Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Melbourne, FL

August 12, 2002Osceola County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2002, 6:13 PM EDT for Osceola County, Florida. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 12, 2002, 6:13 PM EDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired: Aug 12, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Osceola County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 94 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: 2143 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

421 
WFUS52 KMLB 122213
TORMLB
FLC097-122245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
612 PM EDT MON AUG 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT

* AT 606 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH SIGNIFICANT ROTATION 6 MILES WEST OF
  YEEHAW JUNCTION...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. PEOPLE 
NEAR THIS STORM SHOULD ACT NOW IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. DO 
NOT WAIT FOR THE TORNADO TO DEVELOP BEFORE ACTING...YOU MAY NOT SEE 
OR HEAR ITS APPROACH. DO NOT GET CAUGHT OFF GUARD

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A STRONG
BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
BATHROOM OR CLOSET. KEEP AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF NECESSARY...GET UNDER
A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS OR
PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. ABANDON YOUR MOBILE HOME OR RV FOR MORE
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...GET INTO AN
UNFLOODED DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS AND
ARMS. ABANDON YOUR VEHICLE IF THE TORNADO IS NEARBY.

THE TORNADO WILL LIKELY BE WRAPPED IN HEAVY RAIN MAKING IT DIFFICULT
TO SEE. BE SMART AND REACT NOW

LAT...LON 2764 8112 2765 8090 2797 8087 2793 8118

$$

DWS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 12, 5:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Indian River, Osceola	61 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.