Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Miami, FL
NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at Feb 18, 1999, 8:58 AM EST for Broward County, Palm Beach County, Florida. It was in force for 62 min. 2 reports 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
- Feb 18, 1999, 8:58 AM EST (13:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 18, 1999, 10:00 AM EST
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Miami, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Broward County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL
The radar
The Miami radar (KAMX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:59 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 9:15 AM EST | Tornado F0 | Boca Raton, FL | |
| Feb 18, 10:05 AM EST | Tornado F0 | Boca Raton, FL | Two brief tornadoes touched down in association with a band of thunderstorms moving from west to east across northern Broward and southern Palm Beach counties. One tornado was first sighted near Glades Road and U.S. 441 and travelled about two miles toward t |
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
Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 230 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 344 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -61 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1129 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 170 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 187 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMIA 181358 RRA TORMIA FLC011-099-181500- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 858 AM EST THU FEB 18 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN PALM BEACH COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA NORTHERN BROWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA * UNTIL 1000 AM EST * AT 855 AM...MIAMI DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF DEEM CITY APPROACHING THE LOXAHATCHEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. THE ASSOCIATED THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. RESIDENTS IN EXTREME SOUTHERN PALM BEACH COUNTY AND EXTREME NORTHERN BROWARD COUNTY SHOULD GO TO A PLACE OF SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE PILLOWS TO PROTECT YOUR HEAD. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING. DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR VEHICLE. IN SCHOOLS...FOLLOW TORNADO PLANS OR MOVE TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE...DO NOT REMAIN IN A CAFETERIA...GYMNASIUM OR PORTABLE CLASSROOM BUT SEEK SHELTER ELSEWHERE INSIDE THE SCHOOL.
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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 18, 5:19 AM EST, 3 hours 39 minutes before
AMZ610-630-631-650>654-656-670>676-FLZ063-066>078-182100- SOUTH FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 600 AM EST THU FEB 18 1999 ...A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS... AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PAST SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BY MID MORNING AND SOUTHEAST FLORIDA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. THEY WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 30 TO 35 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS.
Special weather statement, Feb 18, 6:00 AM EST, 2 hours 58 minutes before
AMZ610-630-631-650>654-656-670>676-FLZ063-066>078-182100- SOUTH FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 600 AM EST THU FEB 18 1999 ...A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS... AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PAST SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BY MID MORNING AND SOUTHEAST FLORIDA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. THEY WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 30 TO 35 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS.
Special weather statement, Feb 18, 6:00 AM EST, 2 hours 58 minutes before
AMZ610-630-631-650>654-656-670>676-FLZ063-066>078-182100- SOUTH FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 600 AM EST THU FEB 18 1999 ...A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS... AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PAST SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BY MID MORNING AND SOUTHEAST FLORIDA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. THEY WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 30 TO 35 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS.
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.