Tornado Warning 30, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

Issued

Feb 19, 1998, 8:22 PM EST (01:22 UTC)

Expired

Feb 19, 1998, 9:10 PM EST

In force

48 min

Issued by

NWS Tampa Bay, FL

Area

Whole counties

Counties Hillsborough County, FL, Pasco County, FL

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:26 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.

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.

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 200122 RRA
TORTBW
FLC057-101-200210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
822 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 910 PM EST FOR

...EASTERN PASCO COUNTY
...NORTHERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

AT 820 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER NORTHWEST HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEAR LUTZ
AND LAND O LAKES. THIS TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH
AND WILL REACH NEAR WESLEY CHAPEL...IN PASCO COUNTY...BY 830 PM
EST...AND NEAR DADE CITY BY 845 PM EST.

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG
ROTATION WITHIN A STORM. THE STORM MANY 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.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Feb 19, 7:15 PM EST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
715 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998

CONVECTION OVR CNTRL/NRN FA ASSOCIATED WITH MESOSCALE/SYNOPTIC SCALE
BNDRYS COMBINED WITH UPR JET AND UPR DIVERGENCE. ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY
OFFSHORE IN ADVANCE OF SFC FNT. NHC PLOTS SFC BNDRY ACRS SRN FL WHICH
MAY TRIGGER ACTIVITY OVR THE SRN FA. EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
TO CONTINUE OVR THE FA OVERNIGHT AS THE FNT APPROACHES THE FA AND THE
UPR DYNAMICS REMAIN SOMEWHAT. CONVECTION WL END NW TO SE AFTER FROPA
FRI. CURRENT FCST REASONABLE.

11

In the hours before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-200150-

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
405 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998

...SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL FLORIDA...

...ANOTHER ROUND OF WET WEATHER FOR MOST OF WEST-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
   FLORIDA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...

ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL BE RACING ACROSS THE GULF COAST OVERNIGHT AND
IN THE PROCESS SPAWN ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE REGION. AS THE SYSTEM APPROACHES...IT WILL DRAG A WARM FRONT
NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA...GENERALLY FROM ABOUT TAMPA TO
MELBOURNE. WIDESPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR MAINLY ALONG
AND NORTH OF THIS WARM FRONT BEGINNING EARLY THIS EVENING. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY AVERAGE ABOUT 1 INCH.

IN ADDITION...THERE IS A SMALL RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ALONG AND WITHIN
ABOUT 40 MILES OF THE FRONT. ANY SEVERE WEATHER WOULD BE IN THE
FORM OF STRONG WIND GUSTS...HAIL AND POSSIBLY AN ISOLATED TORNADO.

LOCALIZED AREAS WHICH GET HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS MAY RECIEVE NEAR 2
INCHES OF RAINFALL...AND GIVEN THE ALREADY SATURATED GROUND...THIS WILL
AGGRAVATE THE FLOODING PROBLEMS ALONG RIVERS AND IN LOW-LYING AND POOR
DRAINAGE AREAS. FORTUNATELY RAINFALL DURATIONS WILL NOT BE SO LONG TO
RESULT IN WIDESPREAD FLOODING.

NASH

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

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.