Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 17, 2000Lee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2000, 4:28 AM EDT for Lee County, Florida. It was in force for 32 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
Sep 17, 2000, 4:28 AM EDT (08:28 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 2000, 5:00 AM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, FL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 17, 4:43 AM EDTTornado F1Sanibel, FLA fast moving tornado, on the low end of the F1 scale, associated with an outer band of hurricane Gordon, touched down along East Gulf Drive, two miles east of Sanibel on Sanibel Island, and caused extensive damage to two condominium complexes, two dozen nearb

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 00:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 00:00Z on 2000-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 238 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 00:00Z on 2000-09-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
238 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS52 KTBW 170828
TORTBW

FLC071-170900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
428 AM EDT SUN SEP 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN LEE COUNTY.

* UNTIL 500 AM EDT.

* AT 428 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BONITA SPRINGS...MOVING NORTH AT 40
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  BONITA SPRINGS.
  FORT MYERS BEACH.
  CAPE CORAL.
  FORT MYERS.
  MORSE SHORES.
  FORT MYERS SHORES.

TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT. TAKE COVER NOW! MOVE TO
A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING.
ABANDON MOBILE HOMES. LEAVE VEHICLES AND GET INTO A DITCH OR LOW
SPOT.

$$

LAT...LON 2623 8200 2623 8179 2675 8170 2675 8210

15
NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 17, 4:55 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota35 min
Sep 17, 5:28 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota47 min
Sep 17, 5:45 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWLee45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes 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.