Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1997, 2:33 PM EDT for Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 42 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
- Apr 23, 1997, 2:33 PM EDT (18:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 23, 1997, 3:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sarasota County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sarasota, FL | Thunderstorm winds caused major damage to six mobile homes and minor to moderate damage to nine additional mobile homes in the Tri-Par Mobile Home Park. Numerous trees were also downed in the vicinity of the mobile home park. |
| Apr 23, 3:10 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Sarasota, FL | A short-lived tornado touched down near the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and University Parkway and caused major roof damage to three homes. Powerlines and signs were also blown down near U.S. Highway 41 and Myrtle Road. |
| Apr 23, 3:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sarasota, FL | Thunderstorm winds downed a few large trees near the intersection of Interstate 75 and Fruitville 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 11:45 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 58 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
817 WFUS1 KTBW 231839 RRA TORTBW FLC115-231915- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN FL 233 PM EDT WED APR 23 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...SARASOTA COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BETWEEN ENGLEWOOD AND I-75. THE TORNADO IS MOVING EAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH. OTHER TORNADOES OR DAMAGING WIND OR HAIL ARE POSSIBLE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTY ALSO. 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 8:08 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Levy | 52 min |
| Apr 23, 8:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando, Pasco | 65 min |
| Apr 23, 8:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Citrus, Levy | 65 min |
| Apr 23, 9:30 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hernando | 45 min |
| Apr 23, 9:34 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Citrus | 41 min |
| Apr 23, 9:50 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Sumter | 40 min |
| Apr 23, 9:57 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pasco | 63 min |
| Apr 23, 10:10 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando | 65 min |
| Apr 23, 10:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Sumter | 62 min |
| Apr 23, 10:59 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pasco, Pinellas | 61 min |
| Apr 23, 11:03 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco, Pinellas | 42 min |
| Apr 23, 11:23 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 67 min |
| Apr 23, 11:35 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 40 min |
| Apr 23, 11:59 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 61 min |
| Apr 23, 12:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 56 min |
| Apr 23, 12:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 49 min |
| Apr 23, 12:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 57 min |
| Apr 23, 12:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 61 min |
| Apr 23, 1:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pinellas | 55 min |
| Apr 23, 2:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hardee | 55 min |
| Apr 23, 2:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 53 min |
| Apr 23, 2:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands | 60 min |
| Apr 23, 3:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee, Sarasota | 63 min |
| Apr 23, 3:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands | 60 min |
| Apr 23, 4:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Charlotte, Sarasota | 64 min |
| Apr 23, 4:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | DeSoto, Highlands | 68 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.