Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 18, 2000Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 2000, 5:24 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 36 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 18, 2000, 5:24 PM EDT (21:24 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 2000, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 18, 5:50 PM EDTThunderstorm WindFrostproof, FLThe Frostproof Police Department reported that thunderstorm winds blew down the scoreboard at a baseball field, damaged the tin roof of a commercial building and downed nine large trees in Frostproof.
Jul 18, 5:50 PM EDTHail 1.75Frostproof, FLGolfball sized hail was reported in Frostproof by the local police department.

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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 2000-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1909 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 2000-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
1909 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
919 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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 
WUUS52 KTBW 182124
SVRTBW
FLC105-182200-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
524 PM EDT TUE JUL 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL POLK COUNTY.

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT.

* AT 524 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...OVER LAKE
  WALES...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT...
  CYPRESS GARDENS BY 525 PM EDT.
  LAKE WALES BY 535 PM EDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING. MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY...AN INTERIOR ROOM IN THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE OR BUSINESS.

$$

LAT...LON 2805 8165 2792 8179 2775 8162 2790 8145

RK
NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 18, 3:21 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 3:21 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
321 PM EDT TUE JUL 18 2000

CURRENTLY...MESO-SCALE BOUNDARY/SEA BREEZE COLLISIONS RESULTING IN
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM HERNANDO COUNTY NORTH AND
OVER MY INTERIOR AND SWRN ZONES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS DEPICTED BY
88D RETURNS. AS THE AFTERNOON CONTINUES ONGOING AND ANY ADDITIONAL
CONVECTION SHOULD PUSH EAST AND SEWD INTO THE INTERIOR ON A WEST TO
NORTHWEST STEERING FLOW...HOWEVER WITH NUMEROUS BOUNDARIES AROUND
WILL WORD FOR A LOW EVENING POP MENTION IN MOST ZONES. NELY FLOW
ABOVE 50H WILL SPREAD BLOWOFF CLOUDINESS ALONG COASTAL ZONES...SO
WILL WORD FOR MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THESE LOCATIONS...AND PARTLY CLOUDY
ELSEWHERE.

FORECAST...MODELS AGAIN IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON.
UPPER TROUGH OFF THE MID ATLANTIC WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NEWD THRU
WED NIGHT...HOWEVER ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVE ENERGY DROPPING SEWD ON
EASTERN SIDE OF CENTRAL U.S. UPPER RIDGE WILL KEEP A GENERAL AREA
OF TROUGHINESS ALONG THE U.S. EAST COAST THROUGH FRIDAY. MODELS HAVE
NOT BEEN HANDLING THE TIMING OF THE INDIVIDUAL VORT LOBES WITHIN THE
FLOW ALOFT...SO CONFIDENCE IN ANY ONE MODEL IS LOW. AT THE SURFACE
PERSISTENT HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE FL STRAITS WILL LIFT SLOWLY NORTH
INTO THE SRN PENINSULA THRU EARLY THURSDAY WHERE IT SHOULD TAKE UP
RESIDENCE AS A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES INTO SRN GA/NE FL AND STALLS.
POSITION OF THE SURFACE RIDGE AXIS WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A
WESTERLY FLOW REGIME AND WILL CONTINUE WITH LATE AND EARLY MORNING
COASTAL AND AFTERNOON INTERIOR POP TIMING THROUGH THE PERIOD. WITH
VARYING MODEL POP SOLUTIONS WILL KEEP POPS IN GENERAL 30-40% CATEGORY
IN MOST ZONES. WESTERLY FLOW WILL AGAIN RESULT IN WARM MUGGY
CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT SO WILL AGAIN GO ABOVE MODEL GUIDANCE MINS IN
MOST LOCATIONS...WITH BLEND OF GUIDANCE BEING USED FOR MAXS.

EXTENDED...FRI-SUN...LATEST MRF RUN RETROGRADES CENTRAL UPPER RIDGE
WEST WITH SHARPER LOOKING EAST COAST TROUGH DEVELOPING THROUGH THE
PERIOD. LIKE ALL LAST WEEK THE TIMING OF ANY SHORT WAVES ROTATING
INTO THE BASE OF THIS NEW TROUGH WILL BE DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE.
SURFACE HIGH ACROSS THE S-CENTRAL PENINSULA WILL FAVOR A WEAK TO NON-
EXISTENT GRADIENT...SO SEA BREEZE INDUCED CONVECTION LOOKS A GOOD BET
ENHANCED BY ANY SHORT WAVES THAT MAY MOVE THROUGH...SO WILL CARRY
SCATTERED POP MENTION THROUGHOUT.

MARINE...SURFACE RIDGE TO THE SOUTH TO CONTINUE SW-WLY FLOW IN THE
10 TO 15 KNOT RANGE ALL LEGS. NO HIGHLIGHTS EXPECTED.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS
TPA BB 080/091 080/092 3424
FMY TB 078/092 078/093 3534

.TBW...NONE.

MCMICHAEL

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.