Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

May 28, 1997Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1997, 3:00 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 30 min. 3 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 28, 1997, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT
In force: 30 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 19:02 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 28, 3:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Lake Wales, FL	Dime sized hail was reported by a Skywarn Spotter along U.S. Highway 27.
May 28, 3:03 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Lake Wales, FL	A Skywarn Spotter measured a wind gust of 64 mph and reported trees and power lines downed near Cypress Gardens.
May 28, 3:06 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Lake Wales, FL	A short-lived tornado touched down and shredded a 14-by-42 foot aluminum and screen enclosure of a home along U.S. Highway 27. The enclosure was tossed over the home and the remains scattered over an area 150 yards downstream from the damage site.

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, 7.0 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 458 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 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.

546 
WFUS1 KTBW 281902 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-281930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
300 PM EDT WED MAY 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM EDT

FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION(S)

IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...EASTERN POLK COUNTY

 AT 257 PM EDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR FIVE MILES NORTH OF LAKE WALES
MOVING SOUTH ALONG THE U.S. 27 CORRIDOR AT 15 MPH. 

PEOPLE IN LAKE WALES...TAKE COVER NOW
 
A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION
WITHIN A STORM. 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.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN REQUESTS THAT SKYWARN UNITS IN
THE COUNTY BE ACTIVATED AND FORWARD ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER REPORTS
TO OUR OFFICE.

ZALESKI

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 8:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	48 min
May 28, 2:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	50 min
May 28, 3:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	41 min
May 28, 4:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pasco	32 min
May 28, 4:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee	28 min
May 28, 4:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	43 min
May 28, 4:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Sarasota	50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.