Alert archive / Florida / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this flash flood warning at Feb 20, 1998, 1:25 AM EST for Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 20, 1998, 1:25 AM EST (06:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1998, 5:20 AM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Pinellas County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:25 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, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 26 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 200624 FFWTBW FLC057-103-201020- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 125 AM EST FRI FEB 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 AM EST FOR ...PINELLAS COUNTY ...HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO STREAM ONSHORE OF PINELLAS COUNTY AND TRACKING EASTWARD OVER HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT APPROXIMATELY 4 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN OVER PINELLAS COUNTY AND 3 TO 4 INCHES OVER MANY AREAS OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SINCE THURSDAY EVENING. THIS RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AND FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR... PARTICULARLY IN LOW LYING AREAS AND POORLY DRAINED AREAS THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOODING. A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS LIVING IN AREAS THAT FLOOD EASILY OR ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS BY FOOT OR BY AUTO.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Feb 19, 7:15 PM EST, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 7:15 PM EST, 6 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 715 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998 CONVECTION OVR CNTRL/NRN FA ASSOCIATED WITH MESOSCALE/SYNOPTIC SCALE BNDRYS COMBINED WITH UPR JET AND UPR DIVERGENCE. ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY OFFSHORE IN ADVANCE OF SFC FNT. NHC PLOTS SFC BNDRY ACRS SRN FL WHICH MAY TRIGGER ACTIVITY OVR THE SRN FA. EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE OVR THE FA OVERNIGHT AS THE FNT APPROACHES THE FA AND THE UPR DYNAMICS REMAIN SOMEWHAT. CONVECTION WL END NW TO SE AFTER FROPA FRI. CURRENT FCST REASONABLE. 11
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 19, 11:11 PM EST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
FLZ043-048-049-200440- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1111 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998 ...THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE COUNTIES OF HERNANDO...PASCO AND SUMTER HAS BEEN CANCELLED... ...THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS FOR THE COUNTIES OF PINELLAS... HILLSBOROUGH... MANATEE... SARASOTA... CHARLOTTE... POLK... HIGHLANDS... DESOTO ... AND HARDEE... AT 1110 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE FOREGOING COUNTIES. HOWEVER...RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. COLLINS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 8:22 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 48 min |
| Feb 19, 9:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 51 min |
| Feb 19, 9:53 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 47 min |
| Feb 19, 10:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 47 min |
| Feb 19, 10:54 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 46 min |
| Feb 20, 12:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 66 min |
| Feb 20, 2:10 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 30 min |
| Feb 20, 2:20 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 30 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Florida, 1998Every flash flood warning 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.