Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Melbourne, FL
NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 5:50 AM EST for Orange County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. 2 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 17, 1998, 5:50 AM EST (10:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 17, 1998, 6:35 AM EST
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Melbourne, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Orange County, FL
The radar
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 6:25 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Orlando, FL | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees in the east part of Orlando. |
| Feb 17, 6:30 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Bithlo, FL | Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a garage in Bithlo. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 3:30 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 139 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
- 1385 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 680 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 408 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 419 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.3
- Supercell composite
- 13.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
471 WFUS01 KMLB 171051 RRA TORMLB FLC095-171135- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 550 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...ORANGE COUNTY AT 548 AM EST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR WINDERMERE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST. THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE TOWARDS DOWNTOWN ORLANDO AND THEN TOWARDS WINTER PARK BY 6AM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. THE SAFEST PLACE IS AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. SHARP
The office that day
Everything else NWS Melbourne, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 4:13 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Lake | 42 min |
| Feb 17, 5:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Volusia | 60 min |
| Feb 17, 5:35 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Orange | 55 min |
| Feb 17, 6:19 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Seminole | 46 min |
| Feb 17, 6:25 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Osceola | 60 min |
| Feb 17, 6:50 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Brevard, Indian River, Volusia | 60 min |
| Feb 17, 6:55 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Volusia | 50 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.