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EF0 tornado in Okeechobee County, Florida

Tornado June 1, 2012 · Okeechobee County, Florida

EF0

Rating

0.9 mi

Path length

20 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 20 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

A brief tornado with estimated winds of 55 to 65 mph, or weak EF-0 strength, touched down in a rural, un-populated area east of U.S. Highway 441 and north of Highway 70, to the northeast of Okeechobee town. The touchdown was confirmed several days after it occurred, when the Florida Forest Service flew along the radar-based track of the storm. Sporadic wind damage was found along the storm track, consisting of isolated debris and vegetation blown-downs.

The wider storm

A band of heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms developed ahead of an upper trough which moved through east central Florida during the day. One storm acquired rotation during the afternoon hours and produced a short-lived tornado in a rural area. A funnel cloud was also spotted in association with the storm shortly thereafter.

Began near North Okeechobee (27.2902, -80.7899).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 377993. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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