Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 20, 1998, 2:20 AM EST for Hillsborough County, Florida. It was in force for 30 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 20, 1998, 2:20 AM EST (07:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1998, 2:50 AM EST
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Hillsborough County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:20 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 20, 2:20 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruskin, FL | Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and power lines across the southern portion of Hillsborough County. |
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 19, 9:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 23 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
- 762 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 786 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 78 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 267 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 289 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.6
- Supercell composite
- 7.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
044 WFUS1 KTBW 200719 RRA TORTBW FLC057-200750- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 220 AM EST FRI FEB 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 250 AM EST FOR ...POLK COUNTY AT 218 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF PLANT CITY NEAR HIGHWAYS 39 AND 60. THIS STORM WILL MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH LAKELAND AND WINTER HAVEN AREA. 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 19, 7:15 PM EST, 7 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 7:15 PM EST, 7 hours 5 minutes before
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
Special weather statement, Feb 19, 11:11 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
FLZ043-048-049-200440- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 1111 PM EST THU FEB 19 1998 ...THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE COUNTIES OF HERNANDO...PASCO AND SUMTER HAS BEEN CANCELLED... ...THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS FOR THE COUNTIES OF PINELLAS... HILLSBOROUGH... MANATEE... SARASOTA... CHARLOTTE... POLK... HIGHLANDS... DESOTO ... AND HARDEE... AT 1110 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE FOREGOING COUNTIES. HOWEVER...RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. COLLINS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 8:22 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 48 min |
| Feb 19, 9:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 51 min |
| Feb 19, 9:53 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 47 min |
| Feb 19, 10:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 47 min |
| Feb 19, 10:54 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 46 min |
| Feb 20, 12:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 66 min |
| Feb 20, 1:25 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pinellas | 4 hr |
| Feb 20, 2:10 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 30 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.