EF1 Tornado — Indian River, Florida

2024-10-09 · near Vero Beach, Indian River, Florida

Event narrative

This tornado, the second of two to impact downtown Vero Beach, started on the west side of the tracks in Vero Beach South where a few instances of vegetative damage were noted. The circulation strengthened as it continued north along the tracks where more significant damage was noted to trees and structures between 20th St (SR 60) and the Vero Beach airport, coincident with wind gusts up to 100 mph.

Several businesses suffered extensive roof loss and numerous trees were uprooted. Additionally, a large metal warehouse shifted off its foundation as its walls and roof collapsed near the train tracks at 19th Pl. The tornado continued north toward the Vero Beach Airport where dual-polarimetric radar data suggests the circulation quickly weakened as it approached Gifford.

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 → (27.6233, -80.3957)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220140. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.