Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 760

October 24, 199713 counties in Florida; Decatur County, Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 24, 1997, 9:15 AM CDT for 13 counties in Florida; Decatur County, Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 24, 1997, 9:15 AM CDT (14:15 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1997, 2:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Decatur County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 10:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Bay	46 min
Oct 24, 10:38 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	52 min
Oct 24, 10:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	60 min
Oct 24, 10:59 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	2 hr
Oct 24, 11:18 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Bay	32 min
Oct 24, 11:36 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Calhoun	64 min
Oct 24, 1:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Gadsden	47 min
Oct 24, 1:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TAE	Gadsden, Leon	47 min

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 13 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: 1564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 299 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 550 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 5.0
Supercell composite: 18.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

976 
WWUS9 KMKC 241400 COR
SEL0  
MKC WW 241400 COR
FLZ000-241900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 760
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
900 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997

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

     WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE                           
     AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 915 AM UNTIL 200
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA
TO 45 MILES NORTHEAST OF APALACHICOLA 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.

DISCUSSION...A FEW SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE OVER
THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE LATER TODAY AS STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR PERISTS
ABOVE REGION OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE RETURN IN VICINITY OF WARM
FRONT.     

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 1/2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...CORFIDI

310,0873 305,0842 292,0842 293,0873

* CORRECTED TO INCLUDE COASTAL WATERS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 12:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Jackson	7 hr
Oct 24, 1:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin and 14 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.