Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 7

January 8, 199826 counties in Florida; 11 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 8, 1998, 2:30 AM EST for 26 counties in Florida; 11 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 8, 1998, 2:30 AM EST (07:30 UTC)
Expired: Jan 8, 1998, 9:00 AM EST
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 37 counties

Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Brevard County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Clay County, FL, Duval County, FL, Flagler County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lake County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Marion County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Orange County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Putnam County, FL, Saint Johns County, FL, Seminole County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Union County, FL, Volusia County, FL, Appling County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Camden County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 3:39 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas	61 min
Jan 8, 4:09 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX	Marion	56 min
Jan 8, 5:01 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Pasco, Sumter	29 min
Jan 8, 5:06 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake	54 min
Jan 8, 8:37 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Osceola	48 min
Jan 8, 8:46 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	JAX	Marion	6 hr
Jan 8, 8:57 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	58 min

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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: 652 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 736 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 290 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 367 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 11.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KNAW 080725 COR
MKC WW 080707
GAZ000-FLZ000-081400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED...CORRECTED FOR EST...
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 7
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
207 AM EST THU JAN 8 1998

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

   SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING FROM 230 AM UNTIL 900 AM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST OF SARASOTA FLORIDA TO 50 MILES NORTH
NORTHEAST OF BRUNSWICK GEORGIA.

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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 6.  WATCH NUMBER 6 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT
AFTER 230 AM EST.

DISCUSSION...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS INCREASING ACROSS N FL AND
SOUTH CENTRAL GA. A FEW CELLS ARE DEVELOPING AHEAD OF THE MAIN LINE
IN CENTRAL FL. WIND FIELDS ARE QUITE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS INCLUDING SUPERCELLS.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030.


...VESCIO

;272,0830 314,0821 314,0795 272,0805;

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 9:30 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lee and 5 more	6 hr
Jan 8, 3:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Broward, Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach	5 hr
Jan 7, 7:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Burke, Columbia, Elbert, Emanuel, Glascock, Greene and 14 more	5 hr
Jan 7, 10:00 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch and 23 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1998 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.