Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Miami, FL

May 23, 1997Monroe County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1997, 5:28 PM EDT for Monroe County, Florida. It was in force for 62 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
May 23, 1997, 5:28 PM EDT (21:28 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 69 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2607 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
2607 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

354 
WUUS1 KMIA 232131 RRA
SVRMIA
FLC087-232230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
528 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH FLORIDA
 
   ...MAINLAND MONROE COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM
LIKELY TO BECOME SEVERE BETWEEN 530 AND 630 PM OVER SOUTHERN
MAINLAND MONROE COUNTY AND ADJACENT WATERS OF FLORIDA BAY AND
THE GULF OF MEXICO.
 
PEOPLE IN THE AREA AROUND FLAMINGO ON CAPE SABLE SHOULD STAY
IN A SAFE BUILDING UNTIL THE STORM ABATES. ALSO IT WOULD BE
DANGEROUS TO DRIVE ON THE EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK ROAD
NEAR FLAMINGO UNTIL THE STORM ENDS.
 
 
DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. SEEK
SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT USE
TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES.
 
WATERSPOUTS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE NEAR THIS STORM.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 23, 2:12 PM EDT, 3 hours 16 minutes before
STORM REPORT CORRECTED FOR TIME LOCATION AND DAMAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI, FL
212 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

935 PM     GRASSY KEY               FL    WATERSPOUT/TORNADO
05/22/97   MONROE                         SEVERAL BOATS PICKED UP
                                          AND SUNK. MAJOR DAMAGE TO
                                          15 MOBILE HOMES. POWER
                                          LINES DOWN ALONG US 1
                                          BETWEEN MILE MARKER 58 AND
                                          59. PATH FROM NE TO SW
                                          100 YARDS WIDE AT WIDEST
                                          POINT.
Local storm report, May 23, 2:23 PM EDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
STORM REPORT CORRECTED FOR TIME LOCATION AND DAMAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI, FL
212 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

935 PM     GRASSY KEY               FL    WATERSPOUT/TORNADO
05/22/97   MONROE                         SEVERAL BOATS PICKED UP
                                          AND SUNK. MAJOR DAMAGE TO
                                          15 MOBILE HOMES. POWER
                                          LINES DOWN ALONG US 1
                                          BETWEEN MILE MARKER 58 AND
                                          59. PATH FROM NE TO SW
                          V                100 YARDS WIDE AT WIDEST
                                          POINT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 4:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLCollier64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.