Alert archive / Florida / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 27, 1997Hillsborough County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 27, 1997, 3:11 AM EDT for Hillsborough 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 27, 1997, 3:11 AM EDT (07:11 UTC)
Expired
Sep 27, 1997, 7:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Hillsborough County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 23 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1392 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1392 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
476 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 270712 COR
FFWTBW
FLC057-271100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
311 AM EDT SAT SEP 27 1997...CORRECTION TO EXPIRATION TIME...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED THE FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 AM EDT FOR

...HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

AT 250 AM EDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE A LARGE
AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE
EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO...STREAMING NORTHEAST INTO WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS...THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL
CONTINUES TO BE OVER EASTERN AND SOUTHERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY WHERE
DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS
FALLEN.

PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS
THE WARNED AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT AND INTO SATURDAY
MORNING AND ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES MAY BE
POSSIBLE...WHICH WILL RESULT IN FLOODING OF SOME ROADWAYS...LOW
LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. ALL RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG RIVERS AND
STREAMS AS WELL AS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD CONTINUE TO REMAIN
ALERT THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT...AND SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF
FLOODING IS OBSERVED.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTHS OR WHICH
COVERS THE ROADWAY. 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.

MCMICHAEL

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 27, 2:18 AM EDT, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 27, 2:18 AM EDT, 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
217 AM EDT SAT SEP 27 1997

EXTREMELY WET AROUND THE FA TONIGHT AS DELUGE OF RAIN CONTS TO
AFFECT THE REGION FM TPA S AND SW. ATTM 88D FM KBYX (KEY WEST) AND
88D HERE AT KTBW ALONG WITH IR SATL LOOP CONTS TO INDICATE A LARGE
AREA OF TRPCL MSTR AND HEAVY CNVTN CONTG TO STREAM N AND NEWD FM
CARIBBEAN. TRENDS FM 88D SHOW A SLIGHT ESEWD SHIFT OF HEAVIEST RAIN
DURING THE PAST HR OR SO...SO PINELLAS COUNTY WHICH WAS HARDEST HIT
WITH 9-12 INCHES OF RAIN EARLIER TDY MAY SEE A LET UP IN THE RAIN
DURING THE NEXT FEW HRS...HOWEVER WITH ADDITIONAL CNVTN DVLPG OVER
THE GLF WOULD EXPECT TO SEE MORE RAIN RE-DVLP IN THESE AREAS LATER
THIS MORNG.

ATTM WOULD SUGGEST CONTG WITH THE FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF TDY AND
WITH THE SLIGHT E-SEWD SHIFT TO THE HEAVIEST PRECIP AND MORE MOVG
NEWD WOULD LIKE TO SEE CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN WATCH
AS WELL. AFTER QUICK LOOK AT MODELS DON'T SEE MUCH CHANGE FOR THE
NEXT 24 HRS. MODELS ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH POSITION OF CLOSED
UPR LOW AND DVLPG SFC LOW OVER NERN GLF. ALL MODELS PROG THESE
FEATURES TO BEGIN TO MOVE NEWD DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 48 HRS AS NEXT
UPSTREAM SHRT/WV NOW OVER THE ROCKYS MOVES SEWD AND KICKS IT ENEWD.
UNTIL THEN ALL MODELS CONT TO ADVERTISE HIGH POPS WITH CONTD THREAT
OF HEAVY RAINS ACRS THE FA. ON SUN ETA/NGM ARE FASTER THAN AVN WITH
SHIFTING DEEP MSTR AXIS EWD AND MOVG DRIER AIR INTO THE FA. ATTM
FEEL ETA/NGM MAY BE A LTL FAST WITH THIS AS 850 MB TROUGH WL STILL BE
WELL TO THE W SO PREFER SLOWER LOOKING AVN WITH STILL A FAIRLY GOOD
CHC OF PRECIP. ALSO WITH DRIER AIR TRYING TO MOVE EWD AND FAIRLY
GOOD PVA...WE MAY SEE CHC FOR SOME STRONG CNVTN VS HEAVY RAINS. TIME
WL TELL.

SUGGESTION FOR TDY...KEEP CATEGORICAL POPS GOING WITH MENTION OF
HEAVY RAINS FM TPA TO LAL S AND CHC TO GOOD CHC CAT ELSEWHERE. WOULD
ALSO LIKE TO SEE FFA EXTENDED THRU TDY BUT TAKE OUT LEVY AND CITRUS
COUNTIES AND PUT CHARLOTTE AND LEE INTO THE FFA. BIG QUESTION TDY WL
BE TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHERE HEAVIEST RAIN AREA WL SET UP. ATTM
BASED ON SLIGHT ESEWD SHIFT OF THIS AREA THIS MORNG VIA 88D...IT
LOOKS LIKE IT MAY EXTND FM SAY SUMTER SWWD THRU ERN HILLSBOROUGH AND
POLK SWWD TO FMY. AS FOR TEMPS WOULD SUGGEST STAYING SLIGHTLY BELOW
GUIDANCE DUE TO EXPECTED CLOUDS AND PRECIP. THANKS FOR COORD MIA.

MCMICHAEL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 11:19 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas4 hr
Sep 27, 3:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough4 hr
Sep 27, 5:55 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWPasco4 hr
Sep 27, 7:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas4 hr
Sep 27, 7:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWCharlotte, Lee4 hr
Sep 27, 11:26 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas3 hr
Sep 27, 11:26 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWCharlotte, Lee3 hr
Sep 27, 11:26 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWSarasota3 hr
Sep 27, 12:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWPasco, Polk3 hr
Sep 27, 2:10 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Pasco4 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.