Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Melbourne, FL

October 21, 2002Brevard County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 21, 2002, 6:31 PM EDT for Brevard County, Florida. It was in force for 26 days. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 21, 2002, 6:31 PM EDT (22:31 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 2002, 4:30 PM EST
In force
26 days
Issued by
NWS Melbourne, FL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Brevard County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 21, 7:03 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 80 EMerritt Is, FLThunderstorm winds blew down a tree in Merritt Island. An amateur radio operator also measured a gust to 80 mph on a home weather station.
Nov 16, 4:15 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 60 EWest Melbourne, FLThunderstorm winds damaged air-conditioner units on a large warehouse store in West Melbourne. Large pallets of boxing material were moved around in the parking lot.

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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 25 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-10-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1000 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-10-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
1000 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

308 
WUUS52 KMLB 212231
SVRMLB
FLC009-212315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
630 PM EDT MON OCT 21 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL BREVARD COUNTY
  IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 715 PM EDT

* AT 627 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MERRITT ISLAND...4 MILES EAST OF SHARPES
  ...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  NEAR CAPE CANAVERAL...JETTY PARK AND PORT CANAVERAL AT 640 PM EDT
  NEAR COCOA BEACH...MERRITT ISLAND AT 650 PM EDT


SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MILES AN
HOUR...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. IF
THE STORM APPROACHES YOU...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.

LAT...LON 2855 8066 2845 8083 2796 8050 2812 8025

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 21, 6:25 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningMLB95 min
Oct 21, 6:25 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningMLB95 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.