Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 75, NWS Melbourne, FL

May 21, 1999Okeechobee County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1999, 1:57 PM EDT for Okeechobee County, Florida. It was in force for 48 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
May 21, 1999, 1:57 PM EDT (17:57 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1999, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Okeechobee County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:00 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 1999-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1033 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 1999-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
1033 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 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.

999 
WUUS01 KMLB 211758 RRA
SVRMLB
FLC093-211845-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
157 PM EDT FRI MAY 21 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
     SOUTHERN OKEECHOBEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 245 PM EDT

* AT 155 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE JUST
  SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF OKEECHOBEE. THE STORM WAS DRIFTING NORTHWEST.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS FROM
  THE NORTH SHORE OF THE LAKE TO THE TOWN OF OKEECHOBEE.


SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING.

GLITTO

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 21, 12:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 12:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1010 AM EDT FRI MAY 21 1999

LOST THE GAMBLE...FEW SHOWERS BEGINNING TO POP OVER NRN CWA.  WILL
UPDATE ZONES SHORTLY.

.MLB.h..NONE

BRAGAW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 21, 12:15 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-212200-

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1215 PM EDT FRI MAY 21 1999

...INCREASED CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS...
...RIP CURRENT THREAT...

THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS MODERATELY UNSTABLE SOUTH OF ORLANDO AND CAPE
CANAVERAL.  COLD AIR ALOFT AND SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL
COMBINE WITH THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON TO PRODUCE
THUNDERSTORMS.  AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE CENTRAL FLORIDA
PENINSULA COULD ENHANCE SOME OF THE STORMS TO NEAR SEVERE LEVELS.

WEAK FLOW ALOFT WILL ALLOW THE STORMS TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY.
AS A RESULT...THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD
OF TIME.  IN ADDITION...SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL OCCUR IN THE STRONGER STORMS.  TAKE SHELTER
AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THREATENING SKIES.

THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE OVER INDIAN RIVER...
MARTIN...OKEECHOBEE AND ST LUCIE COUNTIES...MAINLY WEST OF INTERSTATE
95.  THE STORMS COULD DEVELOP AS FAR NORTH AS SOUTHERN BREVARD
AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES.

ELSEWHERE...A LONG PERIOD SWELL WILL RESULT IN A GREATER THAN NORMAL
THREAT FOR RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE BEACHES OF VOLUSIA...BREVARD...
INDIAN RIVER...ST LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES. THE THREAT WILL BE
GREATEST BETWEEN 2 AND 8 PM DURING THE OUTGOING TIDE.  SWIM ON
GUARDED BEACHES.  NEVER ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A
CURRENT... BUT MOVE AT AN ANGLE TO IT...THEN BACK TO SHORE.

BRAGAW
Special weather statement, May 21, 12:15 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-212200-

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1215 PM EDT FRI MAY 21 1999

...INCREASED CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS...
...RIP CURRENT THREAT...

THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS MODERATELY UNSTABLE SOUTH OF ORLANDO AND CAPE
CANAVERAL.  COLD AIR ALOFT AND SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL
COMBINE WITH THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON TO PRODUCE
THUNDERSTORMS.  AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE CENTRAL FLORIDA
PENINSULA COULD ENHANCE SOME OF THE STORMS TO NEAR SEVERE LEVELS.

WEAK FLOW ALOFT WILL ALLOW THE STORMS TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY.
AS A RESULT...THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD
OF TIME.  IN ADDITION...SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL OCCUR IN THE STRONGER STORMS.  TAKE SHELTER
AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THREATENING SKIES.

THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE OVER INDIAN RIVER...
MARTIN...OKEECHOBEE AND ST LUCIE COUNTIES...MAINLY WEST OF INTERSTATE
95.  THE STORMS COULD DEVELOP AS FAR NORTH AS SOUTHERN BREVARD
AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES.

ELSEWHERE...A LONG PERIOD SWELL WILL RESULT IN A GREATER THAN NORMAL
THREAT FOR RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE BEACHES OF VOLUSIA...BREVARD...
INDIAN RIVER...ST LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES. THE THREAT WILL BE
GREATEST BETWEEN 2 AND 8 PM DURING THE OUTGOING TIDE.  SWIM ON
GUARDED BEACHES.  NEVER ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A
CURRENT... BUT MOVE AT AN ANGLE TO IT...THEN BACK TO SHORE.

BRAGAW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 11:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard47 min
May 21, 12:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.