Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 51, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

September 19, 2004Lee County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 19, 2004, 3:54 PM EDT for Lee County, Florida. It was in force for 21 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
Sep 19, 2004, 3:54 PM EDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired
Sep 19, 2004, 4:15 PM EDT
In force
21 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), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:55 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 tornado 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 2004-09-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 834 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 2004-09-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
834 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1005 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 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.

000 
WFUS52 KTBW 191954
TORTBW
FLC071-192015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
348 PM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 415 PM EDT

* AT 348 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER CAPE CORAL...MOVING WEST AT 5 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  CAPE CORAL
  SANIBEL
  PINE ISLAND

AT 340 PM EDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS 
REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN SOUTHWEST CAPE CORAL

FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. CONDITIONS REMAIN 
FAVORABLE FOR TORNADO DEVELOPMENT. MOVE INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING 
IMMEDIATELY...AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR DAMAGE TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
OR YOUR COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN RUSKIN.


&&

LAT...LON 2643 8188 2666 8202 2666 8226 2640 8215

$$

55

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Sep 19, 1:26 PM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 1:26 PM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
126 PM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004

.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - TUE)...LATEST MODELS INSIST ON STRONG JET
DEVELOPING OVER FAR SOUTH FLORIDA FOR MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...PUTTING
CWA INTO FAVORABLE LEFT FRONT QUAD. THIS IS EXPECTED TO INTERACT WITH
SURFACE TROF MOVING SOUTHWESTWARD OVER THE FAR WESTERN ATLANTIC AND
INTO THE FLORIDA PENINSULA...FOR ENHANCED VERTICAL MOTION AND
RAINFALL. I HAVE RAISED POPS MONDAY AND TUESDAY DUE TO THIS
FAVORABLE INTERACTION. IN ADDITION...MUCH MORE CLOUD COVER SHOULD
HOLD MAX TEMPS DOWN A FEW DEGREES FROM TODAY...AND LOW LEVEL COLD
ADVECTION WILL HELP THE PROCESS OUT AS WELL.

WITH STRONG HIGH BUILDING TO THE NORTH...NORTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL
BE ON THE INCREASE...GIVING SOMEWHAT BREEZY CONDITIONS. LOW CLOUDS
SHOULD MOVE IN ON THE NORTHEASTERLY WINDS TONIGHT NORTH OF TAMPA...
AND WILL PROBABLY HAVE A HARD TIME BREAKING AT ALL ON MONDAY. MY
CURRENT FORECAST MAX TEMPS MAY EVEN TURN OUT TO BE TOO HIGH.

.LONG TERM (TUE NIGHT - SUN)...FOR THE TIME BEING WILL DAMPEN OUT THE
FEATURE OUT IN THE GULF THAT APPEARS TO BE THE REMNANTS OF IVAN BUT
WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS IN FOR WED. OTHERWISE DEEP RIDGING OVER THE
MID ATLANTIC COAST WILL KEEP A DRIER NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE
CWFA WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION AFTER WED. WINDS REMAIN NE INTO THE
WEEKEND BUT WILL DECREASE AS THE RIDGING MOVES OFF THE EAST U.S.
COAST...ALLOWING THE GRADIENT TO SLACKEN AMD PROVIDE THE PROSPECTS
OF A NICE BOATING WEEKEND.

&&

.MARINE...AS MENTIONED ABOVE...WIND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE
STARTING TONIGHT AND LASTING INTO TUESDAY. SCEC CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY MONDAY AND LAST INTO EARLY TUESDAY.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...INCREASING WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR INCREASING
DISPERSIONS MONDAY AND TUESDAY...BUT MINIMUM RH VALUES WILL REMAIN
ABOVE ANY FLAG CRITERIA.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TPA 072 085 073 088 / 00 60 40 50
FMY 073 088 072 088 / 00 50 40 50
GIF 071 085 072 088 / 00 60 40 50
SRQ 073 086 075 088 / 00 60 40 50
BKV 068 083 071 088 / 10 50 40 40

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

SHORT TERM...ALSHEIMER
LONG TERM...RKR
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 19, 5:02 AM EDT, 10 hours 52 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
502 AM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-191300-
CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE-
LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER-
502 AM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY:

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY:

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES WILL
SUPPORT BREEZY NORTHEAST WINDS OVER THE REGION THROUGH MUCH OF THE
WEEK...WITH WINDS OVER THE ADJACENT GULF WATERS POSSIBLY APPROACHING
SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION CRITERIA BY TUESDAY. IN ADDITION TO THE
INCREASING WINDS...A WEAK TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE
REGION LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY COMBINED WITH INCREASING LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
EACH DAY THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH THE MAIN HAZARD BEING OCCASIONAL
LIGHTNING STRIKES.

.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 (LOWER CASE)

JCM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 19, 3:47 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
347 PM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0333 PM     TORNADO          1 WSW CAPE CORAL        26.57N 82.00W
09/19/2004                   LEE                FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            CAPE CORAL FIRE CHIEF REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO WITH SOME
            DAMAGE TO LESS THAN 12 HOMES NEAR THE WATER.

0335 PM     WATER SPOUT      2 SW CAPE CORAL         26.55N 82.01W
09/19/2004                   LEE                FL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BRIEFLY A TORNADO IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST CAPE CORAL WITH
            SOME DAMAGE TO LESS THAN 12 HOMES.

&&

NOAH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 19, 3:40 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningTBW35 min
Sep 19, 3:49 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWLee26 min
Sep 19, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWLee30 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.