Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 26, 1999Hillsborough County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 26, 1999, 2:31 PM EDT for Hillsborough County, Florida. It was in force for 29 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 26, 1999, 2:31 PM EDT (18:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1999, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Hillsborough County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 26, 2:40 PM EDTThunderstorm WindPlant City, FLThe Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department reported that thunderstorm winds downed several large trees that blocked Dover and Forbes Roads near Plant City.

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 23 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 1999-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1692 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 1999-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
1692 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
911 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 261833
TORTBW
FLC057-GMZ830-261900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
231 PM EDT MON JUL 26 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY INCLUDING ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS IN
  WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT

* AT 225 ON...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTERS AT 225 PM...
  SKYWARN SPOTTERS AND WFLA-TV HAVE REPORTED TWO WATERSPOUTS THAT
  WERE MOVING ONSHORE BETWEEN APOLLO BEACH AND GIBSONTON. MOVEMENT
  WAS EAST AT 10 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...

  GIBSONTON AND APOLLO BEACH BETWEEN 231 AND 240 PM

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

ZALESKI

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 26, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
1000 AM EDT MON JUL 26 1999

12Z SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATED HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXTENDED EAST TO
WEST ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA WHILE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH EXTENDED FROM
THE CAROLINAS SOUTHWEST ACROSS NORTH FLORIDA.

12Z MID LEVEL ANALYSIS PAINTED AN EAST-WEST TROUGH BETWEEN 700-500MB
THAT EXTENDED FROM THE NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO TO NEAR DAYTONA
BEACH.  UPPER LEVEL TUTT LOW EVIDENCED BETWEEN THE FLORIDA KEYS AND
CUBA WITH A WEAKENING UPPER LEVEL DEFORMATION ZONE OVER NORTH
FLORIDA.

12Z SKEW-T ANALYSIS INDICATED A SLIGHT INCREASE IN PRECIPITABLE
WATER LEVELS TO 1.7-1.8 RANGE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA.  WEST
COAST AND UPSTREAM SOUNDINGS.  LOW AND MID LEVELS WINDS CONSISTENTLY
FROM THE WEST WHILE UPPER LEVEL WINDS ABOVE 250 FEET ARE NORTHEAST.

CURRENT FORECAST ON TARGET AS PROJECTED MORNING SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO FIRE UP ALONG WEST FLORIDA COAST.
DOWNWARD VERTICAL MOTIONS ALREADY EVIDENT ALONG AND BEHIND MID LEVEL
TROUGH FROM LEVY COUNTY NORTH.  TROUGH WILL ENHANCE CONVECTIVE
ACTIVITY MAINLY OVER THE INTERIOR COUNTIES DURING THE AFTERNOON.

WILL UPDATE ZONES FOR MINOR SEMANTIC ,CHANGES OTHERWISE POPS...TEMPS
AND WINDS LOOK AOK.  MOST RW/TRW ACTIVITY WILL MOVE WEST TO EAST
ACROSS FORECAST AREA WITH SIGNIFICANT CIRRUS BLOWOFF EXPECTED BACK
TOWARD THE COAST WITH TODAYS STORMS.

ZALESKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 26, 3:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHardee34 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.