EF0 tornado — Bay County, Florida

EF0 tornado in Bay County, Florida

Tornado February 15, 2021 · Bay County, Florida

EF0

Rating

1.3 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

$5K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 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 EF0 tornado came onshore just west of Pier Park shortly after 2pm CT on February 15th. Minor damage to structures near the beach was noted, along with damage to poles, bleachers, and fencing at Frank Brown Park before the tornado dissipated. The tornado is estimated to have had peak winds around 85 mph and less than 50 yards wide. Additional damage to the east of the path was likely due to damaging straight line winds from the rear flank downdraft of the parent supercell. Winds in this area may have been as high as 80 mph.

The wider storm

A strong cold front moved through the area during the afternoon hours of Feb 15th. The airmass ahead of the front was relatively unstable, and shear was very strong. The result was a round of strong to severe storms across the tri-state area with damaging winds and a few tornadoes, including a strong EF2 tornado in Early county, GA.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 942831. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

EF0 tornado in Bay County, Florida

What the National Weather Service wrote

The wider storm

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address