EF1 Tornado — Osceola, Florida

2024-10-09 · near Kenansville, Osceola, Florida

Event narrative

Based on KMLB dual-polarimetric radar, the tornado began nearly 5.5 miles northeast of Kenansville and remained on the ground as it moved north over unpopulated portions of Osceola County. The tornado intersected portions of the Deseret and Escondido ranches where numerous pine and oak trees were both snapped and uprooted. Additionally, a well-constructed barn on the Escondido Ranch was destroyed. Based on radar data, the tornado likely peaked in intensity as it was moving through this area with peak winds of up to 100 mph.

An additional report of the tornado came from a public video along US-192 some 5.5 miles east of Holopaw at around 3:53 PM. At this location, a rain-wrapped tornado can be seen crossing the highway. In this video, limbs were seen falling from the trees and lightweight debris was seen flying through the air. Based on this limited accounting, the tornado had likely weakened to an EF-0 with peak winds of 60 to 65 mph. Radar analysis indicates the tornado curved westward north of US-192 before dissipating north of Holopaw.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Milton moved ashore the west-central Florida coast as a category 3 hurricane on Oct 9 around 1930EST. The system continued slowly in an east-northeast trajectory across central Florida, becoming a category 1 hurricane before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral. The outer rainbands of Milton overspread the Florida peninsula earlier in the day, leading to a prolific tornado outbreak across Okeechobee, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Osceola and Brevard counties with over 19 confirmed tornadoes within a 4-hour period. Milton's slow forward motion produced very heavy rainfall, with significant urban and street flooding particularly near and north of the center's track, as well as a significant river flood event along the St. Johns. Considerable tree damage and some structural damage occurred due to the system's tropical storm force winds, and hurricane force wind gusts, particularly near and north of the track of the center.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (27.9235, -80.9162)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220138. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.