Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Tallahassee, FL

October 26, 1997Wakulla County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 1997, 6:26 PM EST for Wakulla County, Florida. It was in force for 49 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
Oct 26, 1997, 6:26 PM EST (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Oct 26, 1997, 7:15 PM EST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Wakulla County, FL

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 28 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 26, 5:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 29 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1593 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1593 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
494 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
8.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTLH 262324 RRA
TORTLH
FLC129-FLZ505-270015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
626 PM EST (526 PM CST) SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EST (615 PM C
)FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH FLORIDA
 
   ...WAKULLA COUNTY
 
  AND FOR MARINE INTERESTS ON THE GULF COASTAL WATERS FROM THE
 
   ...OCHLOCKONEE RIVER  TO  ST. MARKS
 
AT 620 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST OFFSHORE OF OCHLOCKONEE POINT...OVER THE COASTAL
WATERS ABOUT 3 MILES EAST OF PANACEA. THE STORM PRODUCING THIS POSSIBLE
TORNADO IS MOVING ALONG THE COAST OF WAKULLA COUNTY...TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 20 TO 25 MPH. ON THIS PATH...THE STORM WILL MOVE ONSHORE NEAR THE ST
MARKS RIVER ENTRANCE BETWEEN 650 PM EST AND 700 PM EST. RESIDENTS NEAR
ST MARKS SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER
STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A
SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO Av MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 26, 6:33 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEJackson2 hr
Oct 26, 8:18 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEBay, Walton12 min
Oct 26, 8:30 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEWashington30 min
Oct 26, 9:05 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEWashington25 min
Oct 26, 9:33 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEJackson62 min
Oct 26, 10:10 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEBay50 min
Oct 26, 10:20 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEHolmes40 min
Oct 26, 10:36 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEJackson39 min
Oct 26, 11:05 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEBay40 min
Oct 26, 11:36 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEJackson54 min
Oct 26, 11:48 AM ESTTornado WarningTAECalhoun42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.