Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 9, 1999Manatee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 1999, 2:32 PM EDT for Manatee County, Florida. It was in force for 28 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: Jul 9, 1999, 2:32 PM EDT (18:32 UTC)
Expired: Jul 9, 1999, 3:00 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Manatee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:34 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
Jul 9, 2:40 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Ellenton, FL	A tornado touched down in the Tideview Estates Mobile Home Park and damaged the roof of one home, destroyed a carport and removed three porch enclosures. The tornado proceeded to strike the Blackburn Elementary School and caused minor siding and awning 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 26 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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.

000 
TTAA00 KTBW 091835 RRA
TORTBW
FLC081-091900-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT

* AT 230 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS TWO SEPARATE
  TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED. ONE NEAR THE PALMETTO
  AREA...AND ANOTHER JUST WEST OF I-75 NEAR SR 64. MOVEMENT WAS TO
  THE NORTH AT 5 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THE STORM NEED
TO TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING. 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, 2:15 PM EDT, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 2:15 PM EDT, 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
215 PM EDT FRI JUL 9 1999

SEVERE WEATHER ON THE INCREASE WITH AN IMPRESSIVE WATERSPOUT IN
CLEARWATER HARBOR AROUND 100 PM AND EXPLOSIVE THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUING. COMPLEX IN THE GULF HAS PRODUCED AN OUTFLOW
WHICH HAS MADE A DEFINITE TURN TO THE EAST/NORTHEAST. TSRA FROM THE
OUTFLOW WILL MAKE LAND IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES AND WILL INTERACT WITH WCSB.

HAVENT HAD MUCH TIME TO LOOK AT MODELS BUT FROM WHAT I DID SEE
INDICATES SOME DRYING/SUBSIDENCE OVER SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA ON SAT
WITH CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE REMAINING IN THE NORTH. THINK FMY AREA
WILL BE HOT WITH LIMITED PRECIP ON SAT WHILE NORTHERN AREAS WILL
HAVE ENHANCED AFTERNOON PRECIP ALONG THE SEABREEZE.

SUN LOOKS TO BE SIMILIAR...ALTHOUGH INLAND AREAS SHOULD BE FAVORED
AS SOUTHWEST WINDS PICK UP.

MARINE...NUMEROUS TSRA AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CHURN UP SEAS THROUGH
TONIGHT...WITH SLOWLY SUBSIDING CONDITIONS ON SAT. EXPECT 10 TO 15KT
WITH GUSTS TO 30 AND 4 TO 5 FT SEAS TONIGHT. SUN LOOKS TO BE FAIRLY
LIGHT AND QUIET.

FMY 76/94/77/94 1212
TPA 76/91/76/92 3323

67/GARRARD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 9, 12:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Pinellas	35 min
Jul 9, 1:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	33 min
Jul 9, 2:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Pinellas	34 min
Jul 9, 2:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee	49 min
Jul 9, 2:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	44 min
Jul 9, 3:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	48 min
Jul 9, 3:11 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	TBW	Manatee	34 min

Nearby

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