Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 29, 2002Lee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Jul 29, 2002, 5:31 PM EDT for Lee County, Florida. It was in force for 29 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 29, 2002, 5:31 PM EDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 29, 2002, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:35 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 29, 5:38 PM EDTTornado F0Lehigh Acres, FLFire department reported tornado damage to huge trees and picnic tables in park.

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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 2002-07-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 826 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-07-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -36 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
826 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1146 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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.

953 
WFUS52 KTBW 292131
TORTBW
FLC071-292200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
531 PM EDT MON JUL 29 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN LEE COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT.

* AT 531 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER LEHIGH ACRES...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  LEHIGH ACRES BY 530 PM EDT.

$$

LAT...LON 2654 8164 2668 8151 2675 8173 2660 8176

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 2:35 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW55 min
Jul 29, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota50 min
Jul 29, 4:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee32 min
Jul 29, 4:22 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWManatee23 min
Jul 29, 4:40 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW80 min
Jul 29, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWManatee32 min
Jul 29, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough46 min
Jul 29, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco30 min
Jul 29, 6:45 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW75 min
Jul 29, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco30 min
Jul 29, 7:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus, Hernando40 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.