Tornado, Lee
- When
- July 15, 3:19 PM EST to 3:34 PM EST
- Where
- Lee County, Cape Coral
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 5 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 26.600, -81.970
Tornado in Florida, July 15, 1996
A tornado touched down in extreme south Cape Coral and caused minor roof damage to 92 homes, uprooted a few large trees and damaged a few screened porches. The initial touchdown occurred in the vicinity of Pelican Blvd.
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
- 2
- Property damage
- $250,000
- 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 tornado touched down in extreme south Cape Coral and caused minor roof damage to 92 homes, uprooted a few large trees and damaged a few screened porches. The initial touchdown occurred in the vicinity of Pelican Blvd. and 53rd Terrace then traveled west, slightly north of the El Dorado Parkway, in a heavily populated area of Cape Coral. The tornado lifted and dissipated near 27th Place and 52nd Lane. Residents affected by the tornado stated that it sounded like a jet aircraft revving its engines.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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 Virginia, July 15, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 15, 1996
- Tornado in Virginia, July 15, 1996
- Tornado in Virginia, July 15, 1996
- Flash Flood in Nevada, July 15, 1996
- Tornado in New York, July 15, 1996
- Tornado in New York, July 15, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 15, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 15, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Maryland, July 15, 1996
- Strong Wind in New York, July 15, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 15, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 1996Warnings in Florida, July 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5571046.