Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Melbourne, FL

April 30, 2002Osceola County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 2002, 5:30 PM EDT for Osceola County, Florida. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 30, 2002, 5:30 PM EDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 2002, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Osceola County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:30 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 78 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -200 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

542 
WFUS52 KMLB 302130
TORMLB
FLC097-302215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
525 PM EDT TUE APR 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL OSCEOLA COUNTY
  IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 519 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF NARCOOSSEE...MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS RURAL SECTIONS OF OSCEOLA 
COUNTY AND CROSS ROUTE 532...IF ROTATION WITH THE STORM CONTINUES 
THE TORNADO WILL BE WEST OF HOLOPAW AT 6 PM EDT.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO HAVE VERY LARGE HAIL UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE AND 
WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH. TAKE SHELTER NOW.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A STRONG BUILDING ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS
TO COVER YOUR HEAD AND BODY.

EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO
SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST UNFLOODED DITCH...
CULVERT...OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A NEARBY TORNADO IN YOUR CAR.

$$

LAT...LON 2834 8103 2835 8127 2808 8123 2812 8098

PB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 3:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Seminole	47 min
Apr 30, 4:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Seminole	29 min
Apr 30, 4:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange	65 min
Apr 30, 5:09 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MLB	Orange	36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.