Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 51

February 20, 199818 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 20, 1998, 3:00 AM EST for 18 counties in Florida. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 20, 1998, 3:00 AM EST (08:00 UTC)
Expired
Feb 20, 1998, 7:00 AM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Brevard County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Polk County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:00 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1998-02-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 762 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 1998-02-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 267 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
762 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 19, 9:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBrevard, Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Highlands and 13 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1998Every 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.