Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 51, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 1998, 4:42 PM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 33 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
- Aug 19, 1998, 4:42 PM EDT (20:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 19, 1998, 5:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pinellas County, FL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 4:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | St Petersburg Beach, FL | Bay News Nine, an all news cable television station, reported thunderstorm wind gusts downed a few large trees and branches along 2nd Avenue N. in St. Petersburg Beach. |
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, 8.7 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 463 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -61 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1061 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 13 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -42 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTBW 192043 COR TORTBW FLC103-GMZ853-192115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...COR TIME IN BODY OF WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 442 PM EDT WED AUG 19 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN PINELLAS COUNTY INCLUDING ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA * UNTIL 515 PM EDT * AT 440 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS OVER SOUTHf PASADENA NEAR STATE ROAD 693. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE WEST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS ST PETERSBURG BEACH BY 500 PM.
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 Aug 19, 2:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 2:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA / RUSKIN FL 230 PM EDT TUE AUG 18 1998 CURRENTLY...DIURNAL CONVECTION OVER THE FORECAST AREA...MOST COVERAGE OVER THE INTERIOR. EXPECTING THE ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE MOVING WEST THROUGH THE FA...ENDING THIS EVENING. MODELS NOT INDICATING ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE OVERALL MOISTURE OR STABILITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE FOR TOMORROW....EXCEPT NGM INDICATING SOME DRYING AT MID LEVELS OVER SOUTH FLORIDA. HIGH PRESSURE TO CONTINUE BUILDING SOUTH INTO THE MIDATLANTIC STATES THOUGH TOMORROW...FORCING A BACK DOOR FRONT DOWN THROUGH THE CAROLINAS AND INTO GEORGIA. WITH GENERAL LOW PRESSURE REMAINING TO THE SOUTH...THIS WILL RESULT IN A TIGHTER PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE STATE TOMORROW. THIS INCREASE IN THE EASTERLY FLOW SHOULD RESULT IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY MAKING IT WEST INTO THE FA EARLIER THAN NORMAL...AND THEN PERHAPS ENDING EARLIER THAN NORMAL IN THE EVENING. ALSO...KEEPING AN EYE ON INTERESTING TROPICAL FEATURES.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 10:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 48 min |
| Aug 19, 3:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 35 min |
| Aug 19, 4:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Lee | 31 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.