Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 1998, 1:29 AM EST for Charlotte County, Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 46 min. 2 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, 1:29 AM EST (06:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 9, 1998, 2:15 AM EST
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Charlotte County, FL, Sarasota County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:32 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, 1:30 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Manasota, FL | Thunderstorm winds damaged porch enclosures of ten to fifteen mobile homes on the 6100 block of Manasota Key Road. |
| Mar 9, 1:30 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Englewood, FL | Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees, power lines and damaged the roofs of nine mobile homes from Englewood to Port Charlotte. Most of the wind damage occurred from Dearborn to Beach Street in Engelwood where roof, soffit and aluminum trim materials |
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 9, 1:00 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 78 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, 7 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 6:00 PM EST, 7 hours 29 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
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 9, 1:04 AM EST, 25 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-090700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 104 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998 ...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN REISSUED FOR HILLSBOROUGH...POLK... MANATEE...SARASOTA...HARDEE AND DESOTO COUNTIES UNTIL 7 AM EST. ...THE TORNADO WATCH NOW ALSO INCLUDES HIGHLANDS...CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTIES UNTIL 7 AM EST. ...THE TORNADO WATCH HAS EXPIRED FOR LEVY...CITRUS...SUMTER... HERNANDO...PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES. AT 1 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING THAT THE LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM SOUTHERN SUMTER AND NORTHERN POLK COUNTIES...SOUTHWEST TO SARASOTA COUNTY AND THEN EXTENDING OFFSHORE INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH...BUT INDIVIDUAL STORMS WITHIN THIS LINE WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH. REMEMBER THAT A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES. MORALES
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, 12:34 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Polk | 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, 1:32 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.