Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

October 31, 1997Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 31, 1997, 2:50 PM EST for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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, 2:50 PM EST (19:50 UTC)
Expired: Oct 31, 1997, 3:35 PM EST
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 31, 3:15 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Lake Alfred, FL	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and partially removed the siding off a building in Lake Alfred.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Oct 31, 1:45 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 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.

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.

659 
WFUS1 KTBW 311951 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-312035-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 335 PM EST FOR

...POLK COUNTY


AT 248 PM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR BREWSTER. THE TORNADO IS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF BARTOW.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 31, 11:36 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee, Sarasota	29 min
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, 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.