Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998
Tornado Watch 8
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 8, 1998, 9:30 AM EST for 11 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 8, 1998, 9:30 AM EST (14:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 8, 1998, 3:00 PM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL
The radar
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:34 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 12:00Z, 2.5 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 658 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -158 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -124 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
263 WWUS9 KMKC 081407 SEL8 MKC WW 081407 FLZ000-082000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 8 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 907 AM EST THU JAN 8 1998 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 930 AM UNTIL 300 PM 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 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF FORT MEYERS FLORIDA TO 5 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF MELBOURNE 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. DISCUSSION...CONTINUED THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES ALONG SQUALL LINE CROSSING S CENTRAL FL...WHERE DEWPOINTS ARE IN THE LOW TO MID 70S AND MODEST VERTICAL SHEAR /500 MB SW FLOW OF 50 KTS/ IS PRESENT...ORIENTED PARALLEL TO LINE. SUNSHINE ACROSS SOUTHERN FL COULD BOOST SURFACE-BASED INFLOW CAPE TO ABOVE 2000 J/KG. 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 480. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030. ...CORFIDI 261,0821 280,0813 280,0792 261,0800
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, 3:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Broward, Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach | 5 hr |
Nearby
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.