Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

October 7, 1996Hillsborough County, Manatee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 7, 1996, 10:03 PM EDT for Hillsborough County, Manatee County, Florida. It was in force for 42 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: Oct 7, 1996, 10:03 PM EDT (02:03 UTC)
Expired: Oct 7, 1996, 10:45 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Manatee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:04 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
Oct 7, 10:35 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Tampa, 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, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 5 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: 1311 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 324 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 429 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.8
Supercell composite: 11.8

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.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Oct 7, 8:48 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 8:48 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
848 PM EDT MON OCT 07 1996

AS TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST SHE WILL
RAPIDLY LOOSE A LOT OF HER TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS.  ONE LOOK AT SAT
PIX SHOW A VERY STRONG NEARLY STATIONARY CONVERGENT BAND OFF THE
SOUTHWEST COAST.  THIS BAND IS BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE A BAROCLINIC
LEAF.  THIS WILL SLOWLY MOVE NORTH AS THE TROPICAL STORM MOVES
NORTH...OR COULD JUST CHANGE ITS ORIENTATION.  EITHER WAY THE CWA WILL
SEE HEAVY FLOODING RAINS OVER NIGHT.

I VERY...VERY...VERY...STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT MIAMI ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH
FOR THE ENTIRE CWA FOR THE OVER NIGHT HOURS.

LOW LEVEL SHEAR STILL LOOKS PRETTY GOOD FOR SVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND
TORNADOS.  ABOUT AN HOUR AGO WE LOADED OUR VAD WINDS INTO SHARP AND
CAME UP WITH HELICITIES WELL OVER 200.  REPORTS CONTINUE TO COME IN
WITH WHAT IS BECOMING A SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING SITUATION.  MORE
ON THAT IN THE HLS.0
SOBIEN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 7, 8:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-080800-
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
800 PM EDT MON OCT 08 1996

...THREAT FOR SIGNIFICANT FLOODING EXISTS OVER WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA...
...SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALL OF WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FOR THE OVER NIGHT HOURS...
...A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR LEVY...CITRUS...HERNANDO AND
PASCO COUNTIES...
...A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH
...MANATEE AND SARASOTA COUNTIES...
...A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SUMTER AND POLK COUNTIES...

TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE WILL MOVE ONSHORE LATER TONIGHT AND WITH IT
BRING VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOS.  A
BAND OF STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES OVER THE COASTAL
WATERS FROM ENGLEWOOD TO BONITO BEACH AND OUT OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
FOR WELL OVER 100 MILES.  THIS LINE WILL MOVE LITTLE AND VERY HEAVY
FLOODING RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED TO TRAIN OVER THE FT MYERS AND CHARLOTTE
HARBOR AREAS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE REST OF WEST FLORIDA.  THE ATMOSPHERE IS
CONDUCIVE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOS DURING THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS.

NORTH OF PASCO COUNTY...SQUALLS FROM TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE WILL
CONTINUE TO MOVE ONSHORE.

AN ADDITIONAL STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED LATER THIS MORNING IF
CONDITIONS WARRANT.

SOBIEN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 7, 10:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Hillsborough, Manatee	39 min
Oct 8, 2:00 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	TBW	Charlotte, DeSoto, Lee, Sarasota	6 hr
Oct 8, 2:00 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	TBW	Manatee	6 hr
Oct 8, 6:22 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Charlotte, Lee	53 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.