Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 9, 1999Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 1999, 12:55 PM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 35 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
Jul 9, 1999, 12:55 PM EDT (16:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1999, 1:30 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Pinellas County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:59 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 9, 1:00 PM EDTHail 1Dunedin, FLQuarter sized hail was reported on Mira Vista Drive near Alternate U.S. Highway 19 by a Hillsborough County Emergency Coordinator.
Jul 9, 1:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindDunedin, FLThunderstorm winds downed two large trees and several large branches along Mira Vista Drive near Alternate U.S. Highway 19 in Dunedin.

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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 40 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 1999-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 725 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 1999-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1121 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 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.

335 
WFUS1 KTBW 091656 RRA
TORTBW
FLC103-091730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1255 PM EDT FRI JUL 9 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN PINELLAS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 130 PM EDT

* AT 1255 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTERS JUST NORTH
  OF THE COURTNEY CAMPBELL PARKWAY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
  NORTH AROUND 5 PM.

A TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING NOW
MOBILE HOMES AND CARS ARE NOT SAFE.

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.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 9, 10:15 AM EDT, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 10:15 AM EDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
1015 AM EDT FRI JUL 9 1999

FEW TSRA FIRING OFF THE LAND BREEZE ABOUT 20NM OFFSHORE THIS MORNING
WHILE MUCH BIGGER COMPLEX FROM UPPER LOW ABOUT 100NM OFFSHORE AND
QUICKLY EXPANDING NORTH.

H70 FLOW IS AROUND 10 TO 15 KTS WITH DIRECTIONS FROM THE SE IN THE
SOUTH...S ACROSS CENTRAL SECTIONS AND MORE SW IN NORTHERN AREAS AS
IT ROTATES AROUND A HIGH IN THE BAHAMAS.

THINK PERHAPS LEVY IS A BIT UNDERDONE IN POPS THIS AFTERNOON SINCE
GULF MOISTURE IS QUICKLY ADVANCING AND WILL UPDATE ALL ZONES TO
ADJUST AND CLEAN UP WORDING.

MARINE...GULF COMPLEX COULD STIR UP LOCAL COASTAL FORECAST BY THE
AFTERNOON HOURS AS 003 OBS INDICATE A SE WIND 18KT AND 4FT SEAS.
SUGGEST TWEAKING UP WIND AND SEAS A CAT.

67/GARRARD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 1:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas33 min
Jul 9, 2:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPinellas34 min
Jul 9, 2:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee49 min
Jul 9, 2:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough44 min
Jul 9, 2:32 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWManatee28 min
Jul 9, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough48 min
Jul 9, 3:11 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWManatee34 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.