Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 26, 1997Manatee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1997, 10:21 AM EDT for Manatee County, Florida. It was in force for 54 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, 10:21 AM EDT (14:21 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1997, 11:15 AM EDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Manatee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:22 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
Apr 26, 10:45 AM EDTThunderstorm WindBradenton, FLSeveral trees and power lines were downed throughout the city of Bradenton which left nearly 3,300 residents without electrical power for a couple of hours.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 26, 8:30 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 26 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 1997-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 12:00Z on 1997-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 101 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 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.

060 
WFUS1 KTBW 261424
TORTBW
FLC081-261515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
1021 AM EDT SAT APR 26 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...MANATEE COUNTY

AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST

A TORNADO WAS SPOTTED JUST SOUTH OF DESOTO SQUARE MALL MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY

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
Apr 25, 8:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk56 min
Apr 25, 8:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk55 min
Apr 26, 5:01 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas44 min
Apr 26, 6:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas40 min
Apr 26, 7:23 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPinellas67 min
Apr 26, 7:42 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough63 min
Apr 26, 7:49 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough56 min
Apr 26, 8:35 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Pasco55 min
Apr 26, 8:59 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee61 min
Apr 26, 10:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee60 min
Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough, Manatee4 hr
Apr 26, 10:21 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWPinellas4 hr
Apr 26, 10:24 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSarasota66 min
Apr 26, 11:20 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk55 min
Apr 26, 11:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSarasota60 min
Apr 26, 11:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee, Polk68 min
Apr 26, 12:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands64 min
Apr 26, 12:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto65 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.