Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 23, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1997, 5:46 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 49 min. 4 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 22, 1997, 5:46 PM EDT (21:46 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 1997, 6:35 PM EDT
- In force
- 49 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 21:47 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 22, 5:50 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakeland, FL | Thunderstorm winds overturned a mobile home on Alderman Road, damaged mobile homes at the Hampton Mobile Home Park and downed several trees along U.S. Highway 92. |
| May 22, 6:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Winter Haven, FL | Thunderstorm winds caused roof damage to a few homes in Winter Haven. |
| May 22, 6:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Bartow, FL | Thunderstorm winds overturned a few mobile homes and damaged the roofs of twelve others in Bartow. Four of the mobile homes were destroyed. Scattered trees and power lines were also downed in the vicinity of Bartow. |
| May 22, 6:37 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Bartow, FL | A weak tornado touched down briefly along a path less than a mile long near State Road 60. Damage was confined to sheet metal on a few mobile homes and downed trees. |
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, 9.8 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
- 938 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 783 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 3 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 51 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.1
- Supercell composite
- -0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 222148 TORTBW FLC105-222235- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 546 PM EDT THU MAY 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION(S) IN CENTRAL FLORIDA ...POLK COUNTY AT 544 PM EDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF WINTER HAVEN OR 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF AUBURNDALE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... AUBURNDALE AROUND 555 PM EDT LAKE ALFRED AROUND 600 PM EDT WINTER HAVEN AROUND 610 PM EDT BARTOW AROUND 615 PM EDT THIS STORM WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION WITHIN A VSTORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE MOMENT...BUT WILL LIKELY DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. THE STORM MAY ALSO INCLUDE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WIND. THOSE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM ARE ADVISED TO TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 22, 3:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 22, 3:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 307 PM EDT THU MAY 22 1997 FRONT MAY BE ABOUT STATIONARY ALONG A CRYSTAL RIVER TO CAPE CANAVERAL LINE THIS EARLY AFTN. WEAK 5H VORT IMPULSE...AMPLE HEATING ASSOCIATED WITH FRONT GENERATING SCTD TSTMS N CNTRL FA SEWD THRU E CNTRL PNSULA. SUSPECT TSTMS WILL CONT TO BECOME QUITE WIDESPREAD OVER INTERIOR CNTRL PNSULA...BUT QUESTION IS HOW MUCH OF AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY MAY PROPAGATE FROM THIS CONVECTION TO FIRE NEW TSTMS INTO S CNTRL PNSULA BEFORE A DIURNAL DEMISE. SO WOULD FAVOR DIMINISHED EVE POPS TO THE GULF COAST WITH LITTLE OR NOTHING FOR MANATEE...SARASOTA...CHARLOTTE AND LEE. VARIABLE CLOUDINESS TNGT WITH RAIN MOISTED NELY FLO BRIDGING THRU FNT. FOR FRI WITH CONTD RIDING ALFT...AND NO 5H VORT IMPULSES...WOULD XPT ONLY WIDELY SCTD DIURNAL TSTMS OVER THE PNSULA...POTENTIALLY FAVORING THE GULF COAST ZONES WITH INTERACTION OF OLD FRONT OR OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WITH COASTAL SEA BREEZES. MOS TEMPS SEEM OK FOR FRI BUT POPS SEEM HI. DMR
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 22, 12:10 PM EDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-222000- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 1210 PM EDT THU MAY 22 1997 ...A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE INLAND PENINSULA THIS AFTERNOON... THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL FLORIDA THIS AFTERNOON IN ADVANCE OR A WEAK COOL FRONT PUSHING SLOWLY SOUTHWARD INTO THE CENTRAL PENINSLA. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE MOST CONCENTRATED AND POTENTIALLY THE STRONGEST OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL AND EVENTUALLY EAST CENTRAL PENINSULA...PRIMARILY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM BROOKSVILLE TO LAKELAND TO SEBRING TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE. OTHER WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THE TAMPA AREA TO ARCADIA...WITH THE LEAST THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FOR THE COASTAL AREAS FROM ST PETERSBURG SOUTHWARD THROUGH SARASOTA AND FORT MYERS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP BETWEEN INVERNESS AND ORLANDO DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON THEN SPREAD SOUTHEASTWARD DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. STRONGER INLAND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERATE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND LOCALIZED DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT TO DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS...AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED. DMR
Special weather statement, May 22, 12:11 PM EDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-504-505-222000- WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 1210 PM EDT THU MAY 22 1997 ...A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE INLAND PENINSULA THIS AFTERNOON... THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL FLORIDA THIS AFTERNOON IN ADVANCE OR A WEAK COOL FRONT PUSHING SLOWLY SOUTHWARD INTO THE CENTRAL PENINSLA. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE MOST CONCENTRATED AND POTENTIALLY THE STRONGEST OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL AND EVENTUALLY EAST CENTRAL PENINSULA...PRIMARILY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM BROOKSVILLE TO LAKELAND TO SEBRING TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE. OTHER WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THE TAMPA AREA TO ARCADIA...WITH THE LEAST THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FOR THE COASTAL AREAS FROM ST PETERSBURG SOUTHWARD THROUGH SARASOTA AND FORT MYERS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP BETWEEN INVERNESS AND ORLANDO DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON THEN SPREAD SOUTHEASTWARD DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. STRONGER INLAND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERATE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND LOCALIZED DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT TO DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS...AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED. DMR
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 3:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Levy | 57 min |
| May 22, 5:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 64 min |
| May 22, 5:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands | 60 min |
| May 22, 6:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 44 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.