Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, February 22 to 23, 1998

The first tornado in a major tornado outbreak set down along Route 92 about 5 miles southwest of Daytona Beach. The category F2 tornado moved about 8 miles to the northeast passing over the junction of Interstate 95 and Interstate 4 and finally lifted in the south part of Daytona Beach west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Six hundred structures were damaged or destroyed. One person was killed in a mobile home and three others were injured.

The second tornado of the outbreak touched down in Lake County just east of Lake Louisa along Highway 27. It moved northeast at 45 mph through a rural area blowing down trees but otherwise causing little property damage. At 11:41 pm the tornado moved into Orange County.

The Lake County tornado moved into Orange County about 5 miles southwest of Winter Garden moving northeast at 45 mph. It rapidly intensified to a category F3 tornado with estimated winds near 200 mph. The tornado moved through Winter Garden between 11:47 pm and 11:55 pm destroying a mobile home community in Winter Garden. There were three fatalities and 70 injuries. Five hundred structures were either damaged or destroyed.

The Seminole County category F3 tornado was produced by the same supercell that produced the Winter Garden tornado. It initially set down near Longwood and moved northeast at 45 mph. The tornado passed through several neighborhhoods in the southeast portion of Sanford killing 12 people in mobile homes and injuring 70. It continued northeast and crossed into Volusia County 5 miles east of Sanford. The near 200 mph winds of the tornado damaged or destroy 625 structures.

The Sanford tornado crossed into Volusia County near Highway 46 and the St. Johns River where it killed a 53 year old man in a recreational vehicle at a fish camp. The tornado continued northeast for 2 miles and dissipated in a rural part of south Volusia County.

The deadliest tornado of the outbreak was a category F3 that touched down initially one mile south of Intercession City. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph and ripped through the town of Kissimmee killing 25 people. The hardest hit areas were the Morningside Acres mobile home community and the Ponderosa Recreational Vehicle Park. In all eight people were killed in recreational vehicles, fifteen in mobile homes and one in an automobile. The tornado continued northeast and moved into Orange County six miles north of St. Cloud. One hundred and fifty people were injured and over 1000 structures were damaged or destroyed.

The same supercell that produced the Sanford tornado produced an F2 tornado that touched down just west of Interstate 95 about 5 miles west of Oak Hill. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph blowing down trees destroying two barns and damaging 10 mobile homes and 2 houses. The tornado lifted at the town of Ariel at U.S. Highway 1.

The Kissimmee tornado moved into Orange County southeast of Orlando International Airport as a category F3. The tornado affected rural swampy areas, striking few structures except for lakeside neighborhoods on the shores of Lake Hart and Lake Mary Jane. The tornado lifted as it approached the St. Johns River on the east central border of Orange County in the Tosohatchee State Preserve.

The supercell that produced the Kissimmee / Orange County tornado produced another category F1 tornado that touched down in Brevard County just east of Interstate 95 three miles northwest of Titusville Cocoa Airport. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph and stayed on the ground for only one mile. It blew down trees and damaged 4 houses.

The final tornado of the outbreak was a waterspout/tornado that moved onshore at Port Canaveral from the Banana River Lagoon. The F1 tornado damaged 30 structures and lifted before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.