Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Jacksonville, FL

January 16, 1997Putnam County, Florida

NWS Jacksonville, FL issued this tornado warning at Jan 16, 1997, 6:53 AM EST for Putnam County, Florida. It was in force for 52 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
Jan 16, 1997, 6:53 AM EST (11:53 UTC)
Expired
Jan 16, 1997, 7:45 AM EST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Jacksonville, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Putnam County, FL

The radar

The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:54 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 16, 3:45 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 99 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
721 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

442 
WFUS1 KJAX 161156 RRA
TORJAX
FLC107-161245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
653 AM EST THU JAN 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 AM EST
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHERN PUTNAM COUNTY
 
AT 0655 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH JUST SOUTH OF THE CLAY - PUTNAM COUNTY
LINE. THE STORM WILL PASS NORTH OF PALATKA NEAR BOSTWICK.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
PETERSON/WELSH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 16, 3:36 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXHamilton, Suwannee69 min
Jan 16, 4:33 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXColumbia57 min
Jan 16, 6:10 AM ESTTornado WarningJAXClay, Saint Johns65 min
Jan 16, 6:23 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXDuval67 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.