Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Melbourne, FL

December 13, 2002Brevard County, Indian River County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 13, 2002, 11:35 AM EST for Brevard County, Indian River County, Florida. It was in force for 55 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: Dec 13, 2002, 11:35 AM EST (16:35 UTC)
Expired: Dec 13, 2002, 12:30 PM EST
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Brevard County, FL, Indian River County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 13 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:34 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
Dec 13, 11:55 AM EST	Tornado F1	Wabasso, FL	An F-1 tornado dropped down in Wabasso about 1/4 mile south of SR 510 and 1.2 miles west of US Highway 1. The tornado moved east north east damaging trees in a citrus grove and overturning a large tractor trailer bed. It moved through a cluster of homes west

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
Dec 13, 6:45 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 54 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1011 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 620 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 253 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 292 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 10.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

947 
WUUS52 KMLB 131635
SVRMLB
FLC009-061-131730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1131 AM EST FRI DEC 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1230 PM EST

* AT 1130 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS REACHING OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN 
  BREVARD COUNTY OVER MALABAR AND INTO INDIAN RIVER COUNTY NEAR BLUE 
  CYPRESS LAKE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING QUICKLY NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE STORMS WILL CROSS THE COAST FROM MELBOURNE BEACH SOUTH TO 
  SEBASTIAN AND VERO BEACH. PERSONS SHOULD TAKE COVER FROM THESE 
  STORMS IMMEDIATELY. 

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING. GO TO
A SAFE PLACE IF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA...ESPECIALLY
IF YOU LIVE IN A MOBILE HOME.

REPORT LARGE HAIL...DIME SIZE OR LARGER...OR SIGNIFICANT WIND DAMAGE
TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.

$$

LAT...LON 2801 8069 2764 8055 2761 8016 2844 8028

52

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 12, 11:09 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		2 hr
Dec 13, 7:21 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		114 min
Dec 13, 8:26 AM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	34 min
Dec 13, 8:55 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		2 hr
Dec 13, 9:02 AM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Brevard, Volusia	28 min
Dec 13, 10:46 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Brevard	44 min
Dec 13, 10:53 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		67 min
Dec 13, 10:53 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		67 min
Dec 13, 11:15 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		2 hr
Dec 13, 11:15 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		2 hr
Dec 13, 12:19 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Okeechobee, Saint Lucie	7 days
Dec 13, 1:00 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		90 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 2002 Every 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.