Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 13, 2002Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 13, 2002, 9:55 AM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 50 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
Jul 13, 2002, 9:55 AM EDT (13:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 2002, 10:45 AM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:58 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 13, 10:33 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 60 ELake Wales, FL

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 nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 74 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 655 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
655 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
758 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 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.

999 
WUUS52 KTBW 131355
SVRTBW
FLC105-131445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
955 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 1045 AM EDT.

* AT 955 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS...20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  BARTOW...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT...
  FORT MEADE.
  BARTOW.

MOVE INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...
TORRENTIAL RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE EXPECTED. STAY INSIDE AWAY
FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING. MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY...AN INTERIOR ROOM IN THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE OR BUSINESS.

$$

LAT...LON 2764 8210 2753 8196 2781 8160 2797 8179

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 13, 9:18 AM EDT, 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 9:18 AM EDT, 37 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
918 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002

MORNING SOUNDING SHOWS PWS AT 2.14 INCHES...GIVING A DARN GOOD
REASON FOR THE WIDESPREAD RAIN THIS MORNING. EXPECT THE RAIN TO
CONTINUE FOR A FEW HOURS MORE CENTRAL AND NORTH COASTAL...AND
DEVELOP OVER THE INTERIOR AND SOUTH WHERE IT HAS NOT RAINED YET.
RAISED POPS ON MORNING UPDATE. GETTING GOOD GUSTS WITH THE SHOWERS...
WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING SINCE SOUNDING SHOWS 30 KNOTS OFF THE
SURFACE.

MARINE: TIDES RUNNING A FOOT OR MORE ABOVE NORMAL FROM THE TAMPA
BAY AREA NORTH AS CONNECTIVELY INDUCED GUSTY SSW WINDS HAVE RAISED
THE NEAR SHORE WATER LEVELS. AS THE CONVECTION MOVES INLAND...THE
WINDS SHOULD DIE DOWN AND THE WATER LEVELS SHOULD SLOWLY COME BACK
DOWN. MAY ISSUE ANOTHER MWS AROUND NOON IF THE WATERS LEVELS ARE
STILL UP...BECAUSE ASTRONOMICAL TIDES START RISING AGAIN THIS
AFTERNOON.

WHILE IT IS GUSTY AND ROUGH AT TIMES...THE SUSTAINED WINDS AWAY
FROM THE CONVECTION ARE BELOW ANY HIGHLITE CRITERIA. MAY BEEF UP THE
WIND GUST WORDING...BUT SEE NO REASON TO PUT UP FLAGS AS SUSTAINED
WINDS AND SEAS ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE (ONLY 3.6 FOOT SEAS AT BUOY
42036 WITH 10 KNOTS SUSTAINED).

.TBW...NONE.

ALSHEIMER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 5:30 AM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-131400-

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
530 AM EDT SAT JUL 13 2002

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...CURRENTLY OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF
MEXICO...IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA TODAY. THIS
DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH THE ALREADY MOIST AND UNSTABLE
ATMOSPHERE TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF
OF MEXICO EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST TOWARD
THE COASTAL COUNTIES OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THIS
MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE
INTERIOR COUNTIES BY LATER IN THE MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM ANY STRONGER SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH. REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. MOVE INDOORS AS SOON
AS YOU HEAR THUNDER OR SEE LIGHTNING.

FOR MARINE INTEREST...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR WATERSPOUT
FORMATION THIS MORNING. WIND GUSTS OF 35 KNOTS OR GREATER WILL ALSO
BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY STRONGER SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.

MORALES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 4:52 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW53 min
Jul 13, 4:52 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW53 min
Jul 13, 5:48 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 2002Every 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.