EF3 Tornado — Glades, Florida

2024-10-09 · near Moore Haven, Glades, Florida

Event narrative

A severe tornado was initially observed in images captured over the western Lake

Okeechobee littoral shelf from the Harney Pond WeatherSTEM camera around 1:30 PM

EST in Glades County. 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 1:35 PM EST. 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 chassis 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. Damage from multiple vortices 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 proceeded north-northwest to the east of the Harney Pond Canal into the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. A tornadic debris signature was detectable on the Miami radar at 1:48 PM EST as the tornado entered the southern

limits of the reservation. As the tornado continued north-northwest, 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 1:49 PM EST. The Miami radar continue to detect a tornadic debris signature through 1:50 PM EST as the storm moved north along Reservation Road. The tornado was rated as a violent EF-3 that at peak produced an estimated 140 mph wind in the Sarasota Colony neighborhood of Glades County. In total, 54 structures were damaged, with 27 uninhabitable and considered destroyed. There were three people injured and no fatalities. Damage dollar amount is estimated.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.8878, -81.0381)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220026. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.