Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 27, 2002Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 27, 2002, 6:56 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 49 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 27, 2002, 6:56 PM EDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 2002, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
49 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 22:59 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 27, 7:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Mulberry, 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, 10.9 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 2002-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1414 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 2002-07-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -22 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1414 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
931 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 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
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

192 
WUUS52 KTBW 272256
SVRTBW
FLC105-272345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
656 PM EDT SAT JUL 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT.

* AT 656 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...8 MILES
  SOUTH OF LAKELAND...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT...
  WILLOW OAK.
  MULBERRY.

$$

LAT...LON 2804 8196 2799 8205 2768 8204 2777 8180

15

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 27, 3:14 PM EDT, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 3:14 PM EDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
314 PM EDT SAT JUL 27 2002

AN UPPER LOW OVER HISPANOLA IS MOVING WEST...SIMILAR TO AN AVN
SOLUTION.  DRY MID AND UPPER LEVEL AIR WILL STRETCH ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN COUNTIES.  THE UPPER LOW IS RAPPING SOME MOISTURE AROUND IT
THAT HAS NOW WORKED INTO THE NORTHERN BAHAMAS.  MODELS WASH OUT THE
DRY AIR SO I WILL DECREASE POPS ONLY A LITTLE INLAND AND IN THE
SOUTH.

THE CONVECTION OVER THE GULF THAT HAS BEEN GROWING IN AREAL COVERAGE
ALL DAY LONG SEEMS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME UPPER DIFLUENCE.
THIS SHOULD MOVE WESTWARD AS THE UPPER LOW PUSHES WEST.  THEREFORE
OTHER THAN INCREASED ACTIVITY OVER THE SOUTHERN COASTAL WATERS
TONIGHT IT WILL HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON OUR AREA.

MONDAY...SOME MOISTURE RETURNS AND I SLOWLY UP THE POPS A LITTLE.
AN EASTERLY WAVE STARTS TO SPREAD DEEP MOISTURE BACK ACROSS THE
STATE LATE MONDAY BUT MORE LIKE TUESDAY.  THE RIDGE AXIS STAYS OVER
NORTH OR CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH TUESDAY WHICH WILL KEEP THE BEST
LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE WEST COAST.

BY WEDNESDAY A FRONT WANTS TO PUSH INTO GEORGIA...NUDGING THE
SUBTROPICAL RIDGE SOUTHWARD.  WEDNESDAY WILL BE THE TRANSITION DAY...
BUT BY THURSDAY WE WILL BE SOLIDLY INTO THE WESTERLIES.  I WILL
REMOVE TIMING OF CONVECTION FROM THE FORECAST AND INCREASE LOW
TEMPERATURES AND DECREASE HIGHS ALONG THE COASTAL AREAS FOR
THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...

BKV 072/092 071/092 3424
TPA 076/091 076/090 3424
GIF 075/093 075/092 2424
SRQ 075/091 075/091 2324
FMY 076/092 076/092 2324

.TBW...NONE.

SOBIEN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 27, 6:32 PM EDT, 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN  FL
632 PM EDT SAT JUL 27 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0435 PM    TAMPA                     FL   WIND DAMAGE
07/27/02   HILLSBOROUGH                   A FEW OAK TREES BLOWN DOWN
                                          AT 15TH AVE AND 131ST ST.
                                          REPORTED BY WTVT

0535 PM    WEBSTER                   FL   TORNADO
07/27/02   SUMTER                         SMALL TORNADO RELAYED FROM
                                          SUMTER COUNTY SHERIFF FROM
                                          A PRIVATE CITIZEN. DAMAGE
                                          TO A BARN AND SEVERERAL
                                          TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN
                                          DOWN

DS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto26 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.