Alert archive / Florida / Red Flag Warnings in 2009

Red Flag Warning 23, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

February 19, 20096 counties in Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this red flag warning at Feb 19, 2009, 1:44 PM EST for 6 counties in Florida. It took effect at Feb 20, 2009, 9:00 AM EST. It was in force for 11 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 19, 2009, 1:44 PM EST (18:44 UTC)
In effect from
Feb 20, 2009, 9:00 AM EST
Expired
Feb 20, 2009, 8:00 PM EST
In force
11 hr
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL

Counties DeSoto County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sumter County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:45 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

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 159 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2009-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2009-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 293 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
72 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
343 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this red flag 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 red flag warning went out at Feb 19, 1:34 PM EST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 1:34 PM EST, 10 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 19, 8:03 AM EST, 5 hours 41 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
803 AM EST THU FEB 19 2009

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-191600-
LEVY-CITRUS-SUMTER-HERNANDO-PASCO-PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-POLK-
803 AM EST THU FEB 19 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

...THUNDERSTORM IMPACT...
A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA WILL BRING LIKELY SHOWERS AND
A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH LATE MORNING. THE GREATEST
THREAT FROM THE STORMS WILL BE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF BUT HEAVY
RAINFALL...AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING.

...WIND AND SEA IMPACT...
STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL CREATE HAZARDOUS
CONDITIONS FOR SMALL CRAFT NORTH OF TARPON SPRINGS THIS MORNING...
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. ELSEWHERE SMALL CRAFT SHOULD
EXERCISE CAUTION. WINDS SHIFT TO NORTHWEST...AS THE FRONT MOVES
BY THIS MORNING...WITH SPEEDS UP TO 20 KNOTS. SMALL CRAFT SHOULD
CONTINUE TO EXERCISE CAUTION THROUGH TONIGHT.

...RIP CURRENT IMPACT...

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY. GUSTY ONSHORE
WINDS WILL CREATE STRONG CURRENTS TODAY...ESPECIALLY ALONG PIERS
AND OTHER STRUCTURES.

A RIP CURRENT IS A 10 TO 30 YARD WIDE CHANNEL OF WATER THAT CAN
PULL EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER INTO DEEPER WATER.

 TO AVOID GETTING CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...SWIM AT GUARDED
BEACHES AND HEED THE ADVICE OF THE BEACH PATROL.  AT UNGUARDED
BEACHES AND NEAR PIERS...JETTIES...AND INLETS...DO NOT GO INTO THE
SURF MUCH ABOVE YOUR KNEES.

 IF CAUGHT IN THE SEAWARD PULL OF A RIP CURRENT...DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO MOVE DIRECTLY TOWARD SHORE.  INSTEAD...MOVE SIDEWAYS ACROSS THE
RIP CURRENT UNTIL THE PULL EASES.  ANOTHER METHOD OF ESCAPE IS TO
LET THE RIP CURRENT PULL YOU SEAWARD 50 TO 100 YARDS...WHERE THE
FORCE WEAKENS.  THEN...SWIM TOWARD THE BEACH AT AN ANGLE AWAY FROM
THE CURRENT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION TONIGHT...MAINTAINING ROBUST
TO STRONG WINDS ON THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH FRIDAY. THIS HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BRING SOME COLD WEATHER WITH FREEZING TEMPERATURES
OVER THE NATURE COAST EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. ANOTHER COLD FRONT
MOVES THROUGH SUNDAY WITH SHOWERS AND HAZARDOUS BOATING CONDITIONS
SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.

FLZ055>057-060>062-065-191600-
MANATEE-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-SARASOTA-DE SOTO-CHARLOTTE-LEE-
803 AM EST THU FEB 19 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

A COLD FRONT WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH GUSTY WINDS AS IT
MOVES ACROSS THE AREA TODAY.

...WIND AND SEA IMPACT...
ROBUST SOUTHWEST WINDS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT TO
NORTHWEST AS THE FRONT MOVES BY THIS AFTERNOON...SMALL SMALL
CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION THROUGH TONIGHT.

...RIP CURRENT IMPACT...
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY. GUSTY ONSHORE
WINDS WILL CREATE STRONG CURRENTS TODAY...ESPECIALLY ALONG PIERS
AND OTHER STRUCTURES.

A RIP CURRENT IS A 10 TO 30 YARD WIDE CHANNEL OF WATER THAT CAN
PULL EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER INTO DEEPER WATER.

 TO AVOID GETTING CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...SWIM AT GUARDED
BEACHES AND HEED THE ADVICE OF THE BEACH PATROL.  AT UNGUARDED
BEACHES AND NEAR PIERS...JETTIES...AND INLETS...DO NOT GO INTO THE
SURF MUCH ABOVE YOUR KNEES.

 IF CAUGHT IN THE SEAWARD PULL OF A RIP CURRENT...DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO MOVE DIRECTLY TOWARD SHORE.  INSTEAD...MOVE SIDEWAYS ACROSS THE
RIP CURRENT UNTIL THE PULL EASES.  ANOTHER METHOD OF ESCAPE IS TO
LET THE RIP CURRENT PULL YOU SEAWARD 50 TO 100 YARDS...WHERE THE
FORCE WEAKENS.  THEN...SWIM TOWARD THE BEACH AT AN ANGLE AWAY FROM
THE CURRENT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION TONIGHT...MAINTAINING ROBUST
TO STRONG WINDS ON THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH FRIDAY. THIS HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BRING SOME COLD WEATHER EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
ANOTHER COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH SUNDAY WITH SHOWERS AND HAZARDOUS
BOATING CONDITIONS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 19, 4:10 AM ESTFire Weather WatchTBWDeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Pinellas, Polk, Sumter10 hr
Feb 19, 4:10 AM ESTFire Weather WatchTBWDeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Polk, Sumter33 hr
Feb 19, 4:30 AM ESTFreeze WatchTBWSumter24 hr
Feb 19, 4:27 PM ESTSmall Craft AdvisoryTBW24 hr

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Florida, 2009Every red flag warning in 2009

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.