Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Melbourne, FL

March 29, 1997Brevard County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1997, 2:15 PM EST for Brevard County, Florida. It was in force for 45 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
Mar 29, 1997, 2:15 PM EST (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1997, 3:00 PM EST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Brevard County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:16 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
Mar 29, 2:33 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 58Cape Kennedy Rgnl, FLSevere thunderstorm winds swept across the Cape Kennedy Space Center producing a wind gust to 58 knots and widespread wind damage. Twenty six people were injured by flying glass when winds blew out windows on three tour busses. Numerous other cars in the area

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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 27 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-256 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1312 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 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.

338 
WUUS01 KMLB 291918 RRA
SVRMLB
FLC009-292000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
215 PM EST SAT MAR 29 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...BREVARD COUNTY
 
AT 215 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
10 MILES WEST OF TITUSVILLE. THROUGH 3 PM..THIS STORM WILL AFFECT
AREAS FROM MIMS TO TITUSVILLE DOWN TO NEAR SHARPES.
THE STORMS WILL MOVE EAST NEAR 40 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF A STRONG BUILDING. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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