Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Tampa Bay, FL
NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 2003, 5:56 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 34 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 18, 2003, 5:56 PM EDT (21:56 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 2003, 6:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tampa Bay, FL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Polk County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:59 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
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 88 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
- 1624 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 975 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -1 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -12 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS52 KTBW 182156 SVRTBW FLC105-182230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 555 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN POLK COUNTY IN FLORIDA. * UNTIL 630 PM EDT * AT 555 PM EDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 6 MILES NORTH OF HAINES CITY...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT... HAINES CITY. POLK CITY. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH OR HIGHER...AND HAIL THE SIZE OF PENNIES OR LARGER. MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY. && LAT...LON 2808 8160 2825 8152 2833 8179 2817 8191 $$ 13
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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 18, 2:30 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 18, 2:30 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 910 AM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AND MOISTURE IS IN PLACE. THE SEABREEZE WAS A LITTLE SLOW TO DEVELOP BUT IT IS STARTING TO COME AROUND AS OF THE LAST OB OR TWO. THE EAST COAST SEABREEZE AND ITS RELATED CONVECTION IS MARCHING ACROSS THE STATE. I EXPECT SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WITH SOME POTENTIALLY STRONG ONES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AFTER THE EAST COAST SEABREEZE MAKES IT TO THE AREA. MONDAY AFTERNOON WILL SEE MORE OF THE SAME EXCEPT FOR FOR CONSIDERABLE SPEED DIVERGENCE ALOFT AS AIR ACCELERATES INTO AN UPPER LOW IN THE CENTRAL GULF. THE UPPER LOW...AND ITS REALLY KIND OF DEEP WILL SLOWLY FILL AS IT DRIFTS SOUTHWARD OUT OF MISSISSIPPI AND INTO THE YUCATAN CHANNEL. THE MAIN TROUGH OR WHAT EVENTUALLY BECOMES THE MAIN TROUGH SINKS SOUTH FROM NEW ENGLAND TO EAST OF THE STATE. THE UPPER LOW IN THE GULF EVENTUALLY GETS DISSOLVED INTO MAIN TROUGH. BY MIDWEEK OR SO A FRONT DRIFTS INTO SOUTH GEORGIA THE PUSHING THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE SOUTHWARD. THE SURFACE LOW JUST KIND OF SITS OVER NORTHEAST FLORIDA THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. NO MARINE OR FIRE WEATHER ISSUES PRELIMINARY NUMBERS TPA 090/073 089/073 3635 FMY 092/072 091/073 3635 GIF 092/071 091/071 2625 SRQ 089/074 088/072 3635 BKV 090/069 089/069 2635 .TBW...NONE. SOBIEN
Hazardous weather outlook, May 18, 5:32 AM EDT, 12 hours 24 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-181530- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 532 AM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: A COMBINATION OF AN WEAK UPPER LOW OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO AND AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES WILL CREATE FAVORBALE CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...MANILY BETWEEN 2 AND 10 PM. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LOCALLY STRONG WITH WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH...RAINFALL RATES OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND HAIL. WHEN SKIES DARKEN...MOVE INDOORS. IF THERE IS TIME...UNPLUG APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. WAIT UNTIL THE STORM ENDS BEFORE USING THE TELEPHONE OR RUNNING WATER. DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: A WARM AND HUMID AIR MASS WILL BE IN PLACE OVER FLORIDA THIS WEEK...ALLOWING FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 18, 4:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
426 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0307 PM CITRUS SPRINGS FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/18/03 CITRUS QUARTER SIZE HAIL.
REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0315 PM 1 N CITRUS SPRINGS FL 2.00 INCH HAIL
05/18/03 CITRUS HEN EGG SIZE HAIL.
REPORTED BY CITIZEN/PUBLIC.
0325 PM CITRUS SPRINGS FL 1.25 INCH HAIL
05/18/03 CITRUS HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL.
REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0359 PM HERNANDO FL 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/18/03 CITRUS QUARTER SIZE HAIL.
REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
RFMThe office that day
Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 2:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Citrus | 39 min |
| May 18, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Citrus | 45 min |
| May 18, 6:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough, Pasco | 37 min |
| May 18, 7:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 32 min |
| May 18, 7:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Manatee | 28 min |
| May 18, 7:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 44 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.