Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Miami, FL

May 31, 1997Broward County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1997, 5:16 PM EDT for Broward County, Florida. It was in force for 29 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
May 31, 1997, 5:16 PM EDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Broward County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 5:30 PM EDTTornado F0Fll, 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

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 40 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 1997-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 921 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
921 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
790 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 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.

427 
WFUS1 KMIA 312117 RRA
TORMIA
FLC011-312145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
516 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN BROWARD COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 510 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
POMPANO BEACH JUST AT THE COAST. TWO REPORTS FROM THE PUBLIC INDICATED
THAT A FUNNEL CLOUD MAY BE OCCURRING WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM WHILE
DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A PERSISTANT CIRCULATION OF WINDS AT MID LEVELS OF
THE STORM. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 5 MILES
PER HOUR.
 
IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED...TAKE SHELTER...THEN REPORT THE
SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
 
 
 
&

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.