Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 111, NWS Melbourne, FL

November 2, 1997Indian River County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 2, 1997, 5:12 AM EST for Indian River County, Florida. It was in force for 48 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: Nov 2, 1997, 5:12 AM EST (10:12 UTC)
Expired: Nov 2, 1997, 6:00 AM EST
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Indian River County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:13 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 180 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: 1350 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 021021 RRA
SVRMLB
FLC061-FLZ501-021100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING...CORRECTED SPECIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL             MARINE WARNING
512 AM EST SUN NOV 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600
AM EST

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...INDIAN RIVER COUNTY

AND A SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 AM EST FOR THE
INTRACOASTAL WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC FROM...

   ...SEBASTIAN INLET TO FORT PIERCE INLET

AT 510 AM...MELBOURNE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER BLUE CYPRESS LAKE MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST TOWARDS FELLSMERE AT 40
MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE FROM FELLSMERE TO ROSELAND AND
WABASSO BETWEEN 515 AND 545 AM.

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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.


CRISTALDI

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.

NWS Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Nov 2, 3:19 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 2, 3:19 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
315 AM EST SUN NOV 2 1997

CURRENT KMLB/TBW CR TIME LAPSES SHOW LEWP TYPE CONVECTION MOVING INTO
CENTRAL CWA...WITH CELLS WITHIN IT ACQUIRING SOME PERSISTENT ROTATION
AS ENVIRONMENTAL HELICITY REMAINS HIGH. THERE APPEARS TO BE A WELL-
DEFINED LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY ON SATELLITE IMAGERY EXTENDING FROM
CENTRAL FLORIDA WELL OFFSHORE SW FLORIDA...THIS IS WHERE LEWPS ARE
FOCUSING...AND I LOOK FOR ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY TO POSSIBLY RE-DEVELOP
ALONG AND SOUTH OF THIS FEATURE (BREV/OSCEOLA SOUTH) THROUGH SUN-UP

FARTHER NORTH...SQUALL LINE ALONG SFC COLD FRONT HAS WEAKENED SINCE
06Z ON RADAR/SAT TRENDS. THIS APPEARS TO BE DUE TO ORIENTATION OF
LINE WHICH IS PARALLEL TO LOW/MID JET...PLUS MARGINAL INSTABILITY.

FOR TODAY...FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHWARD ACROSS PENINSULA
...REACHING CENTRAL CWA BY AROUND 18Z. 850 WINDS ARE PROGGED TO
WEAKEN...ESPECIALLY DURING THE AFTERNOON. BY 18Z...CWA IS WITHIN RR
QUAD OF UPPER JET. INSTABILITY WILL BE SLIGHT DURING EARLY MORNING
...BUT STILL THINK THERE'S AN OUTSIDE SHOT OF LINE REINTENSIFYING
DURING THE AFTERNOON AS SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE REMAINS
INVOF FRONT.

FAN POPS FAVORED FOR MOST OF CWA OVER FWC NUMBERS.

CRISTALDI

In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 2, 1:14 AM EST, 3 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
114 AM EST SUN NOV 02 1997

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

1245 AM    NEW SMYRNA BEACH          FL   TORNADO
11/02/97   VOLUSIA                        UNCONFIRMED TORNADO
                                          TOUCHDOWN BEACHSIDE IN NEW
                                          SMYRNA BEACH. POSSIBLE
                                          BUILDING COLLAPSE WITH
                                          INJURIES. EXTENT OF
                                          DAMAGE/INJURIES UNKNOWN.
                                          FROM VOLUSIA COUNTY EOC.

Local storm report, Nov 2, 1:27 AM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
114 AM EST SUN NOV 02 1997

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

1245 AM    NEW SMYRNA BEACH          FL   TORNADO
11/02/97   VOLUSIA                        UNCONFIRMED TORNADO
                                          TOUCHDOWN BEACHSIDE IN NEW
                                          SMYRNA BEACH. POSSIBLE
                                          BUILDING COLLAPSE WITH
                                          INJURIES. EXTENT OF
                                          DAMAGE/INJURIES UNKNOWN.
                                          FROM VOLUSIA COUNTY EOC.

Local storm report, Nov 2, 4:55 AM EST, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
455 AM EST SUN NOV 02 1997

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

1250 AM    NEW SMYRNA BEACH          FL   TORNADO
11/02/97   VOLUSIA                        *** 14 INJ ***
                                          APPARENT TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN
                                          ALONG THE NORTH CAUSEWAY (S.R.
                                          44) IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH. 8 TO
                                          10 HOUSES REPORTED AS 80%
                                          DAMAGED BY EOC. DAMAGE ALSO
                                          TO TWO 8-STORY TOWERS OF THE
                                          DIAMOND HEAD CONDOMINIUMS. THE
                                          TOP FLOOR OF ONE UNIT COLLAPSED
                                          TRAPPING PEOPLE INSIDE. 14
                                          PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL. SOME
                                          POWER POLES/LINES ALSO DOWN.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 2, 12:38 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Volusia	32 min
Nov 2, 2:58 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	42 min
Nov 2, 6:08 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Indian River	42 min
Nov 2, 7:09 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	61 min
Nov 2, 8:04 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Okeechobee	56 min
Nov 2, 8:17 AM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Okeechobee	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1997 Every 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.