Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 23, 1997Hillsborough County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 11:35 AM EDT for Hillsborough County, Florida. It was in force for 40 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
Apr 23, 1997, 11:35 AM EDT (15:35 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1997, 12:15 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Hillsborough County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:39 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 23, 11:46 AM EDTTornado F0Tampa, FLA waterspout that developed over Tampa Bay moved onshore in south Tampa and destroyed the porch of a home on San Rafael Street before it dissipated.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 23, 8:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 3.6 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 1997-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2247 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 1997-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 190 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
2247 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
9.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

089 
WFUS1 KTBW 231538 RRA
TORTBW
FLC057-231615-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL
1135 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
 
   ...NORTHERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST
 
A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR NEAR CITRUS PARK MOVING TOWARD
NORTH TAMPA AND LUTZ. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER
OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET
INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 8:08 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWLevy52 min
Apr 23, 8:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando, Pasco65 min
Apr 23, 8:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus, Levy65 min
Apr 23, 9:30 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHernando45 min
Apr 23, 9:34 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWCitrus41 min
Apr 23, 9:50 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWSumter40 min
Apr 23, 9:57 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco63 min
Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando65 min
Apr 23, 10:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWSumter62 min
Apr 23, 10:59 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco, Pinellas61 min
Apr 23, 11:03 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco, Pinellas42 min
Apr 23, 11:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough67 min
Apr 23, 11:59 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk61 min
Apr 23, 12:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas56 min
Apr 23, 12:26 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough49 min
Apr 23, 12:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee57 min
Apr 23, 12:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk61 min
Apr 23, 1:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas55 min
Apr 23, 2:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee55 min
Apr 23, 2:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee53 min
Apr 23, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands60 min
Apr 23, 2:33 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWSarasota42 min
Apr 23, 3:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee, Sarasota63 min
Apr 23, 3:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto, Hardee, Highlands60 min
Apr 23, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota64 min
Apr 23, 4:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto, Highlands68 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.