Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2004
F0 tornado, Cape Coral to Captiva, Florida, September 19, 2004
From Cape Coral to Captiva, this F0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Lee County on September 19, 2004, touching down at 4:28 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- F0
- Date
- September 19, 2004
- Touchdown
- 4:28 PM EDT (20:28 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Lee County
- Touchdown point
- 26.600, -81.980
- Lift-off point
- 26.600, -81.980
- Record number
- 538
What the Weather Service recorded
The Cape Coral Fire Chief reported a brief tornado with damage limited to lanai and roof fascia at 15 homes near the water on the corner of Southwest 25th Place and Beach Parkway West.
A waterspout over Pine Island Sound moved west across Pine Island then into the Gulf of Mexico.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
13 minutes of warning. NWS TBW issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:15 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19:49 UTC | 20:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TBW |
| 19:54 UTC | 20:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TBW |
| 20:15 UTC | 20:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | TBW |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:49 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Sep 19, 1:26 PM EDT, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 1:26 PM EDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 126 PM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - TUE)...LATEST MODELS INSIST ON STRONG JET DEVELOPING OVER FAR SOUTH FLORIDA FOR MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...PUTTING CWA INTO FAVORABLE LEFT FRONT QUAD. THIS IS EXPECTED TO INTERACT WITH SURFACE TROF MOVING SOUTHWESTWARD OVER THE FAR WESTERN ATLANTIC AND INTO THE FLORIDA PENINSULA...FOR ENHANCED VERTICAL MOTION AND RAINFALL. I HAVE RAISED POPS MONDAY AND TUESDAY DUE TO THIS FAVORABLE INTERACTION. IN ADDITION...MUCH MORE CLOUD COVER SHOULD HOLD MAX TEMPS DOWN A FEW DEGREES FROM TODAY...AND LOW LEVEL COLD ADVECTION WILL HELP THE PROCESS OUT AS WELL. WITH STRONG HIGH BUILDING TO THE NORTH...NORTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE...GIVING SOMEWHAT BREEZY CONDITIONS. LOW CLOUDS SHOULD MOVE IN ON THE NORTHEASTERLY WINDS TONIGHT NORTH OF TAMPA... AND WILL PROBABLY HAVE A HARD TIME BREAKING AT ALL ON MONDAY. MY CURRENT FORECAST MAX TEMPS MAY EVEN TURN OUT TO BE TOO HIGH. .LONG TERM (TUE NIGHT - SUN)...FOR THE TIME BEING WILL DAMPEN OUT THE FEATURE OUT IN THE GULF THAT APPEARS TO BE THE REMNANTS OF IVAN BUT WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS IN FOR WED. OTHERWISE DEEP RIDGING OVER THE MID ATLANTIC COAST WILL KEEP A DRIER NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE CWFA WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION AFTER WED. WINDS REMAIN NE INTO THE WEEKEND BUT WILL DECREASE AS THE RIDGING MOVES OFF THE EAST U.S. COAST...ALLOWING THE GRADIENT TO SLACKEN AMD PROVIDE THE PROSPECTS OF A NICE BOATING WEEKEND. && .MARINE...AS MENTIONED ABOVE...WIND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE STARTING TONIGHT AND LASTING INTO TUESDAY. SCEC CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY MONDAY AND LAST INTO EARLY TUESDAY. && .FIRE WEATHER...INCREASING WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR INCREASING DISPERSIONS MONDAY AND TUESDAY...BUT MINIMUM RH VALUES WILL REMAIN ABOVE ANY FLAG CRITERIA. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 072 085 073 088 / 00 60 40 50 FMY 073 088 072 088 / 00 50 40 50 GIF 071 085 072 088 / 00 60 40 50 SRQ 073 086 075 088 / 00 60 40 50 BKV 068 083 071 088 / 10 50 40 40 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...ALSHEIMER LONG TERM...RKR
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 19, 5:02 AM EDT, 11 hours 26 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 502 AM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-191300- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 502 AM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES WILL SUPPORT BREEZY NORTHEAST WINDS OVER THE REGION THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK...WITH WINDS OVER THE ADJACENT GULF WATERS POSSIBLY APPROACHING SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION CRITERIA BY TUESDAY. IN ADDITION TO THE INCREASING WINDS...A WEAK TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE REGION LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY COMBINED WITH INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH THE MAIN HAZARD BEING OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING STRIKES. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) JCM
In the hours before
Local storm report, Sep 19, 3:47 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
347 PM EDT SUN SEP 19 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0333 PM TORNADO 1 WSW CAPE CORAL 26.57N 82.00W
09/19/2004 LEE FL EMERGENCY MNGR
CAPE CORAL FIRE CHIEF REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO WITH SOME
DAMAGE TO LESS THAN 12 HOMES NEAR THE WATER.
0335 PM WATER SPOUT 2 SW CAPE CORAL 26.55N 82.01W
09/19/2004 LEE FL TRAINED SPOTTER
BRIEFLY A TORNADO IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST CAPE CORAL WITH
SOME DAMAGE TO LESS THAN 12 HOMES.
&&
NOAHThe air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), 12:00Z
8.5 hours before the tornado, 130 km from the path. September 19, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 834 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -74 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 359 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1005 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 5 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.1 K/km
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), 00:00Z
3.5 hours after it, 130 km from the path. September 20, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 416 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 753 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1576 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.3 K/km
The surface observations
Fort Myers/Page Field (FMY), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:53 UTC | 90 | 72 | 130° 11 kt | 1011.2 | ||
| 19:21 UTC | 89.6 | 69.8 | 60° 9 kt | 1010.8 | TS | |
| 19:53 UTC | 87 | 70 | 100° 7 kt | 1010.5 | TS | |
| 20:53 UTC | 87 | 70 | 60° 6 kt | 1010.8 | ||
| 21:05 UTC | 87.8 | 69.8 | 70° 8 kt | 1010.8 | VCTS | |
| 21:20 UTC | 86 | 69.8 | 90° 6 kt | 1010.8 | ||
| 21:53 UTC | 86 | 71 | 80° 6 kt | 1010.8 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 130 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:30 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of September 19, 2004
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 19 | 4:15 PM EDT | F1 | Collier, FL | 0.5 | 20 | $70,000 | ||
| September 19 | 4:20 PM EDT | F0 | Collier, FL | 0.5 | 15 | $10,000 | ||
| September 19 | 5:29 PM EDT | F0 | Lee, FL | 0.2 | 30 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.