Remembering the Victims..

[Josephine96]

6 years ago tonight.. I was just going to sleep.. around 3 hours from now.. {around 1am eastern}.. I was awakened by a frieght train noise and soon panicking to get into my closet and that awful freight train sound..

A tornado had ripped through my neighborhood.. Nobody in my neighborhood was killed. But there were 25 people killed in my county alone and 42 people total.

42 were killed and nearly 300 injured in the worst tornado outbreak in the history of Florida, especially Central Florida.

There are still eyesores or remnants of the storms to this day and I nearly cry everytime I look at them..

God bless all the victims of the tornadoes and their families.. At this time 6 years ago, Lake County Florida was under the 1st warning of the evening. The warnings would continue till almost 4 am.

I would go on.. but then this 1 thread could take about an hour to write lol..

God Bless the victims.. and try to have a pleasant day Monday when remembering Central Florida's "night of the twisters"

[hurricanedude]

Said a silent prayer for all the ones lost, and the ones recovering!

[azskyman]

The memories of that night will continue for the rest of your life. We must always remember those lost in such tragedies, too.

[Josephine96]

God rest their souls Hurricane.. Thank you {sheds the tear silently at reminder of the twister}

[ColdFront77]

At this time 6 years ago, Lake County Florida was under the 1st warning of the evening. The warnings would continue till almost 4 am.

Oh boy, that would of been something if I were here in central Florida 27½ months earlier.

John, what area of Lake county were the warnings out for?

[Rainband]

I remember that day well. My aunt and uncle were a few miles away. God Bless all the victims and their family

[Josephine96]

Hey Tom.. The area the warnings were out for was..

the Lake Griffin Lady Lake area.. In fact.. Here is the warning itself

BULLLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
945 PM EST SUN FEB 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1050 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

...LAKE COUNTY

AT 945 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO APPROACHING
WILDWOOD IN SUMTER COUNTY. THE STORM CONTAINING THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN LAKE COUNTY NEAR LAKE GRIFFIN AND WILL MOVE ACROSS LADY LAKE AND EMERALD BETWEEN 955 AND 1015 PM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE
HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
THE SAFEST PLACE IS AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS.

As the warnings became more frequent the messages with the warnings became more frequent.. If you'd like me too.. I can paste some of the other warnings throughout the day... Including the 1 that made me start praying for my life..

[Josephine96]

At school today.. Me and a few friends had a moment of silence this afternoon for the victims..

God Bless their souls

[Josephine96]

Here's a copy of the warning that sent me running for cover.. Needless to say.. I was scared to death

ZCZC MIATORMLB ALL 230620
TTAA00 KMLB DDHHMM (230522)
FLC097-230620-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1222 AM EST MON FEB 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 120 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

...NORTHERN OSCEOLA COUNTY

AT 1218 AM EST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 8
MILES NORTHEAST OF LAKELAND MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST OSCEOLA COUNTY NEAR INTERCESSION CITY...KISSIMMEE...AND THE ATTRACTIONS AREA. THE STORM WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO SOUTHWEST ORANGE COUNTY.

A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN ORANGE COUNTY UNTIL 1240 AM. THIS WARNING MAY BE EXTENDED.

CARS AND MOBILE HOMES CAN BE TOSSED ABOUT BY TORNADO WINDS. DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR VEHICLE. ABANDON VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES WHEN THREATENED BY A TORNADO AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

SHARP

[ColdFront77]

Hey Tom.. The area the warnings were out for was..

the Lake Griffin Lady Lake area.. In fact.. Here is the warning itself

BULLLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
945 PM EST SUN FEB 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1050 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

...LAKE COUNTY

AT 945 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO APPROACHING
WILDWOOD IN SUMTER COUNTY. THE STORM CONTAINING THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN LAKE COUNTY NEAR LAKE GRIFFIN AND WILL MOVE ACROSS LADY LAKE AND EMERALD BETWEEN 955 AND 1015 PM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE
HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
THE SAFEST PLACE IS AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STRONG BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS.

As the warnings became more frequent the messages with the warnings became more frequent.. If you'd like me too.. I can paste some of the other warnings throughout the day... Including the 1 that made me start praying for my life..

Very interesting!! I am in the extreme northeast corner of Sumter county, in Lady Lake (The Villages)!!!

I'd like to experience some severe weather here in central Florida, but nothing as bad as that late night and early morning was.

[Josephine96]

You didn't wanna see what I looked like when I heard this warning..
{the one for Osceola}

The twister would actually pass through my neighborhood around 12:45

[Josephine96]

To close out the 6th anniversary.. I would just like to again say God Bless the victims

February 23rd 1998.. 1 of the saddest days in Florida's weather history will never be forgotten

[wx247]

John... I feel your pain. The wounds are fresh here in SW Missouri as well.

[Josephine96]

Hey Garrett>> It may have been 6 years ago.. but it sometimes seems like 6 days ago

[weatherlover427]

I lived in Central FL on that fateful night, it was some scary stuff looking all around and seeing nothing but constant pure white lightning filling the sky all around my house. My area escaped damage (Dr. Phillips area), but it sure rained like the dickens that night.

[Josephine96]

Hey Josh.. That was my closest near death experience I would say

[weatherlover427]

I know, it was definitely a freaky experience. Being that I love weather as much as I do, I remember my dad waking me up as the storms neared my house (which was on the western edge of the Orlando city limits, closer to Windermere and Ocoee). Not even 5 miles from where I lived is where one of the tornadoes rolled through. The rain's beating on our roof and gushing onto the sandy soil was so loud it sounded like a firehose had been aimed on it.

[Josephine96]

I remember that train sound and it was beyond deafening when my area got pummeled. Made me petrified

[weatherlover427]

We never got much wind, just some. But the lightning and rain was excessive. It started to flood the streets and stuff because it was coming down so hard. We were ready to duck into our center bathroom at any time however (we were also monitoring the radars as well).

[isobar]

What was also remarkable about this event was the strength of the tornadoes, unusual for FL. There were 13 tornadoes total and six were F3.

Here's a complete list: http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~storms

John, here's the detail of the tornado that went through your neighborhood: http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~351949
That one was the worst of them all.