Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Miami, FL

February 2, 1998Miami-Dade County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 2, 1998, 7:34 PM EST for Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was in force for 61 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
Feb 2, 1998, 7:34 PM EST (00:34 UTC)
Expired
Feb 2, 1998, 8:35 PM EST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Miami-Dade County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 9 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:34 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, 8:11 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 57(Hst)Homestead Afb, FL
Feb 2, 8:15 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 61Cutler Ridge, FL
Feb 2, 8:22 PM ESTTornado F2(Mia)Miami Intl, FLAt 2022 est f1-f2 tornado touched down nw 36th st/curtis parkway damaging about 12 planes at mia international airport. The mia asos recorded a gust of 90 knots. The f2 tornado crossed through virginia gardens and south miami springs in a 100-200 yard path dam

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

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Key West, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 234 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Key West, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 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
234 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
670 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

557 
WFUS1 KMIA 030036 RRA
TORMIA
AMZ630-651-671-FLC025-030135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
734 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 835 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA

   ...DADE COUNTY INCLUDING ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

AT 734 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF KENDALL OR 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RICHMOND HEIGHTS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  KENDALL                        BY ABOUT 745 PM EST
  OLYMPIA HEIGHTS                BY ABOUT 750 PM EST
  CORAL GABLES                   BY ABOUT 755 PM EST
  WESTCHESTER                    BY ABOUT 755 PM EST

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER
STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
PILLOWS TO PROTECT YOUR HEAD. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A
SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING. DO
NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR VEHICLE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 2, 7:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMonroe58 min
Feb 2, 7:18 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLMiami-Dade52 min
Feb 2, 7:23 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLMonroe62 min
Feb 2, 8:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLBroward63 min
Feb 2, 8:29 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLBroward, Miami-Dade61 min
Feb 2, 8:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMonroe59 min
Feb 2, 8:52 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLPalm Beach63 min
Feb 2, 10:18 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLPalm Beach62 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.