Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

October 31, 1997Manatee County, Sarasota County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 31, 1997, 11:36 AM EST for Manatee County, Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 29 min. 2 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 31, 1997, 11:36 AM EST (16:36 UTC)
Expired: Oct 31, 1997, 12:05 PM EST
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Manatee County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 31, 12:00 PM EST	Tornado F0	Sarasota, FL	A brief tornado touched down one eighth of a mile north of New Pass on Longboat Key with no apparent damage.
Oct 31, 12:00 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Bradenton, FL	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines near Cortez Road.

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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 42 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: 1009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 197 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 311638 RRA
TORTBW
FLC081-115-FLZ504-311705-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1136 AM EST FRI OCT 31 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1205 PM EST FOR

...SOUTHERN MANATEE COUNTY
...NORTHWESTERN SARASOTA COUNTY

...AND INCLUDING THE GULF WATERS FROM THE MOUTH OF TAMPA BAY TO VENICE
INLET

AT 1135 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A WATERSPOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LONGBOAT KEY
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THE WATERSPOUT WILL LIKELY MOVE
ONSHORE AS A TORNADO AND AFFECT NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF SARASOTA COUNTY
AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF MANATEE COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR.

THIS STORM WILL MOVE ONSHORE BETWEEN SARASOTA AND BAYSHORE GARDENS.

IF YOU ARE AT HOME AND IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE
IS IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET OR SMALL BATHROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. LAY IN A BATHTUB...COVER YOUR BODY WITH A MATTRESS...
PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS. THOSE IN MOBILE HOMES SHOULD MOVE TO A STRONG
BUILDING. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS AND NO BUILDINGS ARE AVAILABLE...LAY
IN A DITCH OR CULVERT TO AVOID FLYING DEBRIS BUT BEWARE OF RISING
WATER.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 31, 12:14 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee, Sarasota	51 min
Oct 31, 12:48 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee	47 min
Oct 31, 1:56 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	29 min
Oct 31, 2:09 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Polk	46 min
Oct 31, 2:50 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Polk	45 min
Oct 31, 3:29 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas	61 min
Oct 31, 3:44 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	31 min
Oct 31, 4:30 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	45 min
Oct 31, 4:40 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	50 min
Oct 31, 5:31 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	49 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.