Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 23, 1997Indian River County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 1:20 PM EDT for Indian River County, Florida. It was in force for 50 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
Apr 23, 1997, 1:20 PM EDT (17:20 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1997, 2:10 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Indian River County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:19 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
Apr 23, 8:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Apr 23, 11:45 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2247 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 190 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

519 
WFUS01 KMLB 231720 RRA
TORMLB
FLC061-231810-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 210 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...INDIAN RIVER COUNTY
 
AT 115 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPING JUST EAST OF FELLSMERE. THE TORNADIC STORM WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH TOWARD ROSELAND AND SEBASTIAN AROUND 125 PM.
SEEK SHELTER NOW

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, 10:10 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia45 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

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.