Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Melbourne, FL

July 21, 2002Osceola County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2002, 2:27 PM EDT for Osceola County, Florida. It was in force for 33 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: Jul 21, 2002, 2:27 PM EDT (18:27 UTC)
Expired: Jul 21, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT
In force: 33 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 18:30 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

Miami, FL (KMIA), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 264 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: 2073 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 919 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -25 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.

404 
WFUS52 KMLB 211827
TORMLB
FLC097-211900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
226 PM EDT SUN JUL 21 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT

* AT 220 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTH OF NARCOOSSEE...MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

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 2829 8110 2833 8130 2814 8134 2807 8118

15

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 12:22 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		98 min
Jul 21, 2:00 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		90 min
Jul 21, 3:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange, Osceola	49 min
Jul 21, 3:51 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		114 min
Jul 21, 3:51 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		114 min
Jul 21, 4:40 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		65 min
Jul 21, 4:40 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MLB		65 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.