Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Melbourne, FL

November 2, 1997Okeechobee County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Nov 2, 1997, 8:17 AM EST for Okeechobee County, Florida. It was in force for 48 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
Nov 2, 1997, 8:17 AM EST (13:17 UTC)
Expired
Nov 2, 1997, 9:05 AM EST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Okeechobee County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:17 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Nov 2, 7:30 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1997-11-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2017 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 1997-11-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 215 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2017 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
9.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLB 021316 RRA
TORMLB
FLC093-021405-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
817 AM EST SUN NOV 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 905 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...SOUTHERN OKEECHOBEE COUNTY
 
...AT 817 AM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER THE CITY OF
OKEECHOBEE. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST
NORTHEASST NEAR 40 MPH...AND WILL MOVE NEAR RT 70 AFTER PASSING
THROUGH OKEECHOBEE.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 2, 12:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBVolusia32 min
Nov 2, 2:58 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOsceola42 min
Nov 2, 5:12 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBIndian River48 min
Nov 2, 6:08 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBIndian River42 min
Nov 2, 7:09 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard61 min
Nov 2, 8:04 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOkeechobee56 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.