1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak

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The 1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak of February 22 - 23, 1998, was the deadliest tornado event in Florida history. Forty-two people were killed and 260 were injured; seven tornadoes were involved in the event. The previous record for the highest tornado death toll in Florida history was 17 on March 31, 1962.

The first tornado of the outbreak came at around 11:40 pm in Lake County, Florida. Three were killed in this tornado. The most notable tornado of the night was an F3 that hit in Kissimmee, where twenty five were killed. Another F3 hit in Seminole County, Florida, near Sanford and Volusia County, Florida, killing 13. The last tornado of the night hit in Brevard County, Florida.

Outbreak death toll
State Total County County
total
Florida 42 Lake 3
Osceola 25
Seminole 13
Volusia 1
Totals 42
All deaths were tornado-related

The tornadoes were strong due to an abnormally strong jet stream with warm, humid air out ahead of the cold front. This is common in the El Niño phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during the Florida dry season (November 1 - April 30).[1] During EL Nino the jet stream is typically stronger and further south near or over Florida in the winter and spring. This greatly increases the odds that conditions will be favorable for strong tornado development.[2]. The controversy surrounding this outbreak resulted from attempts to try to correlate specific tornadoes with El Nino. There are a number of reasons why a tornado may or may not occur, or be reported, that have nothing to do with Pacific SSTs. A better approach is to focus on the development of atmospheric conditions that might produce tornadoes and severe weather.[3]. A novel approach to enhancing El Nino preparedness in Florida is to concentrate on "Storminess" or the increase in extratropical cyclones effecting Florida that might spawn severe weather in El Nino dry seasons.[4] An experimental forecast of Florida storminess based on Pacific SST's has been developed.[5] Studies that look at yearly tornado reports and Pacific SST's show no relationship between El Niño and United States tornado activity and a weak relationship for Florida.[6]

Contents

[edit] Tornado table

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
12 4 3 2 3 0 0

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage
Alabama
F0 SW of Dothan Houston 1400 0.3 miles
(0.5 km)
Florida
F0 SW of Hollister Putnam 2045 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)
F1 Indialantic area Brevard 2220 1 miles
(1.6 km)
F0 Coleman area Sumter 0250 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 Daytona Beach area Volusia 2355 8 miles
(12.8 km)		 1 death
F3 S of Orange Mountain to Lockhart Lake, Orange 0437 18 miles
(28.8 km)		 3 deaths
F3 Longwood to N of Palm Shadows Seminole, Volusia 0510 16 miles
(25.6 km)		 13 deaths
F3 SW of Campbell to W of Port St. John Osceola, Orange 0540 28 miles
(44.8 km)		 25 deaths
F2 S of Creighton Volusia 0545 5 miles
(8 km)
F1 NE of Bellwood Brevard 0638 1 miles
(1.6 km)
F1 NE of Cape Canaveral Brevard 0730 1 miles
(1.6 km)
Georgia
F0 NE of Toledo Charlton 2205 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)
Source: Tornado History Project - February 22, 1998 Storm Data, Tornado History Project - February 23, 1998 Storm Data

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Development Of An Index Of Storminess As A Proxy For Seasonal Severe Storms
  2. ^ Significant Extratropical Tornado Occurrences in Florida During Strong El Nino and Strong La Nina Events
  3. ^ ENSO and Florida Dry and Wet Season storminess rainfall and severe weather predictability educational material
  4. ^ NWS Melbourne's El Nino Forecast for Florida
  5. ^ NWS Melbourne's El Nino Forecast for Florida
  6. ^ Schaefer/Tatom El Nino & tornadoes paper (19th SLSC)

[edit] External links