F1 Tornado — Lee, Florida

2000-09-17 · near Sanibel, Lee, Florida

Event narrative

A fast moving tornado, on the low end of the F1 scale, associated with an outer band of hurricane Gordon, touched down along East Gulf Drive, two miles east of Sanibel on Sanibel Island, and caused extensive damage to two condominium complexes, two dozen nearby homes and lanais. The tornado moved north northwest and sporadically touched down along rural County Road 767 on Pine Island in western Lee county. The tornado damaged the roofs of a few homes, carports and toppled or snapped palm trees along it's path. The tornado lifted and dissipated near Bokeelia on the north side of Pine Island. Residents in the path of the tornado in Sanibel indicated that they heard the sound of roaring train and their ears felt an air pressure change as it passed overhead.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.4500, -81.9833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5157963. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.