Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 27, 2003Lee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 27, 2003, 2:37 PM EST for Lee County, Florida. It was in force for 23 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
Mar 27, 2003, 2:37 PM EST (19:37 UTC)
Expired
Mar 27, 2003, 3:00 PM EST
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Lee County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:38 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 27, 11:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 2003-03-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 845 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-03-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
845 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

962 
WFUS52 KTBW 271937
TORTBW
FLC071-272000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
236 PM EST THU MAR 27 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN LEE COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 300 PM EST

* AT 236 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTH OF LEHIGH ACRES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  LEHIGH ACRES BY 255 PM EST.

AT 236 PM EST...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED DEBRIS ON 
INTERSTATE 75 NEAR MILE MARKER 123.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM MOVE INTO THE INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. COVER YOUR HEAD AND
BODY WITH PILLOWS OR BLANKETS.


&&

LAT...LON 2643 8185 2631 8171 2655 8140 2671 8157

$$

72

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 10:53 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte37 min
Mar 27, 11:03 AM ESTSpecial Marine WarningTBW57 min
Mar 27, 11:08 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWDeSoto52 min
Mar 27, 11:52 AM ESTSpecial Marine WarningTBW53 min
Mar 27, 12:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLee65 min
Mar 27, 1:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough30 min
Mar 27, 1:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLevy31 min
Mar 27, 1:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco40 min
Mar 27, 1:34 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningTBW56 min
Mar 27, 1:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus30 min
Mar 27, 2:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando29 min
Mar 27, 2:08 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLevy37 min
Mar 27, 2:10 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningTBW2 hr
Mar 27, 2:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCitrus, Sumter41 min
Mar 27, 2:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando, Pasco25 min
Mar 27, 2:42 PM ESTTornado WarningTBWLevy48 min
Mar 27, 2:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHernando, Pasco47 min
Mar 27, 3:08 PM ESTTornado WarningTBWPasco22 min
Mar 27, 4:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPasco38 min

Nearby

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