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EF2 tornado in Palm Beach County, Florida

Tornado August 19, 2008 · Palm Beach County, Florida

EF2
Rating
2.7 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$1.2M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

Tornado moved through a number of Equine Farms and Polo Grounds as well as two subdivisions in Wellington. Worst damage was to Palm Beach Equine Clinic, 13125 Southfield Road, where roofs were blown off of stables, power poles snapped, and many trees down in criss-crossing patterns. The Equine Veterinary roof was more than 95 percent detiled, a heavy trailer was tossed about 40 yards from its previous location northwest of the International Polo Club, and an apartment home roof near Folkstone Circle was about 70 percent detiled. Maximum estimated wind speed was around 115 MPH. Most of the track was around 70 to 80 yards wide, but at the widest point the tornado was around 100 yards in width.

The wider storm

Tropical Storm Fay affected South Florida on the 18th and 19th of August. The storm made landfall early in the morning of the 19th near Cape Romano, and moved over inland sections of South Florida during the morning and afternoon hours of the 19th, exiting the area near Lake Okeechobee. Fay caused tropical storm force winds, significant rainfall flooding in some areas, as well as two confirmed tornadoes.

Began near Wellington (26.6241, -80.2348).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 132067. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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