Florida, 2020

Dust Devil in Florida, March 27, 2020

March 27, 2020 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A dust devil was spotted in Fort Myers on a warm and mostly clear day.

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
None recorded
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 dust devil was spotted in Fort Myers on a warm and mostly clear day.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 27, 7:42 AM EST, 5 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 7:42 AM EST, 5 hours 18 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
842 AM EDT Fri Mar 27 2020

.UPDATE...
This morning has been rather cloudy and foggy for most areas
across West Central and Southwest FL. Some of this land fog has
also advected over parts of Tampa Bay so both motorists and
mariners in the Bay should use additional caution if driving this
morning. Once daytime heating and mixing gets established, the fog
and low stratus will begin to clear out with partly cloudy skies,
hot temperatures (low 90s inland and upper 80s near the coast),
and dry conditions as we close out the work week. Besides some
minor adjustments for the ongoing fog, the current forecast
remains on track.

&&

.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFs) Widespread low stratus currently affecting terminals
along with IFR/LIFR vsby at SRQ, PGD, and RSW. Stratus/fog will
begin to lift and burn off by 14Z with VFR conditions returning.
Afternoon seabreeze will shift winds out of the west near coastal
terminals with light and variable winds returning near sunset.

&&

MARINE...
High pressure over the region will keep warm and dry conditions over
the waters through the next several days. South to southeast winds
will turn onshore near the coast as sea breeze develops each
afternoon. No headlines are expected through the first half of
next week.

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
TPA  90  69  90  67 /   0   0   0   0
FMY  90  67  90  67 /   0   0   0   0
GIF  92  65  94  64 /   0   0   0   0
SRQ  88  68  88  67 /   0   0   0   0
BKV  91  62  93  62 /   0   0   0   0
SPG  88  69  88  68 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...None.
Gulf waters...None.
&&

UPDATE/AVIATION/MARINE...42/Norman
UPPER AIR/DECISION SUPPORT...74/Wynn

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Devil, Lee

When
March 27, 1:00 PM EST to 1:02 PM EST
Where
Lee County, 3.8 mi WSW of Fort Myers Villas to 3.64 mi WSW of Fort Myers Villas
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
26.524, -81.924

Broadcast media shared a viewer video taken from a building near the intersection of Bass and Summerlin Roads looking north, of what appears to be a dust devil. The video was taken on a warm and dry day, with mostly clear skies, showing a tall funnel rotating for about a minute. No damage or injuries were reported.

What these are

Dust Devil
A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, March 2020

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: 874777.