Tornado, Polk
- When
- April 30, 7:48 AM EST to 8:16 AM EST
- Where
- Polk County, Frostproof to 1 mi NE of Frostproof
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 11 mi
- Path width
- 15 yd
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 27.750, -81.520
Tornado in Florida, April 30, 1996
A weak tornado sporatically touched down over rural semi-wooded farm land of eastern Polk county. The first touchdown leveled several large trees one mile northeast of Frostproof.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
A weak tornado sporatically touched down over rural semi-wooded farm land of eastern Polk county. The first touchdown leveled several large trees one mile northeast of Frostproof. A second touchdown occurred along Walk-In-The-Water Road, one-half mile south of State Road 60, where it removed the tin roofs of several sheds, snapped a few power poles and downed several large oak and pine trees. Most of the downed trees were either snapped half-way up from the base or uprooted.The weak tornado cross State Road 60 and briefly touched down near Tiger Lake where it downed a few large trees and then lifted and dissipated.
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:48 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Florida, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, April 30, 1996
- High Wind in New York, April 30, 1996
- High Wind in West Virginia, April 30, 1996
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, April 30, 1996
- Tornado in Florida, April 30, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, April 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, April 30, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 1996Warnings in Florida, April 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5573828.