Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 28, 1997Brevard County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 1997, 2:33 PM EDT for Brevard County, Florida. It was in force for 62 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 28, 1997, 2:33 PM EDT (18:33 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 1997, 3:35 PM EDT
In force: 62 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 18:33 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 28, 2:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Cape Canaveral, FL	A thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph was recorded at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Apr 28, 2:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Cape Canaveral, FL	A thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph was recorded at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

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 28, 12:30 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 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: 1286 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.8
Supercell composite: 8.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

493 
WFUS01 KMLB 281831 RRA
TORMLB
FLC009-FLZ501-281935-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
233 PM EDT MON APR 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 335 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...BREVARD COUNTY
 
AT 230 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER CENTRAL OSCEOLA COUNTY APPROACHING DEER PARK AND MOVING
NORTHEAST TOWARDS WEST BREVARD COUNTY NEAR SR 192.  THE STORM HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND SHORT-LIVED TORNADOES.  THE
STORM WILL MOVE INTO BREVARD COUNTY AND AFFECT THE AREA FROM NEAR
MELBOURNE/PALM BAY TO COCOA BEACH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN
A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN
A DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

SHARP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 28, 1:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Osceola	42 min
Apr 28, 1:33 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Orange	62 min
Apr 28, 2:07 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Osceola	53 min
Apr 28, 2:10 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Seminole	45 min
Apr 28, 2:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	62 min
Apr 28, 3:12 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Indian River	63 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.