Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Melbourne, FL

February 2, 1998Indian River County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 2, 1998, 10:52 PM EST for Indian River County, Florida. It was in force for 63 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
Feb 2, 1998, 10:52 PM EST (03:52 UTC)
Expired
Feb 2, 1998, 11:55 PM EST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Indian River County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:53 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, 11:00 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 55Vero Beach, FLDownburst wind from a thunderstorm swept over a mobile home community in Vero Beach producing minor exterior damage to eight mobile homes. Most of the damage was to awnings and carports.

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, 8:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 86 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 317 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
448 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

437 
WUUS01 KMLB 030351 RRA
SVRMLB
AMZ555-FLC061-030455-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1052 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL
1155 PM EST FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...INDIAN RIVER COUNTY

AND FOR MARINE INTERESTS ON THE INTRACOASTAL WATERS AND NEARSHORE
ATLANTIC FROM...

   ...SEBASTIAN INLET TO FORT PIERCE INLET
 
AT 1050 PM...MELBOURNE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHERN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY. THESE STORMS
WILL LIKELY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH AS THEY MOVE
TOWARDS THE COAST FROM SEBASTIAN TO VERO BEACH AND OSLO...AND THEN
INTO THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

WIND DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN OKEECHOBEE COUNTY FROM THIS LINE OF
STORMS.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE READY TO GO
TO A SAFE PLACE IF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE TOWARD YOUR AREA,
ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN A MOBILE HOME.


CRISTALDI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 2, 9:48 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOkeechobee57 min
Feb 2, 10:39 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBMartin, Saint Lucie66 min
Feb 2, 11:06 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBSaint Lucie34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.