west central fla nws statement

[southerngreen]

F.Y.I.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tbw/html/tbw/

..NEW INFORMATION...
THE TORNADO THREAT WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA
SOUTHWARD THIS EVENING AS INCREASING LOW AND MID LEVEL ROTATION
COMBINES WITH THE APPROACH OF FEEDER BANDS. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN
EFFECT FOR ALL OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA FROM CITRUS COUNTY SOUTHWARD
UNTIL 1 AM. THE GREATEST THREAT WILL BE AFTER 6 PM IN MOST AREAS...
ESPECIALLY FROM THE TAMPA BAY METRO AREA TO LAKELAND AND POINTS
SOUTH. ANY TORNADOES WILL BE FAST MOVING...BUT COULD CONTAIN WIND
GUSTS IN THE F-1 RANGE...73 TO 112 MPH.

...AREAS AFFECTED...
THIS STATEMENT IS FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA

...WATCHES AND WARNINGS...
A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTLINE AND TIDAL
SHORELINES OF LEE...CHARLOTTE...DESOTO...AND SARASOTA COUNTIES.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NON COASTAL OR NON TIDAL
LOCATIONS OF LEE...CHARLOTTE...DESOTO...HARDEE...HIGHLANDS AND
SARASOTA COUNTIES.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTLINE AND TIDAL
SHORELINES OF MANATEE...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH...PASCO...HERNANDO
CITRUS AND LEVY COUNTIES.

AN INLAND TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NON COASTAL OR
NON TIDAL LOCATIONS OF MANATEE...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH...POLK...
PASCO...HERNANDO...CITRUS...SUMTER AND LEVY COUNTIES.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CHARLOTTE AND LEE COUNTIES
THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.

...STORM INFORMATION...
AT 5 PM EDT...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 23.5 NORTH...LONGITUDE 84.9 WEST OR ABOUT 285 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF FORT MYERS AND 345 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TAMPA.
WILMA WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 11 MPH...AND A GRADUAL
INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED WILL BEGIN LATER THIS EVENING.

...WIND IMPACTS...

DANGEROUS WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY IN
LEE COUNTY AND POSSIBLY CHARLOTTE...DESOTO...AND HIGHLANDS COUNTY

WINDS WILL RAPIDLY INCREASE TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE IN THE
COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN 9 PM AND MIDNIGHT SOUTH OF ENGLEWOOD...AND
BETWEEN 11 PM AND 2 AM SOUTH OF TARPON SPRINGS. THE LATEST TRACK
WILL BRING TROPICAL STORM FORCE GUSTS ONSHORE IN LEE AND CHARLOTTE
COUNTIES AROUND MIDNIGHT...WITH SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
AND HURRICANE FORCE GUSTS IN SQUALLS BY 3 AM. A BRIEF PERIOD OF
SUSTAINED HURRICANE FORCE WINDS...75 TO 80 MPH...IS EXPECTED
BETWEEN 6 AND 9 AM. BECAUSE WILMA IS EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN AT
LEAST HIGH CATEGORY 2 STRENGTH WHILE ACCELERATING INLAND...GUSTS TO
100 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN STRONGER SQUALLS.

FARTHER NORTH IN THE HURRICANE AND INLAND HURRICANE WARNING AREAS...
SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WITH POSSIBLE HURRICANE FORCE
GUSTS SHOULD ARRIVE BY 4 AM...WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS...50 TO 65 MPH
WITH GUSTS OF 75 TO 85 MPH...BETWEEN 7 AND 10 AM...PERHAPS UP TO 11
AM IN HIGHLANDS COUNTY.

IN THE TAMPA BAY AREA AND POINTS NORTH THROUGH HERNANDO COUNTY...
TROPICAL STORM FORCE SUSTAINED WINDS SHOULD ARRIVE AROUND OR SOON
AFTER 5 AM...WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS...40 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO
65 MPH...EXPECTED BETWEEN 7 AND 11 AM.



http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT ... -loop.html

what a beautiful dance - will they meet somewhere later?

[SamSagnella]

I think it's stupid for the NWS of all people to even mention a Fujita Scale range to expect. While I will concede that most TC tornadoes are on the lower side (F0-F1) there have also been many documented cases of F2 or even F3 damage (there was an F3 in Louisiana with Rita). Don't think that all tornadoes are going to be weak because they won't.

[StormWarning1]

Their is already an existing tornado thread.

Do we really need another Central Florida thread to bury all the other threads?

[southerngreen]

yes, there is an existing thread, but every time i go there for "news" i have to read through pages of silly stuff and it's more like a chat room from kissimmee

i LIVE here & i want to know what's going on. you don't have to look at it if it doesn't concern you.

[linkerweather]

I think it's stupid for the NWS of all people to even mention a Fujita Scale range to expect. While I will concede that most TC tornadoes are on the lower side (F0-F1) there have also been many documented cases of F2 or even F3 damage (there was an F3 in Louisiana with Rita). Don't think that all tornadoes are going to be weak because they won't.

The local NWS office here was mentioned the fujita scale not to indicate the weakness or the tornadoes but actually the strength. The mentioned the winds between 70 and 110. This is to make a point that there is the possibility of winds within rotating storms to well exceed the generally forecasted TS winds. This s what they were talking about doing during a conference call earlier