Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 9, 1998Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 1998, 1:32 AM EST for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 33 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 9, 1998, 1:32 AM EST (06:32 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 1998, 2:05 AM EST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:32 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 8, 8:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Mar 9, 1:00 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 6.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-03-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1169 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 1998-03-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 238 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1169 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
873 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 090632 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-090705-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
132 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 205 AM EST FOR

...EASTERN POLK COUNTY


AT 131 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 10 MILES EAST OF LAKE WALES MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 45 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 10:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando, Pasco55 min
Mar 8, 11:51 PM ESTTornado WarningTBWPasco44 min
Mar 9, 12:29 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee, Sarasota51 min
Mar 9, 12:34 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough, Polk51 min
Mar 9, 12:52 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee48 min
Mar 9, 1:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHighlands, Polk46 min
Mar 9, 1:29 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota46 min
Mar 9, 1:34 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHighlands36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.