F2 tornado, Wausau to Round Lake, Florida, March 15, 2001

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F2

Date

March 15, 2001

Touchdown

3:30 AM CST (09:30 UTC)

Path length

10.0 miles (16.1 km)

Path width

350 yards (320 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

21

Property damage

$2.0 million

Counties

Washington and Jackson counties

Touchdown point

30.600, -85.550

Lift-off point

30.680, -85.370

Record number

56

An F2 tornado touched down in the Sunny Hills subdivision near Gin Lake in southeast Washington County, and raced northeast into southwest Jackson County. The tornado struck the Country Oaks, Buckhorn Creek, and Highview Acres communities. The hardest hit area was Highview Acres where 20 homes were damaged or destroyed. One man was killed when his mobile home was destroyed. 21 people were injured. Hundreds of trees were uprooted and debris scattered over several miles along the tornado's path. Numerous downed power lines affected 4,500 customers. Reported by the Washington County EMA.

The F2 tornado that touched down near Wausau in southeast Washington County, raced northeast across the Washington-Jackson County line and hit the Round Lake community just south of Alford before it dissipated. Fifteen homes were severely damaged and two homes were destroyed. A gift shop on U.S. Highway 231 was destroyed. There were numerous downed trees and power lines. Reported by the Jackson County EMA.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:46 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2001 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.