Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Melbourne, FL

May 19, 2003Okeechobee County, Florida

NWS Melbourne, FL issued this tornado warning at May 19, 2003, 7:53 PM EDT for Okeechobee County, Florida. It was in force for 22 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: May 19, 2003, 7:53 PM EDT (23:53 UTC)
Expired: May 19, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Melbourne, FL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Okeechobee County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 139 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1944 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KMLB 192353
TORMLB
FLC093-200015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
752 PM EDT MON MAY 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN OKEECHOBEE COUNTY
  IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 749 PM EDT...SHRIFFS DEPUTIES REPORTED TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS FROM
   RAPIDLY DEVELOPING STORMS 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF
   OKEECHOBEE...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

* THE POTENTIAL FOR A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IS EXPECTED TO BE HIGH IN
  THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

  5 MILES WEST OF TAYLOR CREEK AT 800 PM EDT
  NEAR FOUR SEASONS ESTATES AT 805 PM EDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A STRONG BUILDING ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS
TO COVER YOUR HEAD AND BODY.

EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO
SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST UNFLOODED DITCH...
CULVERT...OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A NEARBY TORNADO IN YOUR CAR.

LAT...LON 2725 8093 2746 8073 2722 8070 2710 8083

$$

CRISTALDI

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 19, 4:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake, Seminole	52 min
May 19, 4:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Orange	62 min
May 19, 5:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MLB	Lake	58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.