Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Miami, FL

February 2, 1998Monroe County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 2, 1998, 3:32 PM EST for Monroe County, Florida. It was in force for 118 min. 5 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
Feb 2, 1998, 3:32 PM EST (20:32 UTC)
Expired
Feb 2, 1998, 5:30 PM EST
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:31 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
Feb 2, 3:40 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 65Duck Key, FL
Feb 2, 4:25 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 65Big Pine, FLTwo trees fell into house.
Feb 2, 5:25 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 71Duck Key, FLReported from Conch Key just north of Duck Key.
Feb 2, 5:35 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 61Marathon, FLRecorded at C-MAN SMKF.
Feb 2, 5:40 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 85Duck Key, FLSustained wind 50 KTS at 1740 EST...Sustained 65 KTS at 1745...Gust to 85 KTS at 1750 EST.

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
Feb 2, 2:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 69 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 121 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 176 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
121 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
715 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

150 
WFUS1 KMIA 022033 RRA
TORMIA
AMZ654-674>676-FLC087-022230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
332 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EST
AND A SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA

   ...MARQUESAS KEYS TO DRY TORTUGAS

AND BOATERS ON

   ...GULF OF MEXICO AND FLORIDA STRAITS COASTAL WATERS FROM
      KEY WEST TO DRY TORTUGAS OUT TO 20 TO 50 NM

   ...FLORIDA STRAITS COASTAL WATERS FROM KEY WEST TO THE DRY
   TORTUGAS

...GULF OF MEXICO COASTAL WATERS FROM EAST CAPE SABLE TO BONITA
   BEACH FROM 20 NM TO 50 NM

AT 325 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
APPROACHING THE MARQUESAS KEYS AND DRY TORTUGAS FIVE MILES TO
THE SOUTH MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AT 30 KTS. THESE ARE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH POSSIBLE ACCOMPANYING TORNADIC
WATERSPOUTS.

BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WATERSPOUT ACTIVITY. TAKE IMMEDIATE
EVASIVE ACTION IF THREATENED. THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION IS TO MOVE
AWAY FROM THE WATERSPOUT AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE FROM ITS APPARENT
MOVEMENT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 2, 3:51 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLMonroe119 min
Feb 2, 4:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMonroe59 min
Feb 2, 4:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLCollier, Monroe91 min
Feb 2, 5:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMonroe93 min
Feb 2, 5:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMiami-Dade57 min
Feb 2, 6:00 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLMonroe65 min
Feb 2, 6:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLBroward61 min
Feb 2, 6:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLCollier, Monroe95 min
Feb 2, 6:39 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMiami-Dade61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.