Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

June 11, 1997Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 1997, 7:05 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 11, 1997, 7:05 PM EDT (23:05 UTC)
Expired
Jun 11, 1997, 7:35 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 23:05 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-06-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 733 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1997-06-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
733 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
584 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 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.

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 112307 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-112335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
705 PM EDT WED JUN 11 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 735 PM EDT

FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION(S)

IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...POLK COUNTY

 
AT 702 PM EDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
DOPPLER RADAR IN THE VICINITY OF BARTOW AIRPORT MOVING SOUTH
SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

PEOPLE NEAR BARTOW AIRPORT AND LAKE GARFIELD SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW!
 
THIS TORNADO IS LIKELY OBSCURED BY RAIN AND MAY NOT BE VISIBLE. THIS
IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION! GO TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.
GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A STRONG BUILDING OR TAKE COVER IN A DITCH OR
CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 2:29 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWLee46 min
Jun 11, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands46 min
Jun 11, 6:34 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk31 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.