Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Melbourne, FL

February 22, 1998Seminole County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 22, 1998, 11:56 PM EST for Seminole County, Florida. It was in force for 59 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 22, 1998, 11:56 PM EST (04:56 UTC)
Expired
Feb 23, 1998, 12:55 AM EST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Seminole County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:55 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 23, 12:10 AM ESTTornado F3Longwood, FLThe Seminole County category F3 tornado was produced by the same supercell that produced the Winter Garden tornado. It initially set down near Longwood and moved northeast at 45 mph. The tornado passed through several neighborhhoods in the southeast portion of

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 22, 9:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 906 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-02-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
906 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1127 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
14.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

080 
WFUS01 KMLB 230457 RRA
TORMLB
FLC117-230555-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1156 PM EST SUN FEB 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1255 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...SEMINOLE COUNTY
 
AT 1155 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A STRONG TORNADIC CIRCULATION
WITHIN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARDS APOPKA. THESE STORMS WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH AND INTO SEMINOLE COUNTY NEAR FOREST CITY
...WEATHERFIELD AND ALTAMONTE SPRINGS. IT WILL THEN MOVE TO NEAR
LONGWOOD...ALTAMONTE SPRINGS...MAITLAND AND LAKE MARY.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING FUNNEL CLOUDS AND REPORTEDLY 
PRODCUED A TORNADO TOUCHDWON IN THE WINTER GARDEN AREA. IF YOU LIVE
IN THIS AREA OF SEMINOLE COUNTY...TAKE SHELTER NOW
 

THIS STORM

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH
OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 22, 9:45 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBLake65 min
Feb 22, 10:22 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia53 min
Feb 22, 11:20 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia45 min
Feb 22, 11:27 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBLake63 min
Feb 22, 11:37 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOrange63 min
Feb 23, 12:14 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia61 min
Feb 23, 12:21 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMLBVolusia3 hr
Feb 23, 12:22 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBOsceola58 min
Feb 23, 12:40 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMLBOrange, Seminole3 hr
Feb 23, 12:40 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBOrange45 min
Feb 23, 1:19 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBOrange, Osceola61 min
Feb 23, 1:23 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard62 min
Feb 23, 2:27 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard48 min
Feb 23, 3:04 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBOsceola56 min
Feb 23, 3:16 AM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard59 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.