Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Tampa Bay Area, FL
Issued by NWS Tampa Bay Area, FL
945 NOUS42 KTBW 162108 CCA PNSTBW FLZ043-050-052-056-057-061-139-142-148-149-151-155-160-162-165- 239-242-248-249-251-255-260-262-265-170900- Public Information Statement...CORRECTED National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL 508 PM EDT Wed Oct 16 2024 ...NWS Damage Survey for Hurricane Milton Tornado Event - New and Updated Tracks... .Update...Some of the Highlands County tracks were adjusted to include new information. Two new tracks from Lee County are also included in this summary. Path Widths for new tracks corrected. .Overview... Several tornadoes embedded within rainbands associated with Hurricane Milton affected parts of the area as it approached. These are preliminary findings for the areas that have been surveyed, with future updates expected as additional information from across the area is received and reviewed. .Matlacha Tornado... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 105 mph Path Length /statute/: 0.91 miles Path Width /maximum/: 100 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 11:54 AM EDT Start Location: 3 ENE Pine Island / Lee County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.6281 / -82.0679 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 11:56 AM EDT End Location: 3 NE Pine Island / Lee County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.6394 / -82.0753 Survey Summary: A waterspout moved onshore over the Matlacha area, causing roof and siding damage to several homes along the track. The worst of the damage was to two homes, one where half of the roof was ripped off, and the other was a mobile home that had half the roof ripped off and walls collapse under it. The tornado moved back over the water and dissipated. .Fort Myers Tornado... Rating: EF2 Estimated Peak Wind: 116 mph Path Length /statute/: 2.31 miles Path Width /maximum/: 500 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 12:15 PM EDT Start Location: 1 WNW Page Field Airport / Lee County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 26.5931 / -81.8776 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 12:20 PM EDT End Location: 2 WSW Fort Myers / Lee County / FL End Lat/Lon: 26.6258 / -81.8862 Survey Summary: Tornado estimated to have begun a few blocks to the south of Colonial Blvd. with some scattered tree and minor roof damage. The strongest damage was then noted to the north-northwest across Colonial Blvd. along Orangewood Ave. where a large portion of a roof was torn off of a home and the block wall in the garage area collapsed. Roof damage was also noted across the street from this point, but was already being repaired. The track continued to the north-northwest across the Fort Myers Country Club, with snapped and uprooted trees noted along the track as well as other minor to moderate damage to homes, then lifted near the Caloosahatchee River. .Wild Island - Lorida Tornado... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 105 mph Path Length /statute/: 6.83 miles Path Width /maximum/: 500 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 12:37 PM EDT Start Location: 3 E Lake Istokpoga / Highlands County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.362 / -81.205 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 12:50 PM EDT End Location: 1 ENE Lorida / Highlands County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.4556 / -81.2414 Survey Summary: Tornado estimated to have begun over rural area south of Wild Island and county road 621 in conjunction with robust reflectivity and velocity signatures via the distant KTBW radar. Social media pictures and videos of the tornado emerged shortly thereafter of the tornado passing near Wild Island while tracking north-northwest. The tornado continued over mostly rural countryside for another approximately five miles with additional pictures and videos capturing it along its track, and a TDS became apparent at a height up to around six thousand feet as the circulation neared Hacienda Drive, about a mile before crossing U.S. Highway 98 east of Lorida, where several power poles and pine trees were snapped. Continuing north-northwest, the tornado then tracked across Bluff Hammock Rd where eyewitnesses reported its passage, and then North Lake Drive, where it peeled off large metal roof panels of an outbuilding and buckled its doors, before a weakening radar signature suggested the tornado likely weakened and dissipated. .Lake Placid Tornado... Rating: EF2 Estimated Peak Wind: 130 mph Path Length /statute/: 2.87 miles Path Width /maximum/: 300 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 1 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:13 PM EDT Start Location: 2 ENE Lake Placid / Highlands County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.3052 / -81.342 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:20 PM EDT End Location: 3 N Lake Placid / Highlands County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.3409 / -81.3653 Survey Summary: Tornado estimated to have begun near the southeastern shore of Lake Clay before moving north-northwest across the lake and entering the Tropical Harbor Mobile Home community situated along the northern shore of the lake. Approximately 20 to 30 units suffered damage, primarily consisting of carports being peeled off or removed, along with various degrees of roof, carport and patio damage. A few units suffered partial wall collapses as a result of the roof being compromised, with 1 injury as a result when a woman sheltering inside her bedroom was injured by a collapsing exterior wall. One unit was found to have been displaced approximately one foot off its supports, along with its roof mostly removed and a few walls collapsed. A number of large limbs were felled in the community as well. The tornado continued to track north-northwest across unpopulated areas beyond the mobile home park, then across a solar farm, before likely dissipating near the southern shore of Lake Apthorpe. .Venus Tornado... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 105 mph Path Length /statute/: 0.59 miles Path Width /maximum/: 100 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:30 PM EDT Start Location: Venus / Highlands County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.0669 / -81.3474 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:32 PM EDT End Location: 1 N Venus / Highlands County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.0754 / -81.3464 Survey Summary: Tornado damage was first observed near the intersection of County Rd 731 and Alphonso Lane, where several hardwood oaks had large branches snapped along a with a home with roof and garage damage. The track continued north along Alphonso Lane producing roof damage to an additional home and shed, while snapping several pine trees and uprooting a few palm trees. A small storage structure was destroyed and multiple long trailers, a large pickup truck and horse trailer were overturned at one residence, while another had a speedboat knocked into it after being blown off its trailer. Another residence had a RV moved about 100 yards from a carport, with an ATV at the location flipped. The damage path continued north for another quarter-mile, snapping two large oak trees near the trunk before becoming difficult to discern thereafter, with the tornado estimated to have dissipated. .Archbold Tornado... Rating: EF1 Estimated Peak Wind: 105 mph Path Length /statute/: 0.47 miles Path Width /maximum/: 100 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:42 PM EDT Start Location: 1 S Archbold / Highlands County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.177 / -81.3519 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:44 PM EDT End Location: Archbold / Highlands County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.1837 / -81.3535 Survey Summary: Tornado is from the same cell that moved over Venus, but no known damage indicators between the points to indicate a continuous path. Half of the roof was torn off of the Archbold COOP Station building, with some minor damage to the roof of a nearby building. Trees and open fields surround the property, with the start of the track estimated, and the rotation weakening on radar shortly thereafter before reaching Lake Annie and SR 70 to the north. .Avon Park Tornado... Rating: EF0 Estimated Peak Wind: 85 mph Path Length /statute/: 0.57 miles Path Width /maximum/: 75 yards Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Start Date: 10/09/2024 Start Time: 02:47 PM EDT Start Location: 1 SW Avon Park / Highlands County / FL Start Lat/Lon: 27.588 / -81.5156 End Date: 10/09/2024 End Time: 02:48 PM EDT End Location: 1 NE Avon Park Executive Airport / Highlands County / FL End Lat/Lon: 27.596 / -81.5177 Survey Summary: Tornado damage was first noted to Oak Tree Inn along U.S. Hwy 27 where portions of its roof were blown off and deposited in an area of trees to its rear. Large tree limbs were also snapped in the vicinity. An intermittent damage path continued off to the north-northwest west of U.S. Hwy 27 where two single-wide trailers along S Hart Avenue suffered awning damage while a piece of large metal roofing of unknown origin had been deposited between them. The final damage point presumed to have been associated with the tornado was several large oak branches snapped near State Route 64/W Main Street, with the tornado dissipating thereafter. && 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. $$