Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

July 28, 2003Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 2003, 4:50 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 25 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
Jul 28, 2003, 4:50 PM EDT (20:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 2003, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Polk County, FL

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, 8.8 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1344 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1344 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
975 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

361 
WUUS52 KTBW 282050
SVRTBW
FLC105-282115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
448 PM EDT MON JUL 28 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 515 PM EDT

* AT 448 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...OVER
  SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT...
  BRADLEY JUNCTION.

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 2785 8205 2767 8204 2768 8183 2787 8184

$$

25

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 Jul 28, 2:00 PM EDT, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 2:00 PM EDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
200 PM EDT MON JUL 28 2003

CURRENT/SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-WED)...WEAK SURFACE RIDGE CONTINUES OVER
FA WITH LITTLE FLOW. SEA BREEZE AND CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS DEVELOPING
ALONG ENTIRE COAST. MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION IS FROM THE TAMPA BAY
AREA NORTH. WEAK RIDGING PATTERN CONTINUES TUESDAY BUT SHIFTS
OVER SOUTH FLORIDA. WITH THE WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT... THIS SHIFT
WILL NOT HAVE MUCH AFFECT EXCEPT TO BEGIN SEA BREEZES A BIT
EARLIER.

EXTENDED (THU THRU MON)...WEAK UPPER RIDGE DROPS INTO THE EASTERN
U.S. FOR THE WEEKEND BEFORE BEGINNING TO LIFT NORTHWARD MON. A
SURFACE RIDGE WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTH-CENTRAL OR SOUTH CWFA
INTO MUCH OF THE WEEKEND BUT THEN MOVE NORTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS
A WEAK WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE SOUTHERN HALF OF FL. GENERALLY LIGHT
FLOW THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH COASTAL PRECIPITATION MOVING ONSHORE
IN THE MID MORNING AND THEN INLAND DURING THE AFTERNOON. POPS WILL
REMAIN IN THE SCATTERED RANGE WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL.

MARINE... NO CONCERNS EXCEPT SCATTERED TSTMS.

FIRE WEATHER... NO CONCERNS.

CCFTBW
TPA BB 076/090 077/090 078 03242
FMY BB 076/091 077/091 076 03242
GIF BB 075/092 076/092 074 03242
SRQ BB 075/089 076/089 076 03242
BKV BB 071/091 072/091 073 03242

.TBW...NONE.

CP/RR
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 28, 5:38 AM EDT, 11 hours 12 minutes before
FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-281300-

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
538 AM EDT MON JUL 28 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AS DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES TO 90 OR ABOVE WILL ACT ON A MOIST ATMOSPHERE. THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ON THE GULF AND EAST COAST SEA
BREEZES...WITH ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE IN LOCATIONS WHERE
THE BOUNDARIES COLLIDE IN THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING
HOURS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL CONTAIN HAIL...HEAVY RAIN IN
EXCESS OF TWO INCHES...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER. EXCESSIVE
LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED WITH A FEW STORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY:

WINDS WILL VEER TO THE SOUTHWEST BY TUESDAY AS LARGE UPPER
LEVEL TROUGH MOVES INTO THE EASTERN QUARTER OF THE U.S. THIS WILL
BRING LATE MORNING STORMS TO THE COAST AND SCATTERED STORMS IN THE
AFTERNOON OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE REMINDED TO RELAY ANY REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER TO THE NWS OFFICE IN RUSKIN.

ALSHEIMER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 28, 3:03 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN  FL
303 PM EDT MON JUL 28 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1210 PM    CLEARWATER                FL   LIGHTNING
07/28/03   PINELLAS                       *** 3 INJ ***
                                          THREE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
                                          EATING LUNCH UNDER A TREE
                                          WERE AFFECTED WHEN
                                          LIGHTNING HIT THE TREE. THE
                                          WORKERS WERE COMPLAINING OF
                                          MUSCLE TREMORS AND INTERNAL
                                          PAIN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco36 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.