Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 23, NWS Melbourne, FL
NWS Melbourne, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 2003, 5:15 PM EST for Brevard County, Florida. It was in force for 60 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
- Mar 17, 2003, 5:15 PM EST (22:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 17, 2003, 6:15 PM EST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Melbourne, FL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Brevard County, FL
The radar
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 35 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 198 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 774 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 245 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 204 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS52 KMLB 172215 SVRMLB FLC009-172315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 514 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN BREVARD COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA * UNTIL 615 PM EST * AT 507 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES WEST OF MIMS...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. * OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE MIMS...SCOTTSMOOR AND KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MILES AN HOUR...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. IF THE STORM APPROACHES YOU...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. LAT...LON 2875 8102 2857 8099 2859 8033 2886 8037 $$ MRV
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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 17, 1:15 PM EST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 1:15 PM EST, 4 hours before
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 115 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 ...A RETURN TO SUMMER FOR MID/LATE WEEK... CURRENT...16Z KXMR RAOB SHOW THE AIR MASS IS WEAKLY CAPPED FOR THE TIME BEING. VIS IMAGERY SHOWS THE CU FIELD PANCAKING OUT BELOW THE WEAK H87-H85 INVERSION (WHICH IS MORE ISOTHERMAL) OF 1C. ROUGH GUESS IS THAT WE WILL NEED TEMP OF 28C/82F IN ORDER FOR IT TO BREAK. BUT SINCE THE CAP IS WEAK...WITH ADDITIONAL DIURNAL HEATING THIS LOOKS LIKE IT WILL ERODE. IN FACT...LAST FEW VIS IMAGES SHOW THE CU FIELD RATHER LUMPY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL FL...AND A FEW ECHOES HAVE POPPED UP ALONG THE DIFFUSE SEA BREEZE CONVG ZONE IN POLK CO. WILL NEED TO MAINTAIN AN EARLY POP FOR THE ACTIVITY NOW FORMING. BASED ON LATEST SAT/LTG TRENDS...AM BECOMING UNSURE WHETHER THE GOMEX ACTIVITY WILL ACTUALLY MAKE IT INTO THE AREA AT ALL...OR IN A MUCH WEAKENED STATE IF IT DOES. WILL REEVALUATE CLOSE TO ISSUANCE TIME...BUT THINK WE MAY BE ABLE TO GET WAY WITH WORDING POPS AS EVENING. TUE-THU...LARGE SCALE SYNOPTIC PATTERN SHOWS THE POTENT SHORT WAVE TROUGH/STACKED DEEP LAYER LOW NORTH OF KMOB CONTINUING TO EJECT NNE AS A SERIES OF VORTS BEGIN TO CARVE OUT A LARGE AND POTENT UPPER LVL STORM SYSTEM OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WHICH EVENTUALLY DRIFTS EWD INTO THE CTRL U.S. THIS POPS A DECENT AMPLITUDE SHORT WAVE DLM RIDGE OVER THE STATE...WHICH PORTENDS ANOTHER EARLY FORAY INTO SUMMER. SHORT RANGE GUIDANCE BRINGS A SLUG OF HIGHER PWAT AIR (1.25 - 1.5) ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE STATE TUE...HOWEVER DLM HEIGHTS WILL ALSO BE RISING. CURRENT THINKING IS TO FOREGO THE 30 POPS ADVERTISED BY THE MAV AS SYNOPTIC SUBSIDENCE WILL HOLD. WILL INSERT A TOKEN 10 FOR THE CCF HOWEVER. STEAM BATH HEAT ON TAP FOR WED-THU. MEX TEMPS SUFFERING FROM CLIMO BIAS AND SYNOPTIC PATTERN FAVORS U80S-90F OR SO FOR A GOOD CHUNK OF THE CWA...WITH COASTAL AREAS GETTING A BREAK WITH THE ECSB WED...BUT ONLY NEAR THE LAKE (IF AT ALL) THU. FRI-MON...AFTER SEVERAL VORT CENTERS ROTATE AROUND THE LARGE LOW... IT SLOWLY OPENS UP AND LIFTS NEWD AS YET ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM DIVES INTO THE SW CONUS. FLATTENING OF THE DLM RIDGE ACROSS FL WILL BE SLOW TO OCCUR...AND ENOUGH MOISTENING MAY OCCUR TO ALLOW FOR POPS FRI. WEAK FRONTAL TROUGH CROSSES THE REGION LATE FRI/FRI NIGHT... WHICH SHOULD TAKE THE EDGE OFF TEMPS SOME SAT. THIS NEXT TROUGH PROGRESSES EWD TO WHERE IT IMPACTS THE CWA BY THE END OF THE FCST CYCLE. 12Z GFS HAS DEPARTED FROM THE 00Z GFS/GGEM AND NOW LOOKS QUITE SIMILAR TO THE ECM/UKM IN SHOWING DEVELOPMENT OF A GULF COAST LOW SUN WHICH MOVES ACROSS THE SE STATES MON. GIVEN THE SURPRISINGLY GOOD MED RANGE MODEL CONSENSUS FOR THAT FAR OUT...AM GOING TO ACCEPT THE SOLN AND INTRODUCE POPS ON DAY 7. MARINE...WIND FIELD HAS INDEED RECOVERED TO A MODERATE SW FLOW. THIS SHOULD EVENTUALLY BACK TO A MORE SOUTHERLY DIRECTION...INCREASING TO SCA CRITERIA BY THU/EARLY FRI BEFORE VEERING AND THEN WEAKENING AHEAD OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH BY SAT. PRELIMINARY CCF... DAB BB 064/087 067/088 071 31111 MCO BB 064/089 069/091 071 21111 MLB BB 067/087 070/089 072 31011 60= .MLB...NONE. PUBLIC/MARINE WX...CRISTALDI AVIATION/FIRE WX...VOLKMER
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 17, 10:50 AM EST, 6 hours 25 minutes before
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 172200- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1050 AM EST MON MAR 17 2003 .DAY ONE... ISOLATED SHOWERS AND LIGHTNING STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON...AND ANY WHICH FORM WOULD MOVE INTO THE INTERIOR COUNTIES DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON...REACHING THE EAST COAST COUNTIES DURING THE EVENING. IN ADDITION...ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL REACH THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA LATE THIS AFTERNOON...ACCOMPANIED BY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND LIGHTNING STORMS. THIS COULD RESULT IN ADDITION STORMS OVER EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA DURING THE MID TO LATE EVENING. MOVEMENT OF STORMS TODAY WILL BE TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. RELATIVELY DRY AND COLD AIR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE COULD ALLOW SOME STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS TO DEVELOP...WITH HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS THE PRIMARY THREATS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THESE STORMS WILL ALSO MOVE OFFSHORE INTO THE ATLANTIC WATERS... MAINLY FROM EARLY EVENING ONWARD. STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS...LOCALLY ROUGH SEAS...HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORMS. AT AREA BEACHES...A GREATER THAN NORMAL THREAT FOR RIP CURRENTS WILL OCCUR AGAIN TODAY DUE TO A PERSISTENT NORTHEAST SWELL OF 3 TO 4 FEET. RIP CURRENTS ARE NORMALLY MOST DANGEROUS DURING THE TIME OF OUTGOING TIDE...AND NEAR PIERS AND JETTIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEK AND BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO SELF ACTIVATE IF ANY SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS BECOMES NECESSARY LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING. CRISTALDI
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 3:30 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
FLZ047-172105- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 330 PM EST MON MAR 17 2003 ...STRONG STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS UP TO 45 MPH AND SMALL HAIL ACROSS SOUTHERN BREVARD COUNTY... AT 317 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAMP HOLLY FISH CAMP...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE STORM WILL BE...NEAR CAMP HOLLY FISH CAMP AT 335 PM EST. NEAR WEST MELBOURNE AT 345 PM EST. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO MELBOURNE AND THE PALM BAY AREA BETWEEN 345 PM AND 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS A STRONG STORM. SEEK SHELTER INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS. MRV
The office that day
Everything else NWS Melbourne, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 3:00 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 90 min | |
| Mar 17, 3:33 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 117 min | |
| Mar 17, 3:47 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Brevard | 43 min |
| Mar 17, 4:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Orange | 55 min |
| Mar 17, 4:07 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MLB | Brevard | 38 min |
| Mar 17, 4:31 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Lake, Volusia | 44 min |
| Mar 17, 4:43 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MLB | Brevard | 47 min |
| Mar 17, 5:07 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 113 min | |
| Mar 17, 5:07 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 113 min | |
| Mar 17, 6:49 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 86 min | |
| Mar 17, 6:49 PM EST | Special Marine Warning | MLB | 86 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003
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.