Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

January 23, 1998Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jan 23, 1998, 9:49 AM EST for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 46 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
Jan 23, 1998, 9:49 AM EST (14:49 UTC)
Expired
Jan 23, 1998, 10:35 AM EST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:49 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 231449 RRA
TORTBW
FLC105-231535-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A...TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1035 AM EST FOR

...POLK COUNTY


AT 946 AM EST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RUSKIN
INDICATED A TORNADO IN THE AVON PARK AREA...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH.

THIS TORNADO WILL BE APPROACHING THE LAKE ARBUCKLE AND INDIAN LAKE
ESTATES IN SOUTHEAST POLK COUNTY DURING THE VALID PERIOD TIME OF
THIS WARNING.

RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO GO TZO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID
WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY
BUILDING 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, 9:38 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWHighlands47 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.