Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 968
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 19, 2003, 8:30 AM EST for 15 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 19, 2003, 8:30 AM EST (13:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 19, 2003, 2:00 PM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Charlotte County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lee County, FL, Levy County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Marion County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sarasota County, FL, Sumter County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:34 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.
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 44 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
- 10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 890 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 266 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 330 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 191329
SEL8
SPC WW 191330
FLZ000-CWZ000-191900-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 968
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
830 AM EST WED NOV 19 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WESTERN FLORIDA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 830 AM UNTIL
200 PM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 105 MILES NORTH OF SAINT PETERSBURG FLORIDA TO 55
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF FORT MEYERS 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 965. WATCH NUMBER 965 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 830
AM EST. CONTINUE...WW 966...WW 967...
DISCUSSION...EXISTING THUNDERSTORMS WHICH FORMED ALONG PREFRONTAL
CONFLUENCE AXIS OVER THE ERN GULF WILL BE AFFECTED BY GLANCING
INFLUENCE OF STRONG AL UPPER TROUGH. ASSOCIATED STRENGTHENING OF
LARGE SCALE ASCENT AND MID LEVEL FLOW SUGGEST THAT STORM
MESOCYCLONES ALREADY PRESENT OFFSHORE MAY AFFECT COASTAL AREAS OF
WRN FL LATER THIS MORNING.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26020.
...CORFIDI
292,0820 255,0805 255,0820 292,0831SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18, 7:45 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and 3 more | 60 min |
| Nov 18, 7:46 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and 3 more | 59 min |
| Nov 18, 9:10 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes and 6 more | 95 min |
| Nov 18, 10:45 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson and 6 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 19, 12:22 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson and 6 more | 83 min |
| Nov 19, 2:43 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla | 92 min |
| Nov 19, 4:20 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 12 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 19, 6:11 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Levy and 9 more | 3 hr |
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.