Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 192

April 23, 199717 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 23, 1997, 5:00 PM EDT for 17 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 23, 1997, 5:00 PM EDT (21:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 1997, 11:00 PM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Broward County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:03 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 6:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Hendry	66 min
Apr 23, 7:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Palm Beach	66 min
Apr 23, 7:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Palm Beach	63 min
Apr 23, 7:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Palm Beach	58 min
Apr 23, 8:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Palm Beach	29 min

The nearest sounding before it

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 110 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: 1680 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 737 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.2
Supercell composite: 8.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

521 
WWUS9 KMKC 232041
SEL2  
MKC WW 232041
FLZ000-240300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 192
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
441 PM EDT WED APR 23 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL
1100 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 60 MILES WEST OF VERO BEACH FLORIDA TO 45 MILES SOUTH
OF MIAMI FLORIDA.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 191.  WATCH NUMBER 191 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 500 PM
EDT.  

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.

DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES MOVING ALONG
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY IN REGION OF EXTREME INSTABILITY WHERE CAPES ABOVE
4000 J/KG. MID LEVEL FLOW NEAR 70 KTS INDICATES POTENTIAL FOR
DAMAGING DOWNBURSTS AND A FEW SUPERCELLS. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040.


...ROGASH

280,0802 253,0791 244,0811 271,0822

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 10:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and 1 more	6 hr
Apr 23, 3:00 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baker, Bradford, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 17 more	6 hr
Apr 23, 8:00 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alachua, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay, Dixie and 20 more	6 hr
Apr 23, 11:45 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Brevard, Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry and 19 more	6 hr

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.