Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 66, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 25, 1998Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 25, 1998, 10:40 AM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 35 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
Sep 25, 1998, 10:40 AM EDT (14:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 25, 1998, 11:15 AM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 25, 11:00 AM EDTTornado F0Winter Haven, FLThe Polk County Emergency Management reported a short lived tornado, associated with an outer band of Hurricane Georges, touched down over rural semi-wooded countryside and removed a few awnings, blew over a couple of sheds and downed power lines and large tre

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, 2.7 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 324 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
324 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
920 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 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 251440 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-251515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1040 AM EDT FRI SEP 25 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 1115 AM EDT

* AT 1040 AM EDT... A TORNADO VERY NEAR LAKE WALES...WAS
  INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN...
  MOVING NORTHWEST 35 MPH.

* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  HAINES CITY              AROUND 1100 AM EDT
  EAGLE LAKE               AROUND 1100 AM EDT
  WINTER HAVEN             AROUND 1100 AM EDT
  LAKE ALFRED              AROUND 1105 AM EDT
  AUBURNDALE               AROUND 1110 AM EDT

* A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED EARLIER WITH THIS STORM IN THE INDIAN
  LAKES ESTATES AREA.

* A SECOND TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHERN POLK
  COUNTY...5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BRADLEY JUNCTION. THIS STORM WAS ALSO
  MOVING NORTHWEST AT 35 MPH.

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS A TORNADO MAY NOT BE
OCCURRING AT THE MOMENT...BUT WILL LIKELY DO SO DURING THE WARNING
PERIOD. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING. MOBILE HOMES AND CARS ARE
NOT SAFE.

NASH/ZALESKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 8:59 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk46 min
Sep 25, 9:52 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk48 min
Sep 25, 11:46 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco49 min
Sep 25, 1:12 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco43 min
Sep 25, 1:21 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk49 min
Sep 25, 2:20 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWDeSoto25 min
Sep 25, 2:23 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWCharlotte37 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.