Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 10

January 8, 19986 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 8, 1998, 3:00 PM EST for 6 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 8, 1998, 3:00 PM EST (20:00 UTC)
Expired: Jan 8, 1998, 8:00 PM EST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Broward County, FL, Collier County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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 nearest sounding before it

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 105 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: 1550 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 517 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 8.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

307 
WWUS9 KMKC 081949
SEL0  
MKC WW 081949
FLZ000-090100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 10
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
249 PM EST THU JAN 8 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   EXTREME SOUTH FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 300 PM UNTIL 800
PM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA TO 25 MILES
NORTHWEST OF WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE WW 8 TIL SCHEDULED EXPIRATION
AT 300 PM EST.

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE ALONG PREFRONTAL SQUALL
LINE OVER SOUTH FL AS APPROACH OF W CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO SPEED
MAX ENHANCES BOTH SHEAR AND VERTICAL MOTION ACROSS REGION. 
SURFACE-BASED CAPE REMAINS AROUND 2500 J/KG...WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE
MID 70S AND TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 80S. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22040.


...CORFIDI

242,0822 265,0811 265,0792 242,0804

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 2:30 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay and 20 more	7 hr
Jan 8, 9:30 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lee and 5 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1998 Every tornado watch 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.