Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Melbourne, FL

March 18, 1996Orange County, Seminole County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 5:30 PM EST for Orange County, Seminole County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. 2 reports 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 18, 1996, 5:30 PM EST (22:30 UTC)
Expired: Mar 18, 1996, 6:15 PM EST
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Orange County, FL, Seminole County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:29 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 18, 5:30 PM EST	Hail 1	Winter Garden, FL
Mar 18, 5:57 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Orlando, 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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 78 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: 503 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 810 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 304 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 182231
TORMLB
FLC095-117-182315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
530 PM EST MON MAR 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...ORANGE COUNTY...SEMINOLE COUNTY
 
AT 528 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO DEVELOPING OVER WINTER
PARK. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL AFFECT
EASTERN SECTIONS OF METRO ORLANDO AND REACH AREAS FROM OVIEDO TO BITHLO
DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER IF AVAILABLE.  O
THERWISE GO TO
A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID
WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING
OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 18, 4:32 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake, Orange, Volusia	43 min
Mar 18, 4:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Seminole	52 min
Mar 18, 4:53 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Seminole	37 min
Mar 18, 5:12 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard, Volusia	48 min
Mar 18, 5:15 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange	60 min
Mar 18, 5:53 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	52 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.