Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tallahassee, FL
NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 24, 1997, 11:36 AM CDT for Calhoun County, Florida. It was in force for 64 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 24, 1997, 11:36 AM CDT (16:36 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 24, 1997, 12:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tallahassee, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Calhoun County, FL
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:54 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 12:35 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Kinard, FL | Small F1 tornado destroyed storage sheds, mobile home and pickup truck along Florida Highway 73. One 24" diameter tree uprooted. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 9:15 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 86 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
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -294 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 628 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 433 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 489 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTLH 241632 RRA TORTLH FLC013-241740- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 1236 PM EDT FRI OCT 24 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE FL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1240 PM CDT (140 PM EDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA ...CALHOUN COUNTY AT 1134 AM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY TALLAHASSEE DOPPLER RADAR MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... CLARKSVILLE BY 1204 PM CDT NEW HOPE BY 1207 PM CDT BLOUNTSTOWN BY 1214 PM CDT DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADIC WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. BE MINDFUL OF RISING WATERS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 5:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Walton | 33 min |
| Oct 24, 10:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Bay | 46 min |
| Oct 24, 11:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Bay | 32 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 |
| Oct 24, 2:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Leon, Wakulla | 47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.