Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Key West, FL

October 15, 1999Monroe County, Florida

NWS Key West, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 15, 1999, 5:57 AM EDT for Monroe County, Florida. It was in force for 63 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
Oct 15, 1999, 5:57 AM EDT (09:57 UTC)
Expired
Oct 15, 1999, 7:00 AM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Key West, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:00 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
Oct 15, 6:15 AM EDTTornado F0(Nqx)Key West Nas, FLThe tornado moved through the south side of Boca Chica Key, just south of the NAS runway. ait moved through a non-residential area causing little damage.

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

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 69 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 1999-10-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 48 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 1999-10-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 174 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 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 KEYW 151000 RRA
TOREYW
FLC087-151050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL
557 AM EDT FRI OCT 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KEY WEST HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...THE LOWER KEYS IN MONROE COUNTY.

* UNTIL 700 AM EDT

* AT 555 AM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE EXTREME LOWER KEYS.
  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AND NORTHWEST AT 20 TO 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...BOCA CHICA...
  STOCK ISLAND...AND KEY WEST.

GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL IhNTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TB

The office that day

Everything else NWS Key West, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 15, 6:28 AM EDTTornado WarningKEYMonroe42 min
Oct 15, 10:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningKEYMonroe3 hr
Oct 15, 2:20 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningKEYMonroe3 hr
Oct 15, 5:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningKEYMonroe3 hr
Oct 15, 5:10 PM EDTTornado WarningKEYMonroe30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.