Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1997, 6:38 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 42 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
- May 27, 1997, 6:38 PM EDT (22:38 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 1997, 7:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 6:45 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Winter Haven, FL | Quarter sized hail was reported in the Cypress Landings subdivision. |
| May 27, 6:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Winter Haven, FL | Thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph were reported by a Skywarn Spotter at the Cypress Landings subdivision. |
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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 74 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
- 1099 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -47 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 909 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -3 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 272236 RRA SVRTBW FLC105-272320- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 638 PM EDT TUE MAY 27 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 720 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION(S) IN CENTRAL FLORIDA ...POLK COUNTY AT 638 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAKE WALES. THE MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTH AT 5 TO 10 MPH. THIS STORM IS MOVING SLOWLY AND WILL CONTINUE TO EFFECT PERSONS IN THE THE LAKE WALES AREA. BY DEFINITION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE WINDS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER AND/OR DIME SIZE HAIL OR LARGER. IF THIS STORM APPROACHES YOU AREA...GO INDOORS AND STAY THERE UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.
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 May 27, 3:38 PM EDT, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 27, 3:38 PM EDT, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED DATE IN 4TH PARAGRAPH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 336 PM EDT TUE MAY 27 1997 LATEST SATELLITE ANALYSIS CONTINUED TO SHOW PROGRESS OF WEDGE AS IT MOVES SOUTHWESTWARD AND INTERACTS WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS GEORGIA. NGM AND ETA BOTH PICK UP THE WEDGE AS IT IS FORECAST TO PUSH DEEP INTO FLORIDA. THE NGM DEPICTS THE WEDGE WITH GREATER INTENSIFICATION THAN THE ETA BUT BOTH DO SHOW A MARKED INCREASE IN UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION OVER THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA BY 00Z THURSDAY. THREAT OF TSTMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE GREATEST OVER NORTHERN PART OF TAMPA COUNTY WARNING AREA TONIGHT...MAINLY LEVY...SUMTER AND NORTHERN POLK COUNTIES. THE REMAINDER OF TBW CWA BECOME FAIR AFTER SUNSET. INTERACTION OF WEAK SUB-SYNOPTIC FLOW (WEAK SURFACE HIGH)... AFTERNOON HEATING..THE WEDGE (NE SURFACE FLOW) AND WEAK TO MOD UPPER LEVEL DIFLUENCE...WILL PRODUCE A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG FLORIDA'S WEST COAST MAINLY LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY EVENING. ZALESKI
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.