Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Tallahassee, FL

May 15, 1997Walton County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 2:42 PM CDT for Walton County, Florida. It was in force for 63 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1997, 2:42 PM CDT (19:42 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Walton County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:46 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 35 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 991 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
991 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTLH 151944 RRA
SVRTLH
FLC131-152045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
342 PM EDT (242 PM CDT) THU MAY 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT (345 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA
 
   ...WALTON COUNTY
 
AT 242 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF DE FUNIAK SPRINGS MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST
AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM IS PART OF A LINE OF STORMS WITH A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO THE DE FUNIAK SPRINGS
AREA BY 300 PM CDT.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTOZRMS PRODUCE WINDS OF 58 MPH OR HIGHER... LARGE
HAIL... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS STORM... GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 1:53 AM CDT, 12 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:53 AM CDT, 12 hours 49 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
245 AM EDT THU MAY 15 1997

PERSISTENT LARGE UPR TROF OVR ERN HALF OF COUNTRY WILL CONTINUE TO
DOMINATE WX PATN OVR THE EAST THRU FRIDAY...ALTHO STG NRN STREAM S/WV
PROGRESSING THRU TROF WILL MOV TROF AXIS FM GT LAKES/N CNTRL GULF
COAST TO ERN SEABOARD BY END OF PD. HOWEVER...THIS S/WV WILL REMAIN
WELL TO OUR N. OVR SERN STATES...MAIN FEATURE OF INTEREST IS CDFNT
ANALYZED FM NRN LA TO NRN AL AT 06Z. THIS BNDRY WILL CONTINUE MOVG
SEWD TODAY AND SHOULD BE DRAPED ACRS FL PNHNDL/S GA BY SUNSET.
HOWEVER...CDFNT WILL NOT HAVE MUCH MOISTURE TO WORK WITH AND ETA MDL
DOES NOT SHOW A TREMENDOUS AMT OF LLVL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE. THESE
FACTORS WOULD SUGGEST A FAIRLY LOW PRECIP THREAT...A VIEW SHARED BY
FWC GUIDANCE. HOWEVER...WHAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IS PSBL SEABRZ
INTERACTION THIS AFTN...ESPECIALLY ACRS FL PNHNDL. PROGRESSIVE SEABRZ
DVLPD YESTERDAY AFTN ON A DAY THAT DID NOT LOOK ESPECIALLY FAVORABLE
IN MDL GUIDANCE. LATEST ETA MDL LOOKS A LITTLE BETTER W.R.T. SEABRZ
TODAY. WITH THAT IN MIND...HAVE NO PROBLEM KEEPING PRECIP
PROBABILITIES IN THE 20 TO 30 PCT RANGE AS CURRENTLY ADVERTISED AND AS
SEEN IN FAN GUIDANCE. CDFNT SHOULD MOV SE OF FCST AREA BY LATE
THURSDAY EVE...AFTER WHICH HI PRES WILL BEGIN TO BUILD BACK INTO AREA.

MOORE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHolmes58 min
May 15, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEJackson61 min
May 15, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHolmes28 min
May 15, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGadsden65 min
May 15, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAELeon61 min
May 15, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEJefferson43 min
May 15, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEMadison, Taylor66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.