Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 23, 1997Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 8:40 AM EDT for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. 4 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, 8:40 AM EDT (12:40 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 1997, 9:25 AM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:42 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, 9:20 AM EDT	Hail 0.75	New Smyrna Beach, FL	Nickel size hail was reported at the Ponce Inlet Coast Guard Station.
Apr 23, 9:20 AM EDT	Hail 0.75	New Smyrna Beach, FL	Nickel size hail was reported at the Ponce Inlet Coast Guard Station.
Apr 23, 9:30 AM EDT	Tornado F0	New Smyrna Beach, FL	A small tornado was observed swirling in the sand on the beach near the Ponce Inlet Coast Guard Station. It then moved over the near shore waters and became a large waterspout.
Apr 23, 9:30 AM EDT	Tornado F0	New Smyrna Beach, FL	A small tornado was observed swirling in the sand on the beach near the Ponce Inlet Coast Guard Station. It then moved over the near shore waters and became a large waterspout.

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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -74 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 231240 RRA
TORMLB
FLC127-231325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
840 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 925 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...VOLUSIA COUNTY
 
AT 837 AM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST WEST OF LAKE MONROE ALONG THE SEMINOLE/VOLUSIA
COUNTY BORDER.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
THE STORM WILL APPROACH DELTONA AROUND 845 AM.  TORNADOES HAVE
ALREADY BEEN REPORTED WITH OTHER STORMS OVER NORTH FLORIDA THIS
MORNING.  THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM!
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE
HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
THE SAFEST PLACE IS AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS.

SHARP
 (

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
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, 11:22 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange, Seminole	28 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

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.