Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 9, 2002Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 2002, 5:17 PM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 28 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 9, 2002, 5:17 PM EDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 2002, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Pinellas County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 40 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 2002-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1117 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 2002-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
1117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
769 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-34 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.

699 
WFUS52 KTBW 092117
TORTBW
FLC103-092145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
516 PM EDT TUE JUL 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN PINELLAS COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 545 PM EDT.

* AT 516 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A TORNADO OVER SOUTHERN PINELLAS COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10   
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  GULFPORT BY 515 PM EDT.
  SAINT PETERSBURG BY 520 PM EDT.
  LEALMAN BY 525 PM EDT.

AT 516 PM EDT...THE PUBLIC ALSO REPORTED  SEVERAL WATERSPOUTS OVER 
THE GULF. 

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM MOVE INTO THE INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. COVER YOUR HEAD AND
BODY WITH PILLOWS OR BLANKETS.

IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE INTO A STURDY BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...
SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH...OR LOW SPOT...AND COVER YOUR HEAD
WITH YOUR HANDS.

$$

LAT...LON 2774 8283 2761 8269 2785 8261 2790 8271

57
NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 5:10 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.