EF1 tornado in Marion County, Florida

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved east across Marion county early Saturday morning, March 12th. A tornado touched down in Dunnellon where a large billboard was knocked over and siding was peeled off of a small professional building. Trees were damaged, snapped and uprooted. The next concentration of damage was reported on the south and east sides of Ocala where many trees were blown down and/or uprooted. Powerlines were blown down and numerous residences and an apartment building had damage. Damage in Ocala concentrated near SW 44th Court where some structural damage occurred and tree and powerline damage occurred. Another damaged local was near SW 41st Street near the Paddock Park Apartments where extensive roof damage occurred due to a large tree falling on the building. The county had to open an emergency shelter to house about 6 people displaced from the tornado. The peak winds of the tornado were estimated near 110 mph.

Strong to severe storms moved across the local area during the early morning hours ahead of a potent cold front. Severe storms with wind gusts of 50-60 mph and tornadoes moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico and tracked south of the I-10 corridor across NE Florida. Two EF1 tornadoes occurred, one in Marion county then another Putnam county between 8 am and 915 am. Strong pressure rises trailed the front during the late morning which caused high non-thunderstorm wind gusts of 40-55 mph into the afternoon.