Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Jacksonville, FL

June 1, 1997Hamilton County, Florida

NWS Jacksonville, FL issued this tornado warning at Jun 1, 1997, 4:38 PM EDT for Hamilton County, Florida. It was in force for 52 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: Jun 1, 1997, 4:38 PM EDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired: Jun 1, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Jacksonville, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Hamilton County, FL

The radar

The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 44 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 1, 5:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Jennings, FL	Large trees and power lines were blown down.

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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 120 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: 1197 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

649 
WFUS1 KJAX 012040 RRA
TORJAX
FLC047-012130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
438 PM EDT SUN JUN 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN HAMILTON COUNTY
 
AT 438 PM NATIONAL SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN THE NORTHWEST
PART OF HAMILTON COUNTY NEAR BELLVILLE AND MOVING EAST. IT WILL MOVE TO
JENNINGS BY 455 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 1, 11:02 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX	Marion, Putnam	43 min
Jun 1, 11:41 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX	Flagler, Putnam, Saint Johns	49 min
Jun 1, 4:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX	Hamilton	51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

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.