Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Melbourne, FL

December 24, 2002Volusia County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 2002, 3:52 PM EST for Volusia County, Florida. It was in force for 38 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: Dec 24, 2002, 3:52 PM EST (20:52 UTC)
Expired: Dec 24, 2002, 4:30 PM EST
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:54 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 24, 1:30 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 96 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: 1998 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 465 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 273 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.1
Supercell composite: 11.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KMLB 242052
TORMLB
FLC127-242130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
351 PM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH AND CENTRAL VOLUSIA COUNTY
  IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 430 PM EST

* AT 359 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH SIGNIFICANT ROTATION 2 MILES WEST OF
  DAYTONA BEACH INTL SPEEDWAY...OR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DAYTONA
  BEACH...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  6 MILES SOUTH OF ORMOND BEACH AT 355 PM EST
  NEAR SOUTH DAYTONA...PORT ORANGE...5 MILES NORTH OF WILBUR BY THE
     SEA AT 400 PM EST

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. PEOPLE IN
THE PATH OF 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.

LAT...LON 2924 8121 2907 8115 2918 8065 2939 8072

$$

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TEH WARNED AREA.

JP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 24, 2:35 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		115 min
Dec 24, 3:38 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Brevard	37 min
Dec 24, 3:54 PM EST	Tornado Warning	MLB	Volusia	36 min
Dec 24, 4:30 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		3 hr
Dec 24, 4:30 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		3 hr
Dec 24, 4:30 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		60 min
Dec 24, 4:30 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	MLB		60 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.