Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 160, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 31, 1997, 12:14 PM EST for Manatee County, Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports 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 31, 1997, 12:14 PM EST (17:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 31, 1997, 1:05 PM EST
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Manatee County, FL, Sarasota County, FL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 12:25 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Bradenton, FL | A tornado briefly touched down and toppled trees and power lines near U.S. Highway 41 and Pearl Avenue. |
| Oct 31, 12:58 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Bradenton, FL | A tornado briefly touched down and toppled trees and power lines near 59th Street and Cortez Blvd. before it lifted and dissipated. |
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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 42 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
- 1009 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 577 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 146 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 197 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Oct 31, 9:55 AM EST, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 9:55 AM EST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 955 AM EST FRI OCT 31 1997 ...POTENTIAL FOR SVR WX LATE THIS AFTN AND EVNG... LATEST WV LOOP SHOWING PAIR OF STRN SHRT WVS...ONE IN E TX AND ANOTHER JUST INTO CENTRL LA. THESE IMPULSES ARE FCST TO MOVE NE INTO GA LATER THIS EVNG. WV ALSO SHOWING DIFFLUENT PATTERN OVR MOST OF FL. CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVR MOST OF GLF WITH NO REAL ORGANIZATION SHOWING UP IN LTNG DATA YET. SMALL PERSISTENT AREA OF TSTMS JUST OFF SRQ CST THAT HAS HAS STRENTHENED IN LAST 1/2 HR WITH HINTS OF ROTATION. STILL LOOKS LIKE TIME FRAME FOR BEST CHCS FOR SVR WX WILL BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 5 AND 10 PM. WILL TRY TO NAIL DOWN TIMING BETTER WITH NEXT MODEL RUN. NEEDLESS TO SAY... TRICK OR TREATERS LIKELY TO HAVE A STORMY NIGHT IN STORE. ONLY TWO FACTORS THAT WOULD WORK AGAINST SVR EVENT: NOT MUCH LLVL CONVERGENCE FCST S OF DEVELOPING SFC LO...AND NO REAL COLD AIR MOVING IN BEHIND THIS LO. COLD AIR/FRNT HANGING BACK OVR W GLF...WAITING FOR NEXT STRNG UPR WV LATER THIS WEEKEND. WILL UPDATE CURRENT ZONES TO TWEAK MAX TEMPS DOWNWARD DUE TO THICK CLD COVER. WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HIT EVENG FORECAST HARDER THAN IT IS CURRENTLY TO ADD HIGHER POPS AND MENTION OF POSSIBLE SVR WX...ESPEC SINCE IT IS HALLOWEEN. MIA...WILL GIVE YOU A CALL IF I DECIDE TO TWEAK SECOND PERIOD. MORALES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Oct 31, 10:10 AM EST, 2 hours 4 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-312100- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 1010 AM EST FRI OCT 31 1997 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPING SOUTH OF LOUISIANA WILL TRACK EAST NORTHEAST TO NEAR THE BIG BEND BY THIS EVENING. UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE SYSTEM TO INTENSIFY AND A SQUALL LINE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA INTO THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALREADY DEVELOPING OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND WILL EXPAND IN COVERAGE AND MOVE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BEFORE NOON. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...A SQUALL LINE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND THEN MOVE EAST... AFFECTING WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA BETWEEN 6 PM AND 10 PM. HOWEVER... EXACT TIMING IS DIFFICULT TO PREDICT AT THIS TIME. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH...FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL. CONDITIONS MAY ALSO BECOME FAVORABLE FOR A FEW SHORT LIVED TORNADOES TO DEVELOP. AS TONIGHT IS HALLOWEEN...PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO AVOID BEING CAUGHT OUTSIDE DURING THUNDERSTORMS. LIGHTNING IS THE NUMBER ONE WEATHER RELATED CAUSE OF DEATH IN FLORIDA. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND FURTHER STATEMENTS. PELATTI/MORALES
Special weather statement, Oct 31, 10:14 AM EST, 2 hours before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-312100- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 1010 AM EST FRI OCT 31 1997 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPING SOUTH OF LOUISIANA WILL TRACK EAST NORTHEAST TO NEAR THE BIG BEND BY THIS EVENING. UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE SYSTEM TO INTENSIFY AND A SQUALL LINE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA INTO THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALREADY DEVELOPING OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND WILL EXPAND IN COVERAGE AND MOVE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BEFORE NOON. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...A SQUALL LINE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND THEN MOVE EAST... AFFECTING WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA BETWEEN 6 PM AND 10 PM. HOWEVER... EXACT TIMING IS DIFFICULT TO PREDICT AT THIS TIME. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH...FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL. CONDITIONS MAY ALSO BECOME FAVORABLE FOR A FEW SHORT LIVED TORNADOES TO DEVELOP. AS TONIGHT IS HALLOWEEN...PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO AVOID BEING CAUGHT OUTSIDE DURING THUNDERSTORMS. LIGHTNING IS THE NUMBER ONE WEATHER RELATED CAUSE OF DEATH IN FLORIDA. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND FURTHER STATEMENTS. PELATTI/MORALES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 11:36 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Manatee, Sarasota | 29 min |
| Oct 31, 12:48 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Manatee | 47 min |
| Oct 31, 1:56 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 29 min |
| Oct 31, 2:09 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 46 min |
| Oct 31, 2:50 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 45 min |
| Oct 31, 3:29 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas | 61 min |
| Oct 31, 3:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 31 min |
| Oct 31, 4:30 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 45 min |
| Oct 31, 4:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 50 min |
| Oct 31, 5:31 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 49 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.