EF3 Tornado — Lake, Florida

2007-02-02 · near Lady Lake, Lake, Florida

Event narrative

The the tornado that moved out of Sumter County, crossed into Lake County just west of Lady Lake. The one quarter mile wide, F3 tornado moved across the Lady Lake area killing 8 people and injuring 10. The tornado damaged 180 residences and destroyed 101. All of the fatalities were in mobile homes. Moving east northeast at 50 MPH, the tornado lifted near Emrald Marsh Lake.

Wider weather episode

A series of powerful tornadoes swept across Sumter, Lake and Volusia counties during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. A discontinuous swath of tornado damage was observed from near Wildwood in Sumter County to the town of Lady Lake (Lake County) to New Smyrna Beach (Volusia County). This was a distance of over 70 miles. A total of 21 fatalities occurred within Lake County. Central Florida was located in the warm sector ahead of an advancing cold front. Large scale lift was supported by a very strong jet aloft, with strong vertical shear. Instability increased overnight with temperatures and dew points increasing through the pre-dawn hours. A single long-tracked supercell thunderstorm traveled from Sumter County to the coastal waters of Volusia County during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. Three tornadoes touched down along this track.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (28.8942, -81.9494)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 18948. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.