Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2005
F0 tornado, (Pfn)Panama City Arp, Florida, December 24, 2005
This F0 tornado ran 2.7 miles across Bay County on December 24, 2005, touching down at 10:45 PM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $650,000 of property damage.
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
- December 24, 2005
- Touchdown
- 10:45 PM CST (04:45 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.7 miles (4.3 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $650,000
- County
- Bay County
- Touchdown point
- 30.230, -85.680
- Lift-off point
- 30.270, -85.680
- Record number
- 607
What the Weather Service recorded
A tornado touched down just north of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport. It traveled northeast through western and northern portions of Lynn Haven. Damage was primarily to trees, with numerous large limbs and other debris along its path. Many pine trees were snapped in half, with several large oak trees uprooted. Several downed trees fell onto homes, producing minor to major damage to roofs, walls and windows. Many shingles and sidings were torn off. Some vehicles were damaged by fallen trees. Wood fences were blown over. Some power lines were toppled. Damage survey was provided by an off-duty NWS employee.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
5 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:40 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:15 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:40 UTC | 05:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
| 16:00 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Lake Wind Advisory | TAE |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:43 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 surface observations
Panama City/Bay Co. (PFN), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:46 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 190° 10 kt | 16 | 1006.8 | TS |
| 02:53 UTC | 66 | 61 | 190° 10 kt | 1006.4 | TS | |
| 03:53 UTC | 67 | 62 | 200° 9 kt | 1006.4 | TS | |
| 04:05 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 200° 9 kt | 17 | 1006.1 | VCTS -RA |
| 04:42 UTC | 66.2 | 59 | 260° 6 kt | 27 | 1005.1 | -TSRA |
| 04:53 UTC | 64 | 59 | 310° 11 kt | 17 | 1004.4 | TSRA |
| 04:58 UTC | 62.6 | 59 | 180° 6 kt | 17 | 1005.1 | +TSRA BR |
| 05:02 UTC | 62.6 | 59 | 240° 15 kt | 29 | 1005.8 | +TSRA BR |
| 05:16 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 280° 11 kt | 1004.7 | -TSRA BR | |
| 05:20 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 270° 10 kt | 1004.7 | -TSRA BR | |
| 05:36 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 260° 18 kt | 25 | 1005.4 | TSRA BR |
| 05:45 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 240° 14 kt | 25 | 1005.4 | TSRA |
| 05:53 UTC | 62 | 57 | 250° 11 kt | 19 | 1005.1 | -TSRA |
| 06:04 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 230° 8 kt | 1005.1 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:46 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lynn Haven | Bay, FL | POSSIBLE TORNADO WITH WIND DAMAGE AND NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES IN LYNN HAVEN. DIME SIZED HAIL ALSO REPORTED. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are
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.