Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

February 17, 1998Hardee County, Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 4:59 AM EST for Hardee County, Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 46 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 17, 1998, 4:59 AM EST (09:59 UTC)
Expired: Feb 17, 1998, 5:45 AM EST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hardee County, FL, Polk County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Feb 17, 5:25 AM EST	Tornado F1	Ft Meade, FL	A tornado briefly touched down and damaged the Stokes and Imperial Citrus Nurseries along Stokes Road. Nearly 40 orange trees were uprooted along Stokes Road.
Feb 17, 5:40 AM EST	Tornado F1	Lake Wales, FL	A tornado touched down at Fourth and Johnson Streets in Lake Wales and caused significant roof damage to 25 homes, damaged a few vehicles, downed numerous large tree limbs and power lines along an intermittent path. Five homes in the North Point subdivision i
Feb 17, 5:45 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Wauchula, FL	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs and power lines along West Orange Street.

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 17, 3:30 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 64 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 680 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 408 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 419 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.3
Supercell composite: 13.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

194 
WFUS1 KTBW 171000 RRA
TORTBW
FLC049-105-171045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
459 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 AM EST FOR

...SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY
...NORTHWESTERN HARDEE COUNTY


AT 458 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF FORT GREEN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
FORT GREEN               AROUND 459 AM EST
FORT MEADE               AROUND 510 AM EST
BARTOW                   AROUND 520 AM EST
EAGLE LAKE               AROUND 525 AM EST
WINTER HAVEN             AROUND 530 AM EST
LAKE WALES               AROUND 530 AM EST


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.

NASH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 17, 3:36 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	44 min
Feb 17, 3:58 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	47 min
Feb 17, 4:03 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Sarasota	47 min
Feb 17, 4:35 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee	35 min
Feb 17, 4:51 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Sarasota	29 min
Feb 17, 5:04 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee	36 min
Feb 17, 5:34 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hardee	46 min
Feb 17, 6:02 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Highlands	48 min
Feb 17, 9:12 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Lee	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.