Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Mobile, AL

November 1, 1997Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 1, 1997, 12:14 PM CST for Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida. It was in force for 46 min. 2 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: Nov 1, 1997, 12:14 PM CST (18:14 UTC)
Expired: Nov 1, 1997, 1:00 PM CST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Nov 1, 12:40 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Milton, FL	Trees were blown down along State Road 87 in Milton.
Nov 1, 12:59 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Holt, FL	Several trees were blown down near the community of Holt.

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 nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 37 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1154 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 625 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

425 
WFUS1 KMOB 011815 RRA
TORMOB
FLC091-113-011900-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1214 PM CST SAT NOV 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
 
   ...OKALOOSA COUNTY...SANTA ROSA COUNTY
 
AT 1212 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND A
DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST WEST OF MILTON. THIS STORM WILL PASS NEAR
MILTON AND ALONG INTERSTATE 10...MOVING TOWARD HOLT BY 1 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 1, 11:13 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	62 min
Nov 1, 12:59 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.