Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 25, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 16, 1998, 2:25 PM EST for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 50 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 16, 1998, 2:25 PM EST (19:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 16, 1998, 3:15 PM EST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, FL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 2:32 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Lake Wales, FL | A tornado touched down along U.S. Highway 27A and North Crooked Lake Drive and lifted near Gulf View Cutoff Road in Babson Park. Five homes in a Babson Park division incurred roof damage by the tornado while several trees and power lines were downed before th |
| Feb 16, 2:50 PM EST | Hail 0.75 | Lakeland, FL | |
| Feb 16, 3:20 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Haines City, FL | Thunderstorm winds downed several power lines in the Haines City and Davenport areas. |
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, 1:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 74 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.
776 WFUS1 KTBW 161927 RRA TORTBW FLC105-162015- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 225 PM EST MON FEB 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EST FOR ...POLK COUNTY... AT 224 PM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR THE FROST PROOF AREA OF SOUTHEASTERN POLK COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 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. 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.
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 16, 9:35 AM EST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 16, 9:35 AM EST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 935 AM EST MON FEB 16 1998 STG CONVECTION OVR ERN GULF ASSOCIATED WITH UPR LVL DIVERGENCE... INSTABILIITY...AND INCREASING MSTR. ACTIVITY OVR THE WRN GULF ASSOCIATED WITH THE APPROACHING UPR JET. THIS JET WL MOVE EWD ACRS THE GULF AND TRIGGER ADDITIONAL CONVECTION ACRS THE CNTRL AND ERN GULF THIS AFTN AND EVENING WHICH WL EVENTUALLY AFFECT THE FA. SINCE UPR JET WL LIKELY GENERATE A SFC LOW SOUTH OF THE CURRENT ONE...THE GULF WATERS WL BE MONITORED FOR GALE WARNING POTENTIAL. COASTAL AND RAIN INDUCED FLOODING POTENTIAL AND WIND ADVISORY CONDITIONS REMAIN. NO CHNGS ANTICIPATED EXCEPT WHEN ADJUSTING/REMOVING TORNADO WATCH. 11
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, 9:29 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Citrus | 31 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, 2:38 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.