Florida, 1999

Tornado in Florida, May 21, 1999

May 21, 1999 · 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
$1.0 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, Polk

When
May 21, 4:42 PM EST to 4:45 PM EST
Where
Polk County, Lakeland to 2 mi W of Lakeland
Rating
F1
Path length
1.5 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
28.020, -81.970

A tornado initially touched down in the Heatherwood Village Mobile Home Park and caused minor to moderate damage to the roofs, carports, lanais, and awnings of over 30 mobile homes. The tornado continued to move north along Harden Boulevard and caused minor to moderate roof damage to a gas/convenience store at the intersection of W. Ariana Street and Sikes Boulevard while a strip shopping mall north of the intersection suffered minor to moderate roof damage from the F1 tornado.The tornado continued north along Central Avenue and uprooted or snapped dozens of Live Oak and pine trees and downed at least two dozen power lines on either side of the road. Two additional mobile home rooftops were removed by tornadic wind on Inman Drive while a shed and carport were destroyed at the intersection of Dorothy Street and Central Avenue.The tornado snapped a large tree which fell atop and caused significant structural damage to a home at the intersection of Lime Street and Veterans Avenue. The tornado lifted and dissipated north of Central Avenue and the CSX railroad tracks near the Amtrak station.The tornado caused major roof and wall damage to two businesses while three others suffered minor damage. The tornado caused major roof, wall and chimney damage to 14 single family homes with minor to moderate roof damage to an additional 84 single family homes. The tornado caused minor to moderate roof, carport, lanais and awning damage to 36 mobile homes.

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

More

Every storm in Florida in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 1999Warnings in Florida, May 1999

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: 5696832.