Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 23, 1997Orange County, Seminole County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 1997, 11:22 AM EDT for Orange County, Seminole County, Florida. It was in force for 28 min. 2 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, 11:22 AM EDT (15:22 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 1997, 11:50 AM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Orange County, FL, Seminole County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:22 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 23, 11:30 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Winter Park, FL	Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees, some of which damaged homes in the area.
Apr 23, 11:30 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Winter Park, FL	Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees, some of which damaged homes 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 23, 8:00 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 150 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: 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.

892 
WUUS01 KMLB 231522 RRA
SVRMLB
FLC095-117-231550-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1122 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1150 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...SEMINOLE COUNTY
   ...ORANGE COUNTY
 
AT 1120 AM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM...5 MILE WEST OF BITHLO. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL AFFECT BITHLO...CHRISTMAS...AND
SOUTHEAST SEMINOLE COUNTY THROUGH 1145 AM. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA. DAMAGING
TORNADOES HAVE OCCURRED EARLIER THIS MORNING IN LAKE AND VOLUSIA
COUNTIES. ADDITIONAL TORNADOES CAN FORM WILL LITTLE ADVANCE
WARNING. BE READY TO MOVE TO A SAFE LOCATION IN ADVANCE OF
THIS STORM.

SPRATT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 8:40 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	45 min
Apr 23, 9:22 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	33 min
Apr 23, 9:43 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Volusia	62 min
Apr 23, 9:56 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake	94 min
Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	45 min
Apr 23, 10:17 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Lake, Orange	63 min
Apr 23, 10:29 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	66 min
Apr 23, 10:38 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Seminole	57 min
Apr 23, 11:10 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	60 min
Apr 23, 11:44 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Orange	61 min
Apr 23, 11:52 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	63 min
Apr 23, 12:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	58 min
Apr 23, 12:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Indian River, Osceola	64 min
Apr 23, 1:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Indian River	50 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.