Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jan 3, 1999, 1:14 AM EST for Highlands County, Florida. It was in force for 46 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
- Jan 3, 1999, 1:14 AM EST (06:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 3, 1999, 2:00 AM EST
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Highlands County, FL
The radar
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 1:45 AM EST | Tornado F0 | Lorida, FL | A short-lived tornado touched down along U.S. Highway 98 in Lorida and caused minor damage before it lifted and dissipated. Tornado damage was limited to a few snapped trees, a toppled basketball pole, a water pump pulled from the ground and several uprooted |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 12:45 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 519 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1080 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 160 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 198 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 6.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KTBW 030617 RRA TORTBW FLC055-030700- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 114 AM EST SUN JAN 3 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... HIGHLANDS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL FLORIDA * UNTIL 200 AM EST * AT 115 AM...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR JUST SOUTHWEST OF SEBRING. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND WIND DAMAGE. A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS A TORNADO MAY NOT BE OCCURRING AT THE MOMENT...BUT WILL LIKELY DO SO DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. 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 Jan 2, 8:18 PM EST, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 8:18 PM EST, 4 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL 818 PM EST SAT JAN 02 1999 PREFRONTAL LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTS TO TREK EWD AT 30 MPH TOWARD PNSULA THIS EVE. SPC IS LIKELY TO ISSUE A TORNADO WATCH FOR MUCH OF THE N HALF OF FA INTO TNGT. WOULD OPT FOR SVR TSTM AS LIMITED DIRECTIONAL SHEAR SFC-5K WNDS IN 00Z RAOB...BUT WINDS BTWN 1K-5K AVG 30-35 KTS. CONCERN FROM HERE IS PREMISE FOR DAMAGING BOW ECHO WIND GUSTS AS LINE PROCEEDS INTO LEVY CO 9P-11P...TAMPA BAY 11P-1AM...AND FMY 3A-5AM. WILL AWAIT SPC TO DEFINE WATCH AREA BUT PRELIMINARY THOUGHT IS WATCH WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE 9PM OR SO FOR THE AREA FROM MANATEE-HARDEE COS NWD. WILL ALSO UP POPS TO NR 100 PCT TNGT AS LOOKING LIKE EVERYBODY WILL GET WET OVERNGT AS JUICY DEW PTS IN THE MID 60S PREVAIL THRUOUT PNSULA. AS FAR A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH...WILL HOLD ONTO SUCH UNTIL PASSAGE OF TSTMS TO ASCERTAIN POST TSTM BNDRY WINDS...BUT SUSPECT SOME A WKR SWLY COMPONENT OF 10-15 KNTS. TIDES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING ONLY ABOUTF ONE FOOT ABOVE PREDICTED. DMR
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 9:55 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando, Pasco | 65 min |
| Jan 2, 9:55 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Citrus | 65 min |
| Jan 2, 10:17 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pinellas | 58 min |
| Jan 2, 10:39 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Manatee | 61 min |
| Jan 2, 10:45 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Sumter | 60 min |
| Jan 2, 11:02 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando, Pasco | 43 min |
| Jan 2, 11:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Sarasota | 64 min |
| Jan 2, 11:37 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 63 min |
| Jan 2, 11:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Charlotte | 42 min |
| Jan 2, 11:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | DeSoto, Hardee | 42 min |
| Jan 3, 12:34 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Highlands, Polk | 61 min |
| Jan 3, 12:37 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | DeSoto | 48 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.