Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 79
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 27, 2003, 2:15 PM EST for 6 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 27, 2003, 2:15 PM EST (19:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 27, 2003, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Broward County, FL, Collier County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL
The radar
The Miami radar (KAMX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:15 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.
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 2:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Collier | 63 min |
| Mar 27, 2:37 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Hendry, Palm Beach | 53 min |
| Mar 27, 2:40 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Hendry, Palm Beach | 50 min |
| Mar 27, 2:50 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Hendry | 55 min |
| Mar 27, 3:12 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Miami-Dade | 48 min |
| Mar 27, 3:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Palm Beach | 63 min |
| Mar 27, 3:58 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Broward, Miami-Dade | 62 min |
| Mar 27, 4:19 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Palm Beach | 56 min |
| Mar 27, 4:59 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Broward, Miami-Dade | 61 min |
| Mar 27, 5:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | KEY | Monroe | 55 min |
| Mar 27, 5:54 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MFL | Miami-Dade | 21 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 86 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
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -73 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1048 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -34 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 271915 SEL9 SPC WW 271915 FLZ000-CWZ000-280000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 79 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 215 PM EST THU MAR 27 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH FLORIDA COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 215 PM UNTIL 700 PM EST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES EAST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA TO 40 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 78... DISCUSSION...FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES ACROSS S FL FOR SUPERCELLS AS MID LEVEL JET EXTENDS ACROSS AREA. AS AIRMASS HAS BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE...EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP EWD ACROSS S FL INCLUDING KEYS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE LIKELY ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERCELLS ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030. ...HALES 265,0795 243,0801 243,0815 265,0813
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 10:27 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte and 39 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 27, 11:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus and 34 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 27, 1:36 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus and 38 more | 84 min |
| Mar 27, 4:10 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Broward, Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach | 95 min |
Nearby
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.