Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 25, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 7, 1996, 4:35 PM EDT for Charlotte County, Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 7, 1996, 4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 7, 1996, 5:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Charlotte County, FL, Sarasota County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:37 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 304 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 589 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 189 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 231 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 072046 COR TORTBW FLC015-115-072115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED LOCATION.... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 435 PM EDT MON OCT 7 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ...CHARLOTTE COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...SARASOTA COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER THE GULF ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ENGLEWOOD. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL AFFECT ENGLEWOOD WITHIN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A$ DITCH OR CULVERT. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN REQUESTS THAT SKYWARN UNITS IN THE COUNTY BE ACTIVATED AND FORWARD ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER REPORTS TO OUR OFFICE.
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.
NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Oct 7, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 254 PM EDT MON OCT 07 1996 SUGGESTIONS... NOTHING CONCERNING CURRENT STATUS OF FLOOD WATCH/WIND WARNING TUESDAY POPS RANGING FROM CHC NORTHWEST TO LIKELY SOUTHEAST DISCUSSION... WACKY LOOKING JOSEPHINE QUICKLY MOVG NORTHEAST (REFER TO TPC ADVISORIES ON THE SYSTEM FOR ALL DETAILS). FORECAST AREA STILL NOT OUT OF THE WOODS FOR THE NEXT 18 HOURS OR SO. SATELLITE & RADAR SHOWING SYSTEM BREAKING INTO 2 MAIN BLOBS...ONE GOING NORTH OF TAMPA AND THE OTHER SOUTH. HEAVY FLOODING RAIN THREAT SEEMS TO BE SUBSIDING...BUT STILL LOTS ON THE RADAR SO SOME LOCALLY HVY RAIN POSSIBLE. BIGGER CONCERN IS STILL COASTAL FLOODING AND STORM TIDES. LATEST DATA FROM ST PETE PIER AND CLEARWATER INDICATING LEVELS ARE RISING SOMEWHAT ALTHOUGH WE ARE ON DOWNTREND OF TIDAL CYCLE AS WINDS ARE BEGINNING TO SWING AROUND TO SOUTH/SOUTHWEST AND PILING UP THE WATER SOMEWHAT. SATELLITE SEEMING TO CONFIRM THE "STRETCHING OUT" OF THE SYSTEM AS THE MODELS DEPICT...AND THIS COULD PUT MUCH OF THE WEST COAST UNDER FAIRLY STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME THIS EVENING. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS CLOSELY. AS FOR TOMORROW...LOOKS LIKE SOME TROFINESS WILL HANG BEHIND THE SYSTEM AS IT MOVES NORTHWARD UP THE EAST COAST. LOOKS LIKE ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL REMAIN FOR AT LEAST THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY FOR SCT SHOWERS AND TSTMS TO DEVELOP. DRIER AIR...EVIDENT ON WATER VAPOR...WILL BE MOVING INTO THE AREA AND SHUTTING OFF THE PRECIP. WESTERLY FLOW SHOULD MEAN BEST RAIN CHANCES WILL BE INLAND AND ALONG THE EAST COAST. LOOKS LIKE SOME SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL MOVE IN FOR WEDNESDAY AND BRING THAT FALL FEELING BACK. QUICK LITTLE SCIENCE NOTE...88D STORM TOTAL PRODUCTS SHOWED VERY VERY NICELY THE LONG TRACK SHALLOW TORNADIC SUPERCELLS WHICH OCCURRED LAST NITE AND TODAY. MORE ARE LIKELY...THE 18Z TBW SOUNDING HAS A HELICITY OF 375! GONNA BE A BUSY EVENING. THANKS MLB FOR DISCUSSIONS. TEMPERATURE/POP THOUGHTS... BKV 70/83/66/84 +300 TPA 74/82/69/85 +400 FMY 76/83/73/86 +500 NASH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 9:40 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Sarasota | 50 min |
| Oct 7, 11:40 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | DeSoto, Hardee | 50 min |
| Oct 7, 12:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 40 min |
| Oct 7, 1:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 45 min |
| Oct 7, 1:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 43 min |
| Oct 7, 1:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco | 45 min |
| Oct 7, 1:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hernando | 30 min |
| Oct 7, 2:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 38 min |
| Oct 7, 2:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 47 min |
| Oct 7, 3:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 50 min |
| Oct 7, 3:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Citrus | 49 min |
| Oct 7, 5:31 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Lee | 44 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.