Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Melbourne, FL

February 17, 1998Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 6:55 AM EST for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 17, 1998, 6:55 AM EST (11:55 UTC)
Expired
Feb 17, 1998, 7:45 AM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:57 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 17, 3:30 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 21 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 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
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-263 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

862 
WFUS01 KMLB 171157 RRA
TORMLB
FLC127-171245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
655 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...SOUTHERN VOLUSIA COUNTY
 
AT 655 AM EST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST
SOUTH OF MAYTOWN MOVING TOWARDS THE OAK HILL AREA. RESIDENTS SHOULD
TAKE COVER NOW AS THIS STORM APPROACHES THE COAST. MARINERS IN THE
AREA SHOULD BE ADVISED OF TORNADIC WATERSPOUTS MOVING OFFSHORE.
 
SHARP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 17, 4:13 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBLake42 min
Feb 17, 5:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBVolusia60 min
Feb 17, 5:35 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOrange55 min
Feb 17, 5:50 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBOrange45 min
Feb 17, 6:19 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBSeminole46 min
Feb 17, 6:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBOsceola60 min
Feb 17, 6:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard, Indian River, Volusia60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.