Alert archive / Florida / Red Flag Warnings in 2026

Red Flag Warning 4, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

April 20, 202615 counties in Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this red flag warning at Apr 20, 2026, 1:56 PM EDT for 15 counties in Florida. It took effect at Apr 21, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 9 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
Apr 20, 2026, 1:56 PM EDT (17:56 UTC)
In effect from
Apr 21, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT
Expired
Apr 21, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL

Counties Charlotte County, FL, Citrus County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lee County, FL, Levy County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sarasota County, FL, Sumter County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:58 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, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 28 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 2026-04-20Temperature 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2026-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1016 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 2:30 AM EDTFire Weather WatchTBWCharlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough and 7 more11 hr
Apr 20, 2:30 AM EDTRed Flag WarningTBWLevy18 hr

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Florida, 2026Every red flag warning in 2026

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.