Alert archive / Florida / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 26, 1997Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1997, 7:50 PM EDT for Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 26, 1997, 7:50 PM EDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 27, 1997, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Pinellas County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 26 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1751 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1751 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
483 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 262352
FFWTBW
FLC057-103-270400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
750 PM EDT FRI SEP 26 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED THE...FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT FOR

   ...PINELLAS AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTIES

AT 750 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING AREAS
OF HEAVY RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE TAMPA BAY
AREA...AS WELL AS OVER THE EASTERN GULF WATERS. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER ALREADY FLOODED AREAS
THROUGH MIDNIGHT.

A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS BY FOOT OR BY AUTO. IT TAKES
LESS THAN TWO FEET OF WATER FOR VEHICLES TO STALL AND BEGIN TO FLOAT.

DURING HEAVY RAINS...KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS...
WATER CATCHMENTS...AND WATERWAYS. SHALLOW...GENTLY FLOWING WATER
CAN BECOME A RAGING TORRENT IN A MATTER OF MINUTES.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 26, 7:50 PM EDT, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 7:50 PM EDT, 0 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
750 PM EDT FRI SEP 26 1997

VERY SOGGY OUT THERE. WILL BE BRIEF. FIRST...FOR MEDIA PEOPLE...
OUR 88D RAINFALL HAS BEEN UNDERESTIMATING BY HALF THUS FAR. NORMAL FOR
TROPICAL RAINS. AT 00Z WE WILL SWITCH OVER TO TROPICAL Z-R RELATIONSHIP
AS WL MLB. SHOULD DO A LOT BETTER JOB. OUR RADAR GUY HAS DECIDED NOT
TO RESET STP (HOWEVER MLB WILL BE).

ON TO WEATHER...DONT SEE WHY FETCH OF HEAVY RAINS WONT CONTINUE ACROSS
MAINLY COASTAL COUNTIES OVERNIGHT. EXPECT TO SEE A BREAK SOMEWHAT LATER
THIS EVENING...BUT THEN MORE ACTIVITY GETTING GOING CLOSER TOWARD
DAYBREAK. INLAND COUNTIES SHOULD BE DRIER OVERNIGHT.

AT THIS RATE...MANY LOCATIONS WILL HAVE 10-15 BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

AFTER TALKING WITH ACE MLB FCSTR...PLAN ON DOING UPDATE AROUND 9PM.
ATTM...PLAN ON LOWER POPS A BIT (TO 50%) INLAND. WL KEEP POPS CATEGORICAL
COASTAL...STILL HIGHLIGHTING HVY RAINS/FLOODING POTENTIAL.

FLOOD WATCH TO CONTINUE. PLAN ON REISSUING FLOOD WARNING FOR TAMPA BAY
AREA AT 8PM. UPDATED LIST OF RAINFALL FROM SPOTTERS/AUTOMATIC RAINGAGES
ETC TO BE OUT AROUND 9PM EITHER AS FLS OR PNS.

NASH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 11:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas3 hr
Sep 26, 4:35 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Florida, 1997Every flash flood 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.