Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 2, 1998, 7:28 PM EST for Pasco County, Florida. It was in force for 32 min. 3 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
- Feb 2, 1998, 7:28 PM EST (00:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 2, 1998, 8:00 PM EST
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pasco County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2, 7:40 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | New Port Richey, FL | Thunderstorm winds snapped several power poles and downed trees in New Port Richey. |
| Feb 2, 7:45 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Dade City, FL | A short-lived tornado touched down along State Road 52 near San Antonio and caused minor roof damage to a few homes before it lifted and dissipated. Several large tree limbs were also snapped by the brief tornado. |
| Feb 2, 7:46 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 56 | Hudson, FL | A Skywarn Spotter reported a wind gust of 64 mph and several downed large branches. |
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 2, 2:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 67 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
- 62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 537 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 66 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 228 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 592 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
524 WFUS1 KTBW 030029 RRA TORTBW FLC101-030100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 728 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM EST FOR ...EASTERN PASCO COUNTY AT 725 PM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO ALONG THE I-75 CORRIDOR NEAR WESLEY CHAPEL. THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TOWARD TOWARD SAN ANTONIO NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF I-75 AND STATE ROAD 52. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION WITHIN A STORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE MOMENT...BUT WILL LIKELY DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. THE STORM MAY ALSO INCLUDE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WIND. THOSE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM ARE ADVISED TO TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. SOBIEN/ZALESKI
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Feb 2, 11:17 AM EST, 8 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 11:17 AM EST, 8 hours 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 1115 AM EST MON FEB 2 1998 SFC ANALYSIS THIS MORNING PLACES LOW CNTR CENTRAL GULF WITH TWO BOUNDARIES EXTENDING ACROSS STATE. 88-D/LTG DATA INDICATES LARGE AREA TSTMS HANGING OFF WEST COAST OF FA. WILL UPDATE ZONES MAINLY TO CLEANUP HI LITES . SUGGESTIONS...FEEL COASTAL FLOOD WATCH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR TONITE AND TUE FOR TBWS CWA FROM TARPON SPRINGS NORTH TO CEDAR KEY...I.E. PASCO...HERNANDO...CITRUS...AND LEVY COUNTIES. 09
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2, 7:12 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pasco, Pinellas | 48 min |
| Feb 2, 8:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 36 min |
| Feb 2, 8:37 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 48 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.