVE IN VERO BEACH BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THIS STORM...AND TAKE SHELTER IF THE STORM APPROACHES YOUR LOCATION.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 31, 7:25 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	50 min
Mar 31, 7:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	55 min
Mar 31, 7:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Indian River	60 min
Mar 31, 8:04 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Indian River	41 min
Mar 31, 8:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	67 min
Mar 31, 9:01 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Saint Lucie	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.