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F1 tornado in Broward County, Florida

Tornado February 2, 1998 · Broward County, Florida

F1
Rating
21.0 mi
Whole path
200 yd
Path width
6
Injuries
$205.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Miami-dade County → Broward County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

At 2034 est the f1 tornadoes crossed the dade-broward counties line and damaged a strip shopping center in miramar. The multiple tornadoes moved across north perry airport at 2036 est where 40 aircraft were destroyed and 40 aircraft were damaged. The tornadoes weakened to f0-f1 intensity as they continued north-northeast damaging a shopping center in davie near orange rd/hiatus rd.

The wider storm

...a developing low pressure over the north gulf of mexico resulted in a tightening pressure gradient over south florida and adjacent waters. Southeast winds sustained at gale force with higher gusts occurred through most of 02/02/98. A pre-frontal trough of low pressure developed over the southeastern gulf of mexico early 02/02/98. This resulted in a highly unstable airmass which was lifted by strong mid and upper level jets by late afternoon. Tornado and severe thunderstorm producing storms moved through the florida keys between 1530And 1930 est. The thunderstorms moved over south florida between 1930 and 2130 est. The culmination of gail force winds...several severe thunderstorms and two tornadoes resulted in widespread damage in the florida keys. Trees...power lines and light poles were down most locations south of key largo. Some minor coastal flooding occurred. Boats were capsized and docks were damaged. A support buoy for an underwater lab was dislodged and drifted ashore. Fema reported one house completely destroyed and 23 homes damaged. Several businesses were damaged. Extensive damage occurred to the fishing industry primarilly loss of lobster traps.

Began near Miramar (25.8700, -80.3500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5634214. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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