Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 30, 2004Polk County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 2004, 5:49 PM EDT for Polk County, Florida. It was in force for 26 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
Apr 30, 2004, 5:49 PM EDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 2004, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
26 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), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 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 nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 78 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 2004-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 779 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 2004-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
779 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KTBW 302149
TORTBW
FLC105-302215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
549 PM EDT FRI APR 30 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL POLK COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 549 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAKE WALES...MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  LAKE WALES BY 550 PM EDT.

THIS IS AN UPGRADE OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED AT 527 
PM.  LARGE HAIL AND EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING ARE ALSO EXPECTED.

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 2797 8159 2793 8179 2782 8170 2782 8156

$$

88

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 5:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWPolk33 min
Apr 30, 5:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWCharlotte, Sarasota28 min
Apr 30, 5:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWHillsborough33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.