Tornado in Florida, October 31, 1997

Name: Tornado in Florida, October 31, 1997
Start: 1997-10-31T14:15
End: 1997-10-31T14:25
Location: Florida

October 31, 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: 0
Property damage: $400,000
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.

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, Polk

When: October 31, 2:15 PM EST to 2:25 PM EST
Where: Polk County, Mulberry to 3 mi S of Lakeland
Rating: F1
Path length: 4 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Property damage: $400,000
Coordinates: 27.900, -82.030

A tornado touched down and damaged a warehouse distribution center, overturned two tractor trailers, tore down 100 feet of chain link fence and blew down several power poles along State Road 60 near County Road 676.The tornado touched down a second time and damaged several roofs of homes and downed trees and power poles at the Christina Grove subdivision near State Road 37 and County Road 540A before it lifted and dissipated.

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: 5620550.