Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Melbourne, FL

October 31, 1997Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 31, 1997, 5:46 PM EST for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 64 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 31, 1997, 5:46 PM EST (22:46 UTC)
Expired
Oct 31, 1997, 6:50 PM EST
In force
64 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 22:46 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 770 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
770 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
736 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 312245 RRA
TORMLB
FLC127-312350-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
546 PM EST FRI OCT 31 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...VOLUSIA COUNTY
 
AT 545 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC SIGNATURE
OVER SANFORD. THIS STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND MOVE
ACROSS THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF LAKE MONROE TOWARDS OSTEEN BY 6 PM.
ALONG THIS TRACK...BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS ARE EXPECTED.
 
SPRATT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 31, 3:34 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOsceola41 min
Oct 31, 4:08 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOsceola57 min
Oct 31, 4:47 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBSeminole43 min
Oct 31, 5:14 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard61 min
Oct 31, 5:15 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard55 min
Oct 31, 5:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOrange, Osceola64 min
Oct 31, 5:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBSeminole64 min
Oct 31, 5:25 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBSeminole60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.