Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 30, 1996Hardee County, Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1996, 7:52 AM EDT for Hardee County, Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 68 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: Apr 30, 1996, 7:52 AM EDT (11:52 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 1996, 9:00 AM EDT
In force: 68 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hardee County, FL, Polk County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:56 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	Remark
Apr 30, 8:48 AM EDT	Tornado F0	Frostproof, 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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 64 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: 1609 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1093 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 301152 RRA
TORTBW
FLC049-105-301300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
752 AM EDT TUE APR 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHERN HARDEE COUNTY...POLK COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN HARDEE COUNTY 5
MILES EAST OF WAUCHULA. RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO WITH THIS
STORM.
 
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.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 6:07 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	53 min
Apr 30, 7:06 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pasco, Pinellas	69 min
Apr 30, 7:43 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	62 min
Apr 30, 8:08 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hernando, Sumter	52 min
Apr 30, 9:04 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Polk	41 min
Apr 30, 9:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Polk	60 min
Apr 30, 12:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Lee	64 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.