Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 1998, 12:34 AM EST for Hillsborough County, Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 51 min. 5 reports 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
- Mar 9, 1998, 12:34 AM EST (05:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 9, 1998, 1:25 AM EST
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Polk County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:37 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 9, 1:00 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Tampa, FL | Thunderstorm winds blew out five windows on the upper floors of Tampa's Municipal building in downtown Tampa. Thunderstorm winds also severely damaged five large stainless steel juice tanks and caused minor damage to another two at Hookers Point. Several bus |
| Mar 9, 1:00 AM EST | Hail 0.75 | Tampa, FL | Wind driven dime sized hail punctured several windows on the 7th and 8th floors of the "Old" City Hall building in Downtown Tampa. |
| Mar 9, 1:12 AM EST | Hail 1.25 | Winter Haven, FL | Half dollar sized hail was reported near Cypress Gardens. |
| Mar 9, 1:21 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Babson Park, FL | Thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were measured by a Skywarn Spotter. |
| Mar 9, 1:28 AM EST | Tornado F2 | Lake Wales, FL |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 8:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 45 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
- 1169 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 873 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 238 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.9
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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 Mar 8, 6:00 PM EST, 6 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 6:00 PM EST, 6 hours 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 600 PM EST SUN MAR 8 1998 THE 18Z SOUNDING SHOWED THE ATMOSPHERE TO BE VERY UNSTABLE...ALTHOUGH CAPPED. SHEAR LOOKED PRETTY POTENT ALSO. WHEN THE LINE OVER THE EASTERN GULF PUSHES INTO OUR AREA I WOULD EXPECT IT TO TAP THE ENERGY THAT HAS BEEN BUILDING UNDER THE CAP TODAY. ON TOP OF IT ALL THE LOW LEVEL JET IS IN PLACE AND STRONG. I WOULD EXPECT THAT THE JET WILL BE EVEN MORE FOCUSSED AFTER THE ATMOSPHERE DECOUPLES TONIGHT. THEREFORE WE SHOULD SEE SOME PRETTY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT EVEN WITH THE SHORT WAVE PULLING OFF TO THE NORTH. THE LINE WILL BE MOVING...WHICH IS A BIG ADVANTAGE THAT OUR FRIENDS TO THE NORTH DID NOT HAVE. THEREFORE WE MAY SEE 1 TO 3 INCH RAINFALL TOTALS THAT WILL AGGRAVATE THE CURRENT FLOODING...I DO NOT EXPECT ANY OF THE FLOODING TO BECOME CATASTROPHIC I AM SURE WILL BE UPDATING THE FORECAST SEVERAL TIMES TONIGHT AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. SOBIEN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 10:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando, Pasco | 55 min |
| Mar 8, 11:51 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco | 44 min |
| Mar 9, 12:29 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee, Sarasota | 51 min |
| Mar 9, 12:52 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hardee | 48 min |
| Mar 9, 1:24 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands, Polk | 46 min |
| Mar 9, 1:29 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Charlotte, Sarasota | 46 min |
| Mar 9, 1:32 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 33 min |
| Mar 9, 1:34 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Highlands | 36 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1998Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.