Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 15, 1997Highlands County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1997, 5:20 PM EDT for Highlands County, Florida. It was in force for 55 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
Jul 15, 1997, 5:20 PM EDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1997, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Highlands County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:23 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 15, 5:37 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSebring, FLThunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines in east Sebring.

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 nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 112 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 1997-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1593 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 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
1593 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
943 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 152124 RRA
SVRTBW
FLC055-152215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
520 PM EDT TUE JUL 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...HIGHLANDS COUNTY
 
DOPPLAR RADAR INDICATED THAT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED JUST
NORTHEAST OF SEBRING.  THE STORM IS MOVING VERY LITTLE.  SEVERAL OTHER
STRONG STORMS ARE LOCATED ACROSS THE COUNTY AND THEY COULD BECOME SEVERE
WITH LITTLE NOTICE.
 
BY DEFINITION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE WINDS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER
AND/OR DIME SIZE HAIL OR LARGER. MOBILE HOMES ARE NOT SAFE! IF THIS
STORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO TO A REINFORCED BUILDING AND STAY
THERE UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN REQUESTS THAT SKYWARN UNITS IN
THE COUNTY BE ACTIVATED AND FORWARD ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER REPORTS
TO OUR OFFICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 5:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco65 min
Jul 15, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLee62 min
Jul 15, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk68 min
Jul 15, 7:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough64 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.