Damage from an EF3 tornado at Lady Lake on February 2, 2007
Florida has a higher frequency of tornadoes per 10,000 sq mi (26,000 km2) than any other U.S. state, and also sees more than any other state in the Southeastern United States. Tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, though they tend to be less common in November, and tend to happen the most in June. Violent (E/F4+) tornadoes are very rare in Florida, though intense (E/F3+) ones have occurred in nearly every month of the year. The state can experience deadly tornado outbreaks, some from squall lines, from isolated local summer thunderstorms, or from tropical cyclones.[1] Florida experiences between 45–60 tornadoes per year on average, most of which are weak, ephemeral, and narrow, causing a few deaths—fewer than their incidence or state population would imply;[2][3] only 0.7% attain full violence, compared to 2.7% in Tornado Alley.[4] The interior southern two-thirds of the state are thinly peopled, making undercounts possible, and pre-1950 data are often unreliable.[5] Tornadoes form statewide but frequent the Tampa Bay–Fort Myers area, the coastal western panhandle, and portions of the state's Atlantic coast,[1] often originating as waterspouts associated with squall lines.[6]Outbreaks usually begin in the morning on the peninsula,[7] accounting for over 60% of casualties, and typically arise between March and May.[a][12] Cumulatively, most casualties in Florida roughly center on Interstate 4, between Daytona Beach and Tampa,[13] a region that sports a high density of mobile homes.[b][15]El Niño–Southern Oscillation modulates wintertime weather in Florida,[c] affecting the track and regularity of extratropical cyclones, frontal passages, and storminess,[16][17] all of which correlate with severe outbreaks. Strong El Niño events in 1958, 1966, 1982–83, and 1997–98 were tied to major outbreaks, two of which sparked the only known E/F4+ Florida tornadoes.[18] Nontropical storms yield Florida's deadliest outbreaks, yet tropical and "hybrid" cyclones produce more killer tornadoes;[8][19] tropical systems in Florida only engender a minority of E/F3+ twisters,[4] while tending to spawn tornadoes to the right and ahead of their tracks.[20]
The deadliest Florida tornado on record, this was initially rated F4 by the National Weather Service in Melbourne, but lowered to a high-end F3. It struck the Ponderosa Pines RV Park near Kissimmee at 12:50 a.m. EST (06:50 UTC), killing 10 people and leveling the entire park. It also hit the nearby Morningside Acres trailer park, where more deaths took place. It then extensively damaged a neighboring subdivision, hitting a school and up to 400 homes; well-built homes were nearly leveled. In Osceola County it destroyed or severely damaged a strip mall, 30 businesses, 15 recreational vehicles, 200 trailers, and 150 homes, with losses of $37 million. It tracked for 38 mi (61 km) and was up to 250 yd (230 m) wide.[21]
An intense tornado wrecked 75 small homes, some of which it swept away, and felled a 350-foot (110 m) microwave tower. It also damaged 200 other buildings and homes. It tossed automobiles and trailers hundreds of feet. It caused single deaths in 10 or more homes, killing a woman and her three children in another. It critically injured 80 people, tracked for 6.9–8 mi (11.1–12.9 km), and was 200–440 yd (180–400 m) wide. Losses totaled $11⁄2–$21⁄2 million (1962 USD).[22]
A tornado tracked through portions of Sanford, afflicting 625 structures to varying degrees. All known deaths were in trailers. The tornado lasted 16 mi (26 km) and was 200 yd (180 m) wide.[23][24]
A tornado hit Lake Mack, damaging 144 homes and tearing apart 86, including many trailers. Entering Volusia County, it damaged 277 more homes, wrecked 106, and badly damaged many businesses in DeLand. All fatalities were in mobile homes near Lake Mack, and bark was stripped off large trees in the path. The tornado tracked 26.03 mi (41.89 km) and was 450 yd (410 m) wide.[25]
An intense tornado destroyed 200 homes and damaged 1,145 others in Sumter County. At Lady Lake, Lake County, it wrecked 101 homes, damaged 180 others, and leveled a church. All deaths occurred in trailers at Lady Lake, and large trees were shorn of their bark and reduced to stubs. The tornado tracked 16.17 mi (26.02 km) and was 450 yd (410 m) wide.[26]
^An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. On the Florida peninsula, an outbreak consists of at least four tornadoes occurring relatively synchronously—no more than four hours apart.[8][9]Outbreak sequences, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, are defined as periods of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.[10][11]
^Most Florida deaths take place in mobile homes.[14]
^Florida winter equates to the November–April dry season.[16]
"Kissimmee Photos". NWS WFO Melbourne, Florida. Melbourne, Florida: National Weather Service. August 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
— (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN1-879362-03-1.
