Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 201

April 26, 199712 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 26, 1997, 8:30 AM EDT for 12 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 26, 1997, 8:30 AM EDT (12:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 26, 1997, 1:00 PM EDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Charlotte County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:31 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 26, 8:35 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough, Pasco	55 min
Apr 26, 8:59 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee	61 min
Apr 26, 10:00 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee	60 min
Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	TBW	Hillsborough, Manatee	4 hr
Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	TBW	Pinellas	4 hr
Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee	54 min
Apr 26, 10:24 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Sarasota	66 min
Apr 26, 11:20 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Polk	55 min
Apr 26, 11:30 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Sarasota	60 min
Apr 26, 11:37 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hardee, Polk	68 min
Apr 26, 12:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Highlands	64 min
Apr 26, 12:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	DeSoto	65 min

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 48 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 109 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.

472 
WWUS9 KMKC 261211
SEL1  
MKC WW 261211
FLZ000-261700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 201
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
811 AM EDT SAT APR 26 1997

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

   CENTRAL FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 830 AM UNTIL 100
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF SAINT PETERSBURG FLORIDA
TO 65 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF AVON PARK FLORIDA.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 200...

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 THUNDERSTORMS WITH PERSISTENT ROTATION
MOVING INTO WATCH AREA ALONG SURFACE BOUNDARY. AIR MASS UNSTABLE
PER 1000 TO 2000 J/KG CAPES AND HIGH LOW LEVEL THETA E VALUES.
STRONG LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED THREAT OF
SUPERCELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25025.


...ROGASH

283,0813 264,0805 264,0823 283,0831

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 26, 12:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Brevard, Broward, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee and 12 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.