Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

January 23, 1998Highlands County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jan 23, 1998, 9:38 AM EST for Highlands County, Florida. It was in force for 47 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
Jan 23, 1998, 9:38 AM EST (14:38 UTC)
Expired
Jan 23, 1998, 10:25 AM EST
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Highlands County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:40 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
Jan 23, 9:45 AM ESTTornado F0Avon Park, FLA tornado briefly touched down and blew over five to seven toppers at a recreational vehicle dealership along U.S. Highway 27 before it lifted and dissipated.

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 23, 9:15 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 150 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-01-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1021 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-01-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
1021 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
621 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 231438 RRA
TORTBW
FLC055-231525-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
938 AM EST FRI JAN 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1025 AM EST FOR

...HIGHLANDS COUNTY


AT 937 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A TORNADO APPROACHING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL HIGHLANDS COUNTY
RESIDENTS IN THE AVON PARK...SEBRING...AND LAKE PLACID AREAS SHOULD
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID
WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY
BUILDIBNG OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 23, 8:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas
Jan 23, 8:25 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWCharlotte, DeSoto, Sarasota60 min
Jan 23, 8:46 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough, Pinellas49 min
Jan 23, 8:50 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHardee45 min
Jan 23, 9:23 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWDeSoto, Hardee47 min
Jan 23, 9:28 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough, Pasco47 min
Jan 23, 9:49 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWPolk46 min
Jan 23, 10:33 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHardee, Highlands47 min
Jan 23, 10:42 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWPolk48 min
Jan 23, 11:51 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWPolk49 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.