Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Melbourne, FL

March 30, 1996Lake County, Orange County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 1996, 5:54 PM EST for Lake County, Orange County, Florida. It was in force for 36 min. 4 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 30, 1996, 5:54 PM EST (22:54 UTC)
Expired: Mar 30, 1996, 6:30 PM EST
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lake County, FL, Orange County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:56 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
Mar 30, 6:15 PM EST	Hail 1.75	Zellwood, FL
Mar 30, 6:25 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Apopka, FL
Mar 30, 6:27 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 58	Ocoee, FL
Mar 30, 6:30 PM EST	Hail 1.5	Longwood, 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 101 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: 1188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 302255
TORMLB
FLC069-095-302330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
554 PM EST SAT MAR 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...LAKE COUNTY...WESTERN ORANGE COUNTY
 
AT 555 PM...DOPPLER RADAR IN MELBOURNE SHOWED THE STORM PRODUCING
THE TORNADO MOVING THROUGH HOWEY IN THE HILLS. PERSONS IN AREAS
FROM TAVARES TO MT DORA AND ZELLWOOD SHOULD TAKE COVER FROM THE
TORNADO AS THE STORM MOVES NORTHEAST. LARGE HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN
REPORTED WITH THE STORM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE 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 30, 2:00 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	60 min
Mar 30, 2:58 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	62 min
Mar 30, 3:56 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange, Osceola	64 min
Mar 30, 4:11 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	64 min
Mar 30, 4:51 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake	69 min
Mar 30, 4:57 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	63 min
Mar 30, 5:12 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard, Indian River, Okeechobee	63 min
Mar 30, 5:20 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Martin, Saint Lucie	55 min
Mar 30, 5:34 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Lake	26 min
Mar 30, 6:10 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Indian River	65 min
Mar 30, 6:21 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Seminole	54 min
Mar 30, 6:25 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Seminole	50 min
Mar 30, 6:43 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Orange	32 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.