Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Miami, FL
Issued by NWS Miami, FL
801 NOUS42 KMFL 152051 PNSMFL FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-160900- Public Information Statement National Weather Service Miami FL 451 PM EDT Tue Oct 15 2024 ...NWS Damage Survey for the Hurricane Milton Tornado Event - Update #3... .Update...This update includes all tornadoes recorded during Hurricane Milton on October 9th, 2024. This update also split the long track tornado from US-41 through Lakeport into 4 individual tornadoes from the same supercell. It was confirmed that the tornado was not continuous for the duration of the supercell. .Overview...A total of 15 tornadoes were documented, with multiple tornadoes being produced by the same supercell in some cases. The day ended with Glades and Palm Beach counties experiencing 4 tornadoes each and each county had a separate tornado with a peak intensity of EF-3 (Lakeport & Palm Beach Gardens). A total of 2 EF3`s, 6 EF1`s, 3 EF0`s, and 4 EFU`s. EFU`s are of unknown intensity as they were either confirmed with tornadic debris signatures and/or spotter photos/video, with no damage indicators present. .Florida City/Homestead... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 87 mph Path Length /statute/: 2.93 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 04:27 AM EDT Start Location: 2 WNW Florida City / Miami-Dade County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 25.4751 / -80.5144 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 04:40 AM EDT End Location: 3 SW Florida City / Miami-Dade County / FL End Lat/Lon: 25.4329 / -80.5207 Survey Summary: This was one of the first supercells that produced a tornado associated with Hurricane Milton. It was in a cluster of a few small supercells and produced a brief tornado that was able to attain EF 1 intensity. While the tornado never produced a tornadic debris signature, it did have a couple instances of gate to gate rotation. Most of the damage was characterized by light fence, tree, or yard damage. The worst damage was essentially abeam Florida City where several trees were reported down. .US 41/Tamiami Trail ... Rating: EF0 Estimated Peak Wind: 80 mph Path Length /statute/: 9.04 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 08:45 AM EDT Start Location: 4 SSW Fortymile Bend / Miami-Dade County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 25.7157 / -80.8679 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 08:49 AM EDT End Location: 2 ESE Dade-Collier Train / Miami-Dade County / FL End Lat/Lon: 25.8471 / -80.8679 Survey Summary: This was the first damage report associated with a long track supercell that would go on to produce 4 tornadoes from Tamiami Trail through Hendry and Glades counties, and one of the 2 tornadoes near Lakeport. While a discernible TDS was not noted with the storm at this point, a strong gate to gate signature was present in the area where damage was found during a survey. .Miccosukee... Rating: EFU Estimated Peak Wind: 0 mph Path Length /statute/: 13.52 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 09:42 AM EDT Start Location: 3 S Miccosukee Indian Reservation / Collier County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.1261 / -80.8774 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 10:06 AM EDT End Location: 4 ENE Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.3195 / -80.9145 Survey Summary: From the same storm that produced a brief tornado across US 41, a new tornado was first spotted southwest of the Miccosukee Rest Area on exit 49 along Interstate 75 just west of the Collier- Broward County line. Florida Department of Transportation traffic cameras and numerous public videos showed the progress of a large tornado across Interstate 75 and north-northwestward over rural portions of eastern Collier County to the west of Snake Road. The tornado was spotted entering the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation around 953 AM EDT. A video of a large tornado with debris aloft crossing Josie Billie Highway just east of Big Cypress Seminole Village at 959 AM EDT was also provided. .I-75 East... Rating: EFU Estimated Peak Wind: 0 mph Path Length /statute/: 4.68 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 10:04 AM EDT Start Location: 9 W Weston / Broward County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.1268 / -80.5309 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 10:15 AM EDT End Location: 11 WNW Weston / Broward County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.1921 / -80.5515 Survey Summary: Tornado captured on traffic camera and via storm chaser. No visible damage, area where tornado was on the ground inaccessible and unpopulated. .Clewiston... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 95 mph Path Length /statute/: 16.97 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 10:42 AM EDT Start Location: 4 E Moore Haven / / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.8212 / -81.0321 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 11:20 AM EDT End Location: 10 E Devils Garden / Hendry County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.5841 / -80.96340000000001 Survey Summary: The supercell that produced tornadoes further south near I-75 and US 41, a new tornado spawned and moved through rural portions of eastern Hendry County until it entered the City of Clewiston and moved across the area of the Sky Valley neighborhood around 1110 AM EDT. Public video and photo reports from the area around Clewiston Walmart show a large tornado with debris crossing Sugarland Highway/US 27 near Sky Valley. The tornado then dissipated as it entered sugarcane fields in southeastern Glades County. .Ortona... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 110 mph Path Length /statute/: 29.89 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 11:27 AM EDT Start Location: 8 SSE Devils Garden / Hendry County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.4952 / -81.1237 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 12:11 PM EDT End Location: 4 ESE Palmdale / Glades County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.9135 / -81.2528 Survey Summary: The storm that ended up producing this tornado took on supercellular characteristics as it exited Collier county and moved north into extreme southeast Hendry county around 11:00 AM. This storm did not have any eye witness reporting of a tornado, however the survey team was able to find scattered areas of utility pole damage. Coincident with one area of pole damage was a tornadic debris signature (TDS) as the tornado crossed SR 80 at the Hendry/Glades line. The TDS disspipated and the last damage was identified just south of Palmdale. .Belle Glade... Rating: EF0 Estimated Peak Wind: 74 mph Path Length /statute/: 15.53 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 11:40 AM EDT Start Location: 2 SSE Port Mayaca / / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.9531 / -80.615 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 12:08 PM EDT End Location: 5 NE Belle Glade / Palm Beach County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.7286 / -80.5906 Survey Summary: This tornado was spawned from a supercell that earlier produced a tornado near the I-75 and US 27 intersection in central Broward county. A storm chaser witnessed the initial touchdown of this tornado just south of US 98 before briefly lifting and then remaining on the ground for at least 10 minutes. The only damage indicator found with this tornado was just as it was about to exit Palm Beach county on the eastern edge of Lake Okeechobee between Sand Cut and Port Myaca. Damage to a large hardwood tree was used for the classification of this tornado. .Lakeport West Side... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 110 mph Path Length /statute/: 6.28 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 11:44 AM EDT Start Location: 3 WSW Brighton Seminole / Glades County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.0754 / -81.1119 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 11:59 AM EDT End Location: 3 ENE Lakeport / Glades County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.9874 / -81.0846 Survey Summary: From the same storm that produced tornadoes across the Everglades and Clewiston, a new tornado was spawned across the western portions of the lake where it was captured by the Harney Pond WeatherSTEM camera between 1135 AM EDT and 1144 AM EDT. The tornado emerged over the Herbert Hoover Dike and entered the Miller Drive/Friendship Drive neighborhood where it damaged several manufactured homes and vegation before crossing Florida State Road 78 and advancing down Click Drive where it damaged several manufactured homes, rolled an outbuilding off its foundation, and snapped a wooden utility pole at its base. Click Drive appeared to have some of the highest damage indicators attributable to building damage with this tornado damage survey. The tornado proceeded into fields to the west of the Harney Pond Canal before entering the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. Residents reported seeing the tornado to the west of the Harney Pond Canal from the embankment as it crossed several cattle pastures before entering the Red Barn area to the west of Brighton Seminole Village. Several mature hardwood trees were uprooted or suffered a loss of their crowns along Red Barn Road. The tornado likely dissipated as it crossed the canal or just after in the pastures to the north. NWS Miami would like to thank the Florida Department of Transportation, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, Collier County Emergency Management, Hendry County Emergency Management, the City of Clewiston, Glades County Emergency Management and the Seminole Tribe of Indians of Florida for their hospitality and assistance during the damage survey. .CR 833 North Side... Rating: EF0 Estimated Peak Wind: 60 mph Path Length /statute/: 1.28 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:15 PM EDT Start Location: 11 NW Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.4502 / -81.0533 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:17 PM EDT End Location: 11 SE Devils Garden / Hendry County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.4674 / -81.0454 Survey Summary: This was one of three brief touchdowns from a cluster of 3 supercells across interior Hendry county in the afternoon. Minor tree damage was noted during a storm survey and was time matched with a velocity couplet. .Wilson Way... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 102 mph Path Length /statute/: 1.26 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:19 PM EDT Start Location: 10 NW Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.4311 / -81.0388 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:21 PM EDT End Location: 10 NNW Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.444 / -81.0243 Survey Summary: This was one of three brief touchdowns from a cluster of 3 supercells across interior Hendry county in the afternoon. Damage to a large utility pole was noted along Wilson Way just west of CR 833 during a storm survey, and was time matched with a velocity couplet. .CR 833 South Side... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 107 mph Path Length /statute/: 1.74 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:21 PM EDT Start Location: 9 NNW Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.4335 / -81.0137 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:23 PM EDT End Location: 9 NW Big Cypress Semino / Hendry County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.419 / -81.0366 Survey Summary: This was one of three brief touchdowns from a cluster of 3 supercells across interior Hendry county in the afternoon. Minor tree damage was noted during a storm survey and was time matched with a velocity couplet. .Lakeport East Side... Rating: EF3 Estimated Peak Wind: 140 mph Path Length /statute/: 15.46 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:24 PM EDT Start Location: 5 NE Moore Haven / / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.8878 / -81.0381 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:42 PM EDT End Location: 2 NW Brighton Seminole / Glades County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.1086 / -81.0814 Survey Summary: This was a violent EF-3 tornado that at peak produced an estimated 140 mph wind in the Sarasota Colony neighborhood of Glades County. The earliest images of this tornado were captured over the western Lake Okeechobee littoral shelf from the Harney Pond WeatherSTEM camera around 230 PM EDT. The debris from the littoral shelf and associated vegetation was lofted in the air producing a tornadic debris signature detectable by the distant Miami radar by 235 PM EDT. The first observed property damage attributable to this tornado was in the Sarasota Colony neighborhood of Lakeport where the tornado demolished the second story dwellings of three well-built homes and then proceeded to cross Florida State Road 78 into the Fishermans Lane neighborhood where it destroyed the roofs and broke windows of 1920s-era Florida homes, lofted and tossed several manufactured homes and travel trailers, flipped a Ford Focus station wagon, and deposited debris over two blocks from their original location into the bottom of a retention pond behind the neighborhood. One manufactured home chasis was observed wrapped 15 to 20 feet above the ground around a hardwood tree located across the street from its original location with the contents of the home located in the pond almost 200 yards downstream. Three residents were injured while taking shelter in their homes. Damage from multiple vorticies was observed at this location including one swath that reached EF-1 intensity to the east of the main EF-3 damage path. The tornado then proceeded north-northwest to the east of the Harney Pond Canal into the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. A tornadic debris signature was detectable on Miami radar at 248 PM EDT as the tornado entered the southern limits of the reservation. As the tornado continued NNW, it damaged trees and pulled metal panels from roofing of assorted outbuildings from different homesteads on the south side of the reservation. The tornado entered the Brighton Seminole Village causing tree and chickee hut roof damage in the Knotts Landing neighborhood before moving into the Sports Complex where it demolished the spectator and dugout areas of some of the baseball fields. The tornado likely lifted behind one of the baseball fields around 249 PM EDT. Miami radar continue to detect a tornadic debris signature through 250 PM EDT as the storm moved north along Reservation Road. NWS Miami would like to thank Glades County Emergency Management and the Seminole Tribe of Indians of Florida for their hospitality and assistance during the damage survey. .US 98 West Side... Rating: EFU Estimated Peak Wind: 0 mph Path Length /statute/: 16.35 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:49 PM EDT Start Location: 6 W Lion Country Safari Park / Palm Beach County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.7294 / -80.4646 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 03:11 PM EDT End Location: 5 SE Indiantown / Martin County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.964 / -80.4241 Survey Summary: The cell responsible for this tornado began displaying supercellular characteristics as it exited Broward county near US 27. A storm chaser reported the tornado first touched down just north of US 98 and remained on the ground in excess of 10 minutes before it moved out of their sight. A tornadic debris signature (TDS) was noted as it moved north of SR-700 and was visible up to the Palm Beach/Martin county line. .US 98 East Side... Rating: EFU Estimated Peak Wind: 0 mph Path Length /statute/: 19.62 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 04:33 PM EDT Start Location: 5 WSW Lion Country Safari Park / Palm Beach County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.6907 / -80.4445 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 05:00 PM EDT End Location: 7 WNW Caloosa / Martin County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.9622 / -80.3477 Survey Summary: A storm chaser provided photographic evidence of a tornado on the ground with visible debris and reported watching the tornado move north as it crossed Southern Blvd. AMX radar then picked up a couple different TDS signatures with this supercell before it crossed into Martin county and moved east of Indiantown. .Palm Beach Gardens... Rating: EF3 Estimated Peak Wind: 140 mph Path Length /statute/: 28.95 miles Path Width /maximum/: 0 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 04:43 PM EDT Start Location: 9 SSW Wellington / Palm Beach County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.5555 / -80.3321 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 05:21 PM EDT End Location: 1 WNW Philo Farms / Palm Beach County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.9565 / -80.1913 Survey Summary: Considerable structural damage was observed over a large portion of this tornado track. The southernmost point of this survey is marked by a double wide mobile home on Deer Path Lane in the Rustic Ranches section of Wellington which was left practically unrecognizable, and rated an EF-3. The track continued NNE over the far western portion of Wellington, across the Lakefield West, Meadowwood, and Binks Forest communities, where EF-1 and EF-2 damage was noted to homes and trees. The tornado crossed Southern Boulevard/US 98, then continued NNE across Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage where EF-1 to isolated EF-2 damage was observed to homes, trees, and outbuildings. The tornado intensified as it approached Northlake Boulevard on the north end of The Acreage, then did its most considerable damage in the Avenir community of Palm Beach Gardens. At the beginning of this community, a large portion of the roof collapsed of a Publix supermarket building which was recently completed and set to open in the near future, and rated EF-3. Considerable structural damage rated EF-2 and EF-3, including heavy roof damage, impact-resistance windows which were shattered and blown in, vehicles lifted and moved at least 100 yards, was observed in the communities in Avenir. The tornado then moved just west but very close to North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport, where a wind gust of 92 mph from the SSW was measured at the AWOS around 510 PM. The tornado crossed Bee Line Highway/SR 710 where tree damage was observed, then entered Jupiter Farms where EF-1 to EF-2 damage was noted to trees, outbuildings, and power poles. Footage from a Florida Turnpike highway camera showed the tornado moving north past Jupiter Farms to the Martin County line, where it likely continued into Martin County. Path width was 200-300 yards for much of the track, with only a few places where the circulation may have briefly lifted. The radar circulation of the tornado was seen well south of Wellington in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and a video of the tornado was captured in this area from western Delray Beach. The track length indicated here is only for the surveyed portion, and if the track is extended southward to the refuge where the radar circulation suggested the tornado may have begun, then it would have exceeded 30 miles. NWS Miami would like to thank the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management, Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Office, and Palm Beach Gardens PD for their assistance in providing data and ground survey access. && EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories: EF0.....65 to 85 mph EF1.....86 to 110 mph EF2.....111 to 135 mph EF3.....136 to 165 mph EF4.....166 to 200 mph EF5.....>200 mph NOTE: The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the events and publication in NWS Storm Data. $$ MFL