Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 23, 1997Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 10:10 AM EDT for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. 14 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, 10:10 AM EDT (14:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1997, 10:55 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 14:12 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, 10:15 AM EDTTornado F0Pierson, FLA small tornado touched down briefly in the vicinity of Pierson. Numerous trees were blown down with at least one falling on a house. The roof of a saw mill was destroyed.
Apr 23, 10:15 AM EDTTornado F0Pierson, FLA small tornado touched down briefly in the vicinity of Pierson. Numerous trees were blown down with at least one falling on a house. The roof of a saw mill was destroyed.
Apr 23, 10:30 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDeltona, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees near Interstate Highway 4 in Deltona.
Apr 23, 10:30 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDeltona, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees near Interstate Highway 4 in Deltona.
Apr 23, 10:38 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDe Land, FLThunderstorm wind blew down numerous large tree branches in De Land.
Apr 23, 10:38 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDe Land, FLThunderstorm wind blew down numerous large tree branches in De Land.
Apr 23, 10:40 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDaytona Beach, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines near Interstate Highway 4 in Daytona Beach.
Apr 23, 10:40 AM EDTThunderstorm WindDaytona Beach, FLThunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines near Interstate Highway 4 in Daytona Beach.
Apr 23, 10:44 AM EDTTornado F0Port Orange, FLA small tornado touched down in the fly-in community of Spruce Creek overturning one single engine aircraft, destroying a pool enclosure and blowing down about a dozen trees.
Apr 23, 10:44 AM EDTTornado F0Port Orange, FLA small tornado touched down in the fly-in community of Spruce Creek overturning one single engine aircraft, destroying a pool enclosure and blowing down about a dozen trees.
Apr 23, 10:50 AM EDTTornado F0New Smyrna Beach, FLA small tornado moving rapidly to the east touched down briefly in the northern part of New Smyrna Beach just west of US Highway 1, blowing down dozens of trees and damaging 20 homes. The tornado continued east crossing the Intracoastal Waterway and then passe
Apr 23, 10:50 AM EDTTornado F0New Smyrna Beach, FLA small tornado moving rapidly to the east touched down briefly in the northern part of New Smyrna Beach just west of US Highway 1, blowing down dozens of trees and damaging 20 homes. The tornado continued east crossing the Intracoastal Waterway and then passe
Apr 23, 11:05 AM EDTHail 0.88Ormond Beach, FLNickel size hail fell in Ormond Beach.
Apr 23, 11:05 AM EDTHail 0.88Ormond Beach, FLNickel size hail fell in Ormond Beach.

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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 2.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -215 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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 231410 RRA
TORMLB
FLC127-231455-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1010 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1055 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...NORTHEASTERN VOLUSIA COUNTY
 
AT 1006 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM....15
MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF ORMOND BEACH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST
AT 35 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE CITIES FROM ORMOND BY THE SEA...ORMOND
BEACH...AND HOLLY HILL BY 1040 AM.

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, 9:56 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBLake94 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

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