Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Melbourne, FL
NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 10:17 AM EDT for Lake County, Orange County, Florida. It was in force for 63 min. 8 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, 10:17 AM EDT (14:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 23, 1997, 11:20 AM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Melbourne, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lake County, FL, Orange County, FL
The radar
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:17 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 10:20 AM EDT | Tornado F0 | Tavares, FL | A small tornado touched down briefly in the town of Tavares blowing down trees and power lines and damaging 25 homes and mobile homes. |
| Apr 23, 10:20 AM EDT | Tornado F0 | Tavares, FL | A small tornado touched down briefly in the town of Tavares blowing down trees and power lines and damaging 25 homes and mobile homes. |
| Apr 23, 10:45 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Dora, FL | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines and overturned a tractor trailer truck in Mt. Dora. |
| Apr 23, 10:45 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Dora, FL | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines and overturned a tractor trailer truck in Mt. Dora. |
| Apr 23, 10:50 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Orlando, FL | Thunderstorm winds produced wind gusts to 58 mph at Orlando International Airport. |
| Apr 23, 10:50 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Orlando, FL | Thunderstorm winds produced wind gusts to 58 mph at Orlando International Airport. |
| Apr 23, 11:30 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Winter Park, FL | Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees, some of which damaged homes in the area. |
| Apr 23, 11:30 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Winter Park, FL | Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees, some of which damaged homes in the area. |
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
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 135 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2247 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 587 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 190 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 250 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.8
- Supercell composite
- 9.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMLB 231417 RRA TORMLB FLC069-095-231520- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1017 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1120 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...LAKE COUNTY ...ORANGE COUNTY AT 1010 AM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY NEARV BAY LAKE. THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE TO NEAR CLERMONT BY 1020 AM...THEN INTO WESTERN ORANGE COUNTY AND AFFECT AREAS FROM THE NORTHWESTERN ORLANDO AREA TO NEAR LAKE APOPKA BY 1040 AM. SPRATT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Melbourne, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 8:40 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MLB | Volusia | 45 min |
| 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, 10:29 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, 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.