Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

August 12, 1999Hernando County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1999, 4:25 PM EDT for Hernando County, Florida. It was in force for 35 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
Aug 12, 1999, 4:25 PM EDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1999, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Hernando County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 12, 5:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindIstachatta, FLA Skywarn Spotter reported that thunderstorm winds snapped the tops off two large pine and one oak tree and downed several large ten inch limbs three miles west of Istachatta.

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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 1999-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2789 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1999-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2789 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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 122034 COR
TORTBW
FLC053-122100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED...CHANGED MOVEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
425 PM EDT THU AUG 12 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HERNANDO COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT

* AT 425 PM...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR EAST OF HWY 41 ABOUT 5 MILES NE OF
BROOKSVILLE. LITTLE MOVEMENT OR A SLIGHT DRIFT TO THE SOUTH.

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 Aug 12, 1:30 PM EDT, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 1:30 PM EDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN FL
130 PM EDT THU AUG 12 1999

CURRENTLY: STORMS ALONG THE COAST EARLIER TODAY HAVE SENT OUT
BOUNDARIES TO THE EAST AND WEST...AND THIS IS WHERE THE NEW
CONVECTION IS OCCURRING...I.E. ABOUT 25 MILES INLAND AND ABOUT 25
MILES OUT OVER THE GULF. STILL A FEW STRAGGLERS IN THE IMMEDIATE
TAMPA BAY AREA...BUT THE BAY MUDDIES UP THE BOUNDARIES ANYWAY.

IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES A FEW SHOWERS ARE DEVELOPING INLAND. THIS
SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD.

FORECAST: BASED ON DIURNAL TRENDS THE ACTIVITY OVER THE GULF AND
ALONG THE COAST SHOULD DIMINISH BY EARLY EVENING...WITH INLAND
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HANGING AROUND A BIT LONGER.

AS USUAL...THE MODEL SYNOPTIC FIELDS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT
WHILE THE PRECIP FIELDS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT. IT LOOKS LIKE THE NGM
VERIFIED ITS AREAL COVERAGE THE BEST SO FAR...SO I WILL USE THIS
MODEL...ALTHOUGH I WILL BEEF UP THE CHANCES A BIT BECAUSE THE QPF
HAS BEEN RUNNING TOO LOW. I DONT LIKE THE ETA PRECIP FIELD AT ALL...
ESPECIALLY IN THE LATER TIME PERIODS. IT BRINGS A LARGE CHUNK OF
PRECIP ACROSS OUR INLAND COUNTIES FROM THE NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT
FRIDAY NIGHT...AND THIS WOULD BE QUITE UNUSUAL.

TEMPS MAY GET QUITE TOASTY OVER THE NORTHERN COUNTIES FRIDAY WHERE
I EXPECT THE MOST SUNSHINE. HEAT INDICES APPROACHING 110 WOULD NOT BE
SURPRISING IN A FEW SPOTS FROM TAMPA BAY NORTHWARD.

ALL MODELS DO SHOW SOME RETURNING MOISTURE BY SATURDAY AS A WEAK
SURFACE TROF SETTLES OVER THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA AND THE EASTERN
GULF WATERS...SO I WILL GO ABOUT 10 PERCENT HIGHER POPS FOR MY LAST
PERIOD.

MARINE: WINDS SHOULD SLACKEN WITH TIME AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT
RELAXES AND WEAK TROF SETTLES IN OVER THE COASTAL WATERS. WILL
GRADUALLY STEP DOWN WIND SPEEDS AND SEAS. FRIDAY NIGHT FORECAST IS
A BIT TOUGH AS MODELS SHOW WEAK WINDS FROM A VARIETY OF DIRECTIONS.
I WILL PLAY FOR A WEAK LANDBREEZE DEVELOPING CREATING OFFSHORE
WINDS. THIS WOULD FOLLOW DIURNAL THINKING AS ANY SURFACE TROF SHOULD
PLANT ITSELF OVER THE WARMER COASTAL WATERS AT NIGHT RATHER THAN
OVER LAND.

PRELIM NUMBERS:
TPA BB 077/092 077/092 077 77242
FMY TT 078/092 077/093 077 77353

ALSHEIMER

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.