Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 30, 1996Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1996, 9:04 AM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 41 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
Apr 30, 1996, 9:04 AM EDT (13:04 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1996, 9:45 AM EDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:06 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 74 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1059 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1996-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1059 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
299 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 301305
TORTBW
FLC105-301345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
904 AM EDT TUE APR 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...EASTERN POLK COUNTY
 
AT 905 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WHICH IS
LIKELY PRODUCING A TORNADO ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF FROSTPROOF. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 6:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas53 min
Apr 30, 7:06 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco, Pinellas69 min
Apr 30, 7:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough62 min
Apr 30, 7:52 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHardee, Polk68 min
Apr 30, 8:08 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando, Sumter52 min
Apr 30, 9:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Polk60 min
Apr 30, 12:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLee64 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.