Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

October 27, 1997Hillsborough County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 27, 1997, 9:00 AM EST for Hillsborough 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
Oct 27, 1997, 9:00 AM EST (14:00 UTC)
Expired
Oct 27, 1997, 9:30 AM EST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Hillsborough County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 27, 9:05 AM ESTThunderstorm WindTampa, FLThunderstorm winds severely damaged the roofs of several homes on Palisades Drive in the Town & Country area of western Hillsborough county.
Oct 27, 9:05 AM ESTTornado F0Tampa, FLA tornado touched down near the intersection of North 50th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The tornado downed nine 75 foot light poles at a commercial auto auction car lot. The poles were sheared six feet above ground level and fell atop several par
Oct 27, 9:26 AM ESTTornado F1Plant City, FLA tornado touched down near the intersection of Thonotasassa and Gallagher Roads and lifted near Forbes Road. Two mobile homes were destroyed while thirteen others suffered minor damage. One two story home suffered significant siding damage while a barn was

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, 2.0 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2501 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 142 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
2501 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
494 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
8.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 271403 RRA
TORTBW
FLC057-271430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
900 AM EST MON OCT 27 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM EST FOR

...NORTHERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

AT 858 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
DEVELOPING TORNADO IN THE CARROLLWOOD AREA MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 50
MPH TOWARDS THE TEMPLE TERRACE AND TAMPA PALMS AREA.

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 office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 26, 10:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLevy88 min
Oct 27, 7:08 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco, Pinellas62 min
Oct 27, 8:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas51 min
Oct 27, 8:34 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWPinellas26 min
Oct 27, 8:46 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Pasco44 min
Oct 27, 8:46 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee44 min
Oct 27, 9:15 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWPolk45 min
Oct 27, 10:01 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk29 min
Oct 27, 10:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Manatee48 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.