Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 279
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 12, 1997, 3:45 PM EDT for 21 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 12, 1997, 3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 1997, 9:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 21 counties
Brevard County, FL, Broward County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Polk County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:48 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
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 133 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1120 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 609 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 135 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
318 WWUS9 KMKC 121914 COR SEL9 MKC WW 121914 COR FLZ000-130100- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 279 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 314 PM EDT MON MAY 12 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH FLORIDA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL 900 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 115 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF FORT MEYERS FLORIDA TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 278. WATCH NUMBER 278 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 345 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...ISOLATED SUPERCELLS CONTINUE MOVING ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTION OF SOUTH FLORIDA. A SQUALL LINE IS APPROACHING THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. WIND FIELDS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL TORNADOES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030. ...VESCIO 280,0822 283,0794 251,0794 244,0822
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 12:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and 4 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
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.