Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 69, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 25, 1998Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 25, 1998, 1:21 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 49 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
Sep 25, 1998, 1:21 PM EDT (17:21 UTC)
Expired
Sep 25, 1998, 2:10 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 25, 11:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC12 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 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.

653 
WFUS1 KTBW 251722 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-251810-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 210 PM EDT

* AT 120 PM...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
  DOPPLER RADAR NEAR FROSTPROOF. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE
  NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  NEAR BARTOW AT 145 PM



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.

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 Sep 25, 10:00 AM EDT, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 10:00 AM EDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA/RUSKIN, FL
1000 AM EDT FRI SEP 25 1998

CURRENT SLATE OF WATCH/WARNINGS LOOKS ACCEPTABLE AT THE MOMENT BUT
WILL NEED TO MONITOR DEVELOPING SEVERE STORMS OVER CENTRAL SECTIONS
OF THE STATE AS THEY RACE OF TO THE NORTHWEST. MLB AND TBW HAVE
ALREADY ISSUED TORNADO WARNINGS THIS MORNING. JUST SPOKE WITH MLB
AND WILL GIVE SPC A CALL AFTER 10AM CONFERENCE CALL TO SUGGEST
EXTENDING THE TORNADO WATCH BOX NORTHWARD.

STILL FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH CURRENT COVERAGE OF FLOOD WATCH ACROSS
OUR ENTIRE AREA. THE GROUND IS STILL NEARLY SATURATED FROM LAST
WEEKENDS PRECIP AND THE RIVERS ARE EXTREMELY HIGH.

PAYLOR

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, 10:40 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk35 min
Sep 25, 11:46 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco49 min
Sep 25, 1:12 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPasco43 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.