Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 2, 1998, 8:37 PM EST for Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Florida. It was in force for 48 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 2, 1998, 8:37 PM EST (01:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 2, 1998, 9:25 PM EST
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Pasco County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:40 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, 8:50 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Tampa, FL | Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines from Citrus Park northeast to Lutz in northern Hillsborough County. Over 5,000 thousand electrical customers were without power from wind downed power lines. |
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, 8:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 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
- 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.
817 WFUS1 KTBW 030139 RRA TORTBW FLC057-101-GMZ830-850-030225- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 837 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 925 PM EST FOR ...WESTERN PASCO COUNTY ...WESTERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ...AND INCLUDING THE TAMPA BAY WATERS FROM OLD TAMPA BAY TO THE MOUTH OF TAMPA BAY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO FROM NORTH OF OLDSMAR TO CITRUS PARK. PERSONS IN THE LAKE FERN AND ODESSA AREAS SHOULD TAKE COVER. 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.
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, 9 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 11:17 AM EST, 9 hours 20 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
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 2, 7:50 PM EST, 47 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-030200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 750 PM EST MON FEB 2 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN RE-ISSUED UNTIL 2 AM EST FOR CITRUS...HERNANDO...SUMTER...PASCO...PINELLAS... HILLSBOROUGH...POLK...MANATEE...SARASOTA...HARDEE...DESOTO... HIGHLANDS...CHARLOTTE...AND LEE... ...A TORNADO WATCH HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 2 AM EST FOR LEVY COUNTY... ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE COUNTIES OF LEVY... CITRUS...HERNANDO...SUMTER...PASCO...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH... POLK...MANATEE...SARASOTA...HARDEE...DESOTO...HIGHLANDS... CHARLOTTE...AND LEE... ...COASTAL FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY FROM THE SUWANNEE RIVER...SOUTH TO BONITA BEACH... ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE STATE OF FLORIDA THROUGH TUESDAY... ...GALE WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR THE GULF COASTAL WATERS... AT 745 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF WATERS FROM HERNANDO COUNTY...SOUTH TO OFFSHORE OF MANATEE COUNTY. THIS AREA IS MOVING NORTHEAST AND WILL BE ONSHORE JUST AFTER 8 PM. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. IN ADDITION...AREAS OF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE LIKELY THROUGH THE NIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR RADIO/TELEVISION/CABLE STATIONS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. MORALES
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, 7:28 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco | 32 min |
| Feb 2, 8:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 36 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.