Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Melbourne, FL

February 16, 1998Orange County, Seminole County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 16, 1998, 3:46 PM EST for Orange County, Seminole County, Florida. It was in force for 59 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 16, 1998, 3:46 PM EST (20:46 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 1998, 4:45 PM EST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Orange County, FL, Seminole County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:46 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 16, 1:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 78 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 348 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 382 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
348 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
382 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
518 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

174 
WFUS01 KMLB 162047 RRA
TORMLB
FLC095-117-162145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
346 PM EST MON FEB 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

   ...SEMINOLE COUNTY
   ...EASTERN ORANGE COUNTY
 
AT 345 PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC SIGNATURE OVER
EASTERN ORANGE COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF THE BEELINE EXPRESSWAY. THE
STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH ACRROSS THE BEELINE...TOWARDS
BITHLO...THEN INTO SEMINOLE COUNTY EAST OF OVIEDO AND NEAR GENEVA.
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WILL LIKELY
PRODUCE TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS ALONG ITS TRACK.
 
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.

SPRATT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 15, 9:30 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBMartin, Okeechobee, Saint Lucie50 min
Feb 16, 2:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBLake, Orange66 min
Feb 16, 2:49 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOsceola61 min
Feb 16, 3:02 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBOrange, Seminole48 min
Feb 16, 3:10 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBLake60 min
Feb 16, 3:15 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia60 min
Feb 16, 4:22 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBBrevard43 min
Feb 16, 4:25 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia65 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.