Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 20, 1998Manatee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 11:14 AM EST for Manatee County, Florida. It was in force for 51 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
Mar 20, 1998, 11:14 AM EST (16:14 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 12:05 PM EST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Manatee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:15 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 20, 11:20 AM ESTThunderstorm WindAnna Maria, FLThunderstorm winds caused minor roof damage to several homes and downed trees and power lines from Anna Maria Island to Bradenton.

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 nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 750 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 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 245 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
750 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
277 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 20, 9:15 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 9:15 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
915 AM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

DRIER ATMOSPHERIC AIR ALOFT HAS ENTERED THE REGION AS EXPECTED. AS
STATED BY SPC...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE RISK FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY DUE TO PRESENCE OF LEFT FRONT QUADRANT OF UPPER
JET ALONG WITH SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY...AND DRY AIR AT MID AND
UPPER LEVELS. BECAUSE OF THE DRIER AIR ALOFT AND LOWER PRECIPITABLE
WATER LEVELS...WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN NOT EXPECTED. BUT DUE TO THE
CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE. THEREFORE...
FLOOD WATCH IN ORDER ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE PRESENT FLOODING
SITUATION IN SOME OF OUR COUNTIES. NOT PLANNING ANY UPDATES TO THE
CURRENT PUBLIC ZONE FORECAST PACKAGE.

MILLER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 20, 6:00 AM EST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 20, 6:00 AM EST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 11:04 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningTBWSarasota6 hr
Mar 20, 12:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee, Sarasota61 min
Mar 20, 1:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee, Highlands, Polk46 min
Mar 20, 2:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands35 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.