Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1997, 7:49 AM EDT for Hillsborough County, Florida. It was in force for 56 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
- Apr 26, 1997, 7:49 AM EDT (11:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 26, 1997, 8:45 AM EDT
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Hillsborough County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 8:42 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Tampa, FL |
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 00:00Z, 11.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 975 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
262 WFUS1 KTBW 261151 RRA TORTBW FLC057-261245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 749 AM EDT SAT APR 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...NORTHERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A TORNADO WARNING. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER OLD TAMPA BAY NEAR THE HOWARD FRANKLIN BRIDGE MOVING NORTHEAST TOWARDS ROCKY CREEK. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. MARINE INTERESTS IN THESE WATERS SHOULD AVOID THESE STORMS AND SEEK SAFE HARBOR. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 8:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 56 min |
| Apr 25, 8:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 55 min |
| Apr 26, 5:01 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pinellas | 44 min |
| Apr 26, 6:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 40 min |
| Apr 26, 7:23 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 67 min |
| Apr 26, 7:42 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 63 min |
| Apr 26, 8:35 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 55 min |
| Apr 26, 8:59 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 61 min |
| Apr 26, 10:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 60 min |
| Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 4 hr |
| Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 4 hr |
| Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Manatee | 54 min |
| Apr 26, 10:24 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Sarasota | 66 min |
| Apr 26, 11:20 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 55 min |
| Apr 26, 11:30 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Sarasota | 60 min |
| Apr 26, 11:37 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hardee, Polk | 68 min |
| Apr 26, 12:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands | 64 min |
| Apr 26, 12:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | DeSoto | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.