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EF0 tornado in Okaloosa County, Florida

Tornado June 21, 2017 · Okaloosa County, Florida

EF0
Rating
2.5 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
$40K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

The EF-0 tornado first touched down near Hollywood Blvd NE and tracked two and a half miles northeast, ending near the Falcon House Apartments. The path was non continuous and at times the only visible damage was at tree top level. The tornado produced roof damage to a couple of homes, along with damage to oak and pine trees. The tornado was near its strongest point as it moved over Ferry Park and produced damage at a baseball field. Damage values are estimated.

The wider storm

Tropical Storm Cindy first developed in the central Gulf of Mexico on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20th and made landfall between Cameron, LA and Port Arthur, TX during the early morning hours of Thursday, June 22nd. Despite the center of the storm being far removed from the north central Gulf Coast, the effects of Cindy extended several hundred miles to the east of the center and impacted the local area starting late Tuesday and persisting through the end of the week.

The primary impact across the western Florida Panhandle was from heavy rain and flooding. Storm total rainfall ranged from 5 to 10 inches across much of the western Florida Panhandle. The top rainfall report was from NAS Whiting Field which measured 9.46 inches. Based on radar estimates, up to a foot of rain likely fell in parts of eastern Santa Rosa County, but there were no gauge reports available from that area. The heavy rain resulted in periods of flash flooding.

Minor coastal flooding was observed, particularly on Highway 399 in Santa Rosa County. Maximum inundation was just above 2 feet MHHW based on the Pensacola Bay tidal gauge.

One EF-0 tornado occurred in southern Okaloosa County.

Began near Shalimar (30.4122, -86.5920).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 709895. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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