Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 101

March 14, 199714 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 14, 1997, 11:00 AM EST for 14 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 14, 1997, 11:00 AM EST (16:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 14, 1997, 5:00 PM EST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Brevard County, FL, Broward County, FL, Collier County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:59 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.

Warnings issued inside it

1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 14, 1:48 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MFL	Broward	42 min

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 164 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: 394 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 45 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.

896 
WWUS9 KMKC 141548
SEL1  
MKC WW 141548
FLZ000-142200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 101
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1048 AM EST FRI MAR 14 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

   PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA                          
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON UNTIL 500 PM EST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 130 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 85 MILES WEST OF MIAMI FLORIDA TO 25 MILES
EAST OF VERO BEACH FLORIDA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 480.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 24035.

D...CHANCE FOR ISOLD BOW HEAD AND BNDRY INTERSECTION TORNADOES TDA
AS PREFNTL SQLN NOW OVR WRN FL CONTS E ACRS STATE.  SFC DWPTS IN
THE LO 70S CONTRIBUTING TO CAPE ABV 1500 J/KG...WITH WNDS IN THE
LOWEST 3000 FT ARND 30 KTS.  

...CORFIDI

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Every tornado watch 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.