Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 26, NWS Melbourne, FL
NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 23, 1998, 12:40 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 23, 1998, 12:40 AM EST (05:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 23, 1998, 1:25 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 05:40 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 23, 12:55 AM EST | Tornado F3 | (Mco)Orlando Intl Ar, FL | The Kissimmee tornado moved into Orange County southeast of Orlando International Airport as a category F3. The tornado affected rural swampy areas, striking few structures except for lakeside neighborhoods on the shores of Lake Hart and Lake Mary Jane. The to |
| Feb 23, 12:55 AM EST | Hail 1.75 | (Mco)Orlando Intl Ar, FL |
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 22, 9:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
333 WFUS01 KMLB 230541 RRA TORMLB FLC095-230625- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1240 AM EST MON FEB 23 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 125 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ...ORANGE COUNTY AT 1240 AM EST...WEATHER RADAR INDICTAED THAT SEVERE TO OCCASIONALLY TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL AFFECTING THE COUNTY. A TORNADIC STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR KISSIMMEE. REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE BEING RECEIVED AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE OF THIS WARNING IN THE KISSIMMEE AREA. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES CAN BE TOSSED ABOUT BY TORNADO WINDS. DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR VEHICLE. ABANDON VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES WHEN THREATENED BY A TORNADO AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. SHARP &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Melbourne, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 22, 9:45 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Lake | 65 min |
| Feb 22, 10:22 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Volusia | 53 min |
| Feb 22, 11:20 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Volusia | 45 min |
| Feb 22, 11:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Lake | 63 min |
| Feb 22, 11:37 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Orange | 63 min |
| Feb 22, 11:56 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Seminole | 59 min |
| Feb 23, 12:14 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Volusia | 61 min |
| Feb 23, 12:21 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | MLB | Volusia | 3 hr |
| Feb 23, 12:22 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Osceola | 58 min |
| Feb 23, 12:40 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | MLB | Orange, Seminole | 3 hr |
| Feb 23, 1:19 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Orange, Osceola | 61 min |
| Feb 23, 1:23 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Brevard | 62 min |
| Feb 23, 2:27 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Brevard | 48 min |
| Feb 23, 3:04 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Osceola | 56 min |
| Feb 23, 3:16 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Brevard | 59 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.