Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 23, 1997Lake County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 1997, 9:56 AM EDT for Lake County, Florida. It was in force for 94 min. 6 reports 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
Apr 23, 1997, 9:56 AM EDT (13:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1997, 11:30 AM EDT
In force
94 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Lake County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:57 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
Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDTThunderstorm WindFruitland Park, FLSevere thunderstorm winds blew down trees and severly damaged the roof of a house.
Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDTThunderstorm WindFruitland Park, FLSevere thunderstorm winds blew down trees and severly damaged the roof of a house.
Apr 23, 10:20 AM EDTTornado F0Tavares, FLA small tornado touched down briefly in the town of Tavares blowing down trees and power lines and damaging 25 homes and mobile homes.
Apr 23, 10:20 AM EDTTornado F0Tavares, FLA small tornado touched down briefly in the town of Tavares blowing down trees and power lines and damaging 25 homes and mobile homes.
Apr 23, 10:45 AM EDTThunderstorm WindMt Dora, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines and overturned a tractor trailer truck in Mt. Dora.
Apr 23, 10:45 AM EDTThunderstorm WindMt Dora, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines and overturned a tractor trailer truck in Mt. Dora.

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 23, 8:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2247 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 190 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
2247 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
9.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 231356 RRA
SVRMLB
FLC069-231530-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
956 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...LAKE COUNTY
 
AT 954 AM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING SUMTER COUNTY. THESE SEVERE STORMS WILL
CONTINUE TO RACE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH INTO LAKE COUNTY FROM ABOUT
CLERMONT NORTH. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THESE
STORMS. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM LEESBURG
TO TAVARES TO UMATILLA TO PAISLEY.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WILL LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING. SEEK SHELTER BEFORE THE STORMS REACH YOU.

SPRATT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 8:40 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia45 min
Apr 23, 9:22 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia33 min
Apr 23, 9:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBVolusia62 min
Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia45 min
Apr 23, 10:17 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBLake, Orange63 min
Apr 23, 10:29 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia66 min
Apr 23, 10:38 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBSeminole57 min
Apr 23, 11:10 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard60 min
Apr 23, 11:22 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOrange, Seminole28 min
Apr 23, 11:44 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBOrange61 min
Apr 23, 11:52 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOsceola63 min
Apr 23, 12:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard58 min
Apr 23, 12:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBIndian River, Osceola64 min
Apr 23, 1:20 PM EDTTornado WarningMLBIndian River50 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.