Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Melbourne, FL

May 4, 1998Saint Lucie County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1998, 4:42 PM EDT for Saint Lucie County, Florida. It was in force for 48 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: May 4, 1998, 4:42 PM EDT (20:42 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 1998, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Saint Lucie County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:43 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
May 4, 4:45 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Ft Pierce, 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 nearest sounding before it

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 174 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 778 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1145 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

518 
WFUS01 KMLB 042041 RRA
TORMLB
FLC111-042130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
442 PM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
     ST. LUCIE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT AT 440 PM... AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A WATERSPOUT OVER THE
  INDIAN RIVER LAGOON NEAR FORT PIERCE.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
    FORT PIERCE AREA THROUGH 530 PM

DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN HUTCHINSON ISLAND WIHT THIS STORM.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING.

&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 1:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange, Seminole	45 min
May 4, 2:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	58 min
May 4, 2:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	58 min
May 4, 3:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	45 min
May 4, 3:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	61 min
May 4, 3:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Okeechobee	62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.