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EF1 tornado in Glades County, Florida

Tornado October 9, 2024 · Glades County, Florida

EF1
Rating
17.0 mi
Whole path
50 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Hendry County → Glades County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

After a tornado moved through Clewiston and rural portions of eastern Hendry County, it entered sugarcane fields in southeastern Glades County around 10:11 AM EST. It traveled another 3.84 miles before dissipating at 10:10:20 AM EST. The tornado was rated as an EF-1, with a total path length of 16.97 miles, and an estimated maximum winds at 95 mph. There were trees and crops damaged across its path in Glades County.

The wider storm

Hurricane Milton became a Category 5 hurricane in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Monday, October 7th about 735 miles SW of Tampa while moving east-southeast, then turned east and northeast on Tuesday, October 8th while maintaining Category 4 and 5 strength. Milton's maximum winds decreased as it approached the Florida peninsula on Wednesday, October 9th, and made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and a minimum central pressure of 954 mb. The outer circulation of Milton began affecting South Florida late on October 8th, with sustained tropical storm force winds spreading across much of the region through the early morning hours of Thursday, October 10th.

A total of 15 tornadoes were recorded across South Florida on Wednesday, October 9th, two of these reaching EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Moderate to major coastal flooding occurred most of the Collier County coast, mainly on October 9th from late morning through the overnight. Inundation above ground was in the 2-4 foot range across much of the beach and bayfront locations across the county, with a maximum estimated inundation of near 5 feet in Chokoloskee. The tide level at the NOS gauge in Naples Bay near the city dock reached 5.08 ft above Mean Higher High Water (MHHW).

A total of 2,900 people evacuated to refuge centers in Collier County, and about 1,000 in Palm Beach County.

All of the associated effects of Milton in South Florida resulted in 10 injuries and at least $361 million in property damage. The 15 tornadoes associated with Milton resulted in 10 injuries and at least $81 million in damage, mainly in Palm Beach and Glades counties.

Began near Benbow (26.7706, -81.0061).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

13 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1219888. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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