Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

February 16, 1998Manatee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 16, 1998, 1:18 PM EST for Manatee County, Florida. It was in force for 47 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Feb 16, 1998, 1:18 PM EST (18:18 UTC)
Expired: Feb 16, 1998, 2:05 PM EST
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Manatee County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Feb 16, 1:30 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Bradenton, FL	Dime sized hail was reported by a Skywarn Spotter.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 16, 1:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 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.

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: 368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 517 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 456 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 609 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

493 
WUUS1 KTBW 161819 RRA
SVRTBW
FLC081-GMZ853-161905-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
118 PM EST MON FEB 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 205 PM EST FOR

...MANATEE COUNTY INCLUDING THE GULF WATERS FROM THE MOUTH OF
   TAMPA BAY TO LONGBOAT PASS...

AT 116 PM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A DEVELOPING SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN ANNA MARIA ISLAND
AND BRADENTON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AROUND 30 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM...BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 16, 9:35 AM EST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 16, 9:35 AM EST, 3 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
935 AM EST MON FEB 16 1998

STG CONVECTION OVR ERN GULF ASSOCIATED WITH UPR LVL DIVERGENCE...
INSTABILIITY...AND INCREASING MSTR. ACTIVITY OVR THE WRN GULF
ASSOCIATED WITH THE APPROACHING UPR JET. THIS JET WL MOVE EWD
ACRS THE GULF AND TRIGGER ADDITIONAL CONVECTION ACRS THE CNTRL
AND ERN GULF THIS AFTN AND EVENING WHICH WL EVENTUALLY AFFECT THE
FA. SINCE UPR JET WL LIKELY GENERATE A SFC LOW SOUTH OF THE CURRENT
ONE...THE GULF WATERS WL BE MONITORED FOR GALE WARNING POTENTIAL.
COASTAL AND RAIN INDUCED FLOODING POTENTIAL AND WIND ADVISORY CONDITIONS
REMAIN. NO CHNGS ANTICIPATED EXCEPT WHEN ADJUSTING/REMOVING TORNADO
WATCH.

11

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 15, 7:05 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Lee	80 min
Feb 15, 7:18 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Lee	37 min
Feb 16, 9:29 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Citrus	31 min
Feb 16, 11:28 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Pinellas	32 min
Feb 16, 1:12 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	48 min
Feb 16, 1:47 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	48 min
Feb 16, 2:25 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Polk	50 min
Feb 16, 2:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	32 min
Feb 16, 3:11 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.