Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 16, 1998, 9:29 AM EST for Citrus County, Florida. It was in force for 31 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
- Feb 16, 1998, 9:29 AM EST (14:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 16, 1998, 10:00 AM EST
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Citrus County, FL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 9:35 AM EST | Tornado F0 | Crystal River, FL | A short-lived tornado touched down and destroyed a 10 by 18 foot building that housed well and pump equipment at the St. Martin's Marsh and Aquatic Preserve west of U.S. Highway 19. |
| Feb 16, 9:55 AM EST | Hail 0.75 | Citrus Spgs, FL | Dime sized hail was reported by a Skywarn Spotter. |
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 16, 8:30 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 128 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
- 368 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 517 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 456 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 609 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
252 WFUS1 KTBW 161431 RRA TORTBW FLC017-GMZ850-161500- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 929 AM EST MON FEB 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM EST FOR ...CITRUS COUNTY ...AND INCLUDING THE GULF WATERS FROM WACCASASSA BAY TO HOMOSASSA RIVER AT 925 AM RADAR DETECTED DEVELOPING TORNADOES JUST OFF THE COAST OF CITRUS COUNTY NEAR CRYSTAL RIVER. THESE TORNADOES WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 7:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Lee | 80 min |
| Feb 15, 7:18 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Lee | 37 min |
| Feb 16, 11:28 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 32 min |
| Feb 16, 1:12 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 48 min |
| Feb 16, 1:18 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 47 min |
| Feb 16, 1:47 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 48 min |
| Feb 16, 2:25 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 50 min |
| Feb 16, 2:38 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 32 min |
| Feb 16, 3:11 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 49 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.