Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Mobile, AL

July 18, 1997Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Florida

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1997, 8:38 AM CDT for Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Florida. It was in force for 57 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
Jul 18, 1997, 8:38 AM CDT (13:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 9:35 AM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Escambia County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:39 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 246 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 315 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 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
315 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-3 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 KMOB 181337 RRA
TORMOB
FLC033-113-181435-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
838 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 935 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA

   ...ESCAMBIA
   ...SANTA ROSA
 
AT 836 AM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR
IN THE VICINITY OF GULF BREEZE MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 35 MPH.
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF POSSIBLE TORNADOES THAT WILL
SWEEP ACROSS ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES AS THE SPIRAL BANDS FROM
HURRICANE DANNY RAKE ACROSS THE AREA.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE IMMEDIATE PATH OF THIS FIRST TORNADO ARE...
GULF BREEZE...PENSACOLA BEACH...ALLENTOWN AND CANTONMENT THROUGH 930
AM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GOt TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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.