Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 42, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 1998, 1:34 AM EST for Highlands County, Florida. It was in force for 36 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, 1:34 AM EST (06:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 9, 1998, 2:10 AM EST
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Highlands County, FL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 9, 1:00 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 090634 RRA TORTBW FLC055-090710- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 134 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 210 AM EST FOR ...NORTHERN HIGHLANDS COUNTY AT 133 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF AVON PARK MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. 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 Mar 8, 6:00 PM EST, 7 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 6:00 PM EST, 7 hours 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 600 PM EST SUN MAR 8 1998 THE 18Z SOUNDING SHOWED THE ATMOSPHERE TO BE VERY UNSTABLE...ALTHOUGH CAPPED. SHEAR LOOKED PRETTY POTENT ALSO. WHEN THE LINE OVER THE EASTERN GULF PUSHES INTO OUR AREA I WOULD EXPECT IT TO TAP THE ENERGY THAT HAS BEEN BUILDING UNDER THE CAP TODAY. ON TOP OF IT ALL THE LOW LEVEL JET IS IN PLACE AND STRONG. I WOULD EXPECT THAT THE JET WILL BE EVEN MORE FOCUSSED AFTER THE ATMOSPHERE DECOUPLES TONIGHT. THEREFORE WE SHOULD SEE SOME PRETTY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT EVEN WITH THE SHORT WAVE PULLING OFF TO THE NORTH. THE LINE WILL BE MOVING...WHICH IS A BIG ADVANTAGE THAT OUR FRIENDS TO THE NORTH DID NOT HAVE. THEREFORE WE MAY SEE 1 TO 3 INCH RAINFALL TOTALS THAT WILL AGGRAVATE THE CURRENT FLOODING...I DO NOT EXPECT ANY OF THE FLOODING TO BECOME CATASTROPHIC I AM SURE WILL BE UPDATING THE FORECAST SEVERAL TIMES TONIGHT AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. SOBIEN
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 9, 1:04 AM EST, 30 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-090700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 104 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998 ...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN REISSUED FOR HILLSBOROUGH...POLK... MANATEE...SARASOTA...HARDEE AND DESOTO COUNTIES UNTIL 7 AM EST. ...THE TORNADO WATCH NOW ALSO INCLUDES HIGHLANDS...CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTIES UNTIL 7 AM EST. ...THE TORNADO WATCH HAS EXPIRED FOR LEVY...CITRUS...SUMTER... HERNANDO...PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES. AT 1 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING THAT THE LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM SOUTHERN SUMTER AND NORTHERN POLK COUNTIES...SOUTHWEST TO SARASOTA COUNTY AND THEN EXTENDING OFFSHORE INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH...BUT INDIVIDUAL STORMS WITHIN THIS LINE WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH. REMEMBER THAT A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES. MORALES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 10:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando, Pasco | 55 min |
| Mar 8, 11:51 PM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco | 44 min |
| Mar 9, 12:29 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee, Sarasota | 51 min |
| Mar 9, 12:34 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Polk | 51 min |
| Mar 9, 12:52 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hardee | 48 min |
| Mar 9, 1:24 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands, Polk | 46 min |
| Mar 9, 1:29 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Charlotte, Sarasota | 46 min |
| Mar 9, 1:32 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 33 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.