Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 48, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 10, 1998Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 10, 1998, 11:21 AM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 34 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
Jul 10, 1998, 11:21 AM EDT (15:21 UTC)
Expired
Jul 10, 1998, 11:55 AM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Pinellas County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:25 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 10, 11:29 AM EDTTornado F0St Petersburg, FLA weak tornado briefly touched down six miles northwest of St. Petersburg.

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 nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 40 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 12:00Z on 1998-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1941 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-07-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -27 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1941 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
698 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 101525 COR
TORTBW
FLC103-101555-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED FOR TIME REPORTED...1120 AM VS. 1020 AM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1121 AM EDT FRI JUL 10 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  PINELLAS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 1155 AM EDT

* AT 1120 AM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC ABOUT 4 MILES
  SOUTH OF ST PETERSBURG CLEARWATERh AIRPORT. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.


THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THE STORM
NEED TO TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING. MOBILE HOMES AND CARS ARE
NOT SAFE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 11:10 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWPinellas60 min
Jul 10, 11:32 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWHillsborough118 min
Jul 10, 11:53 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningTBWPinellas2 hr

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.