Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 832

September 25, 199814 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 25, 1998, 11:00 PM EDT for 14 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 25, 1998, 11:00 PM EDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1998, 5:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1998-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 35 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 1998-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 209 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
855 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

472 
WWUS9 KMKC 260232
SEL2  
MKC WW 260232
FLZ000-260900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 832
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1032 PM EDT FRI SEP 25 1998

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

   WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 1100 PM UNTIL
500 AM EDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAINT PETERSBURG FLORIDA TO 50
MILES EAST OF KEY WEST 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 830.  WATCH NUMBER 830 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1100 PM
EDT.  CONTINUE...WW 831...

DISCUSSION...WIND PROFILES OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FL CONTINUE TO
SHOW STRONG LOW-LEVEL SPEED SHEAR...WITH SPEEDS OF 35-40 KTS IN THE
LOWEST 1000 FT.  DIRECTIONAL SHEAR IS WEAK...BUT REMAINS GREATEST
OVER THE FAR SRN PART OF THE STATE.  GIVEN STRENGTH OF SHEAR...AND
CONTINUED PRESENCE OF CONVECTIVE BANDS WITH LIGHTNING...POTENTIAL
FOR LOW-LEVEL MESOCYLOGENESIS EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH EARLY
SATTURDAY.  THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH WITH TIME AS GEORGES CONTINUES
WNWWD.  

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 15040.

...CORFIDI

281,0813 243,0801 243,0814 281,0831

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.