Tornado in Florida, October 27, 1997

Name: Tornado in Florida, October 27, 1997
Start: 1997-10-27T08:42
End: 1997-10-27T08:51
Location: Florida

October 27, 1997 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 4
Property damage: $4.5 million
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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Pinellas

When: October 27, 8:42 AM EST to 8:51 AM EST
Where: Pinellas County, Indian Rocks Beach to Clearwater
Rating: F1
Path length: 9.5 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $4.5 million
Coordinates: 27.870, -82.850

A tornado touched down near State Road 699 (Gulf Boulevard) and 6th Avenue, moved northeast and dissipated near the intersection of County Road 590 and Old Coachman Road. The tornado left thousands of electrical customers without power, knocked down numerous trees, caused several roofs to collapse and shattered windows from Indian Rocks Beach northeast through Largo and primarily in Clearwater.Damage from the tornado totalled $4.5 million dollars. From Indian Rocks Beach, through Largo to Clearwater, 190 buildings received damage from the tornado. Four million dollars of the damage occurred to properties in Clearwater, $300,000 in Indian Rocks Beach, and $200,000 in Largo.The tornado caused major damage to 19 homes while another 135 suffered minor damage. Sixteen apartment buildings incurred major damage while ten others suffered minor damage from the tornadic wind. Also, eleven businesses and a high school gym in Clearwater suffered minor to moderate damage.

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

Every storm in Florida in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Florida, 1997 Warnings in Florida, October 1997

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: 5620430.