Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2008

EF0 tornado, Salerno, Florida, August 19, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Martin County on August 19, 2008, touching down at 10:11 AM EDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
August 19, 2008
Touchdown
10:11 AM EDT (14:11 UTC)
Lifted
10:12 AM EDT (14:12 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Martin County
Touchdown point
27.152, -80.219
Lift-off point
27.151, -80.219
Record number
0808190811-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Rain bands from Tropical Storm Fay moving onshore from the Atlantic produced a tornado in Stuart.

An EF0 tornado associated with a rain band moving on shore from Tropical Storm Fay, touched down briefly in Stuart. The tornado overturned a panel truck and damaged a service station awning.

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

The warnings

19 minutes of warning. NWS MLB issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:52 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:05 UTC and running to 19:46 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:45 UTC11:05 UTCTornado WatchMLB
05:32 UTC06:15 UTCTornado WarningMLB
06:15 UTC06:48 UTCTornado WarningMLB
10:28 UTC11:15 UTCTornado WarningMLB
10:45 UTC11:15 UTCTornado WarningMLB
11:05 UTC19:46 UTCTornado WatchMLB
12:43 UTC14:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningMLB
13:03 UTC13:17 UTCTornado WarningMLB
13:52 UTC14:15 UTCTornado WarningMLB
14:51 UTC16:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningMLB
16:26 UTC20:15 UTCFlash Flood WarningMLB
20:21 UTC00:15 UTCFlood WarningMLB
03:28 UTC10:00 UTCFlood WarningMLB

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 12:48 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 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.

Miami, FL (KMFL), 12:00Z

2.2 hours before the tornado, 148 km from the path. August 19, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2159 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 466 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 237 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1575 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
466 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
237 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
16.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Miami, FL (KMFL), 00:00Z

9.8 hours after it, 148 km from the path. August 20, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1016 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 896 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1016 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
896 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:10 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
11:45 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED 35 KTS WINDS WITH 43 KTS GUSTS AT 1145Z.
12:00 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED 38 KTS WIND GUST AT 12Z.
12:30 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED 47 KTS WIND GUST AT 1230Z.
12:50 UTCTROPICAL STORM1 Se JupiterPalm Beach, FLXOAX REPORTED 35 KTS WIND GUST AT 1250Z.
14:11 UTCTORNADOStuartMartin, FLTORNADO WITH WIRES DOWNED AND CAR OVERTURNED AT THE INTERSECTION OF MONROE ST AND US1/FEDERAL HWY
14:29 UTCFLASH FLOODJupiterPalm Beach, FLREPORTS FROM THE JUPITER POLICE DEPARTMENT OF FLOODED ROADWAYS... SR 809 AT ENTRANCE TO WOOD DUCK APTS, NORTHBOUND SR 809 AT ENTRANCE TO POLICE DEPARTMENT, SR 811 AND SR5, ALL OF CYPRESS DRIVE, CENTER STREET AT ORANGE AV
15:30 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED WIND GUST OF 40 KTS AT 1530Z.
16:15 UTCTROPICAL STORM2 Ese Royal Palm BeachPalm Beach, FLXROY REPORTED WIND GUST OF 43 KTS AT 1615Z.
16:15 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED 42 KTS WIND GUST AT 1615Z.
16:30 UTCTROPICAL STORM6 E Buckhead RidgeAmz610, FLL001 REPORTED 35 KTS WIND WITH 47 KTS WIND GUST AT 1630Z.
16:35 UTCTORNADO4 Sw Fort Pierce SouthSt. Lucie, FLTORNADO ALONG 3900 SELVITZ ROAD. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 19, 2008

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1912:35 PM EDTEF0Saint Lucie, FL0.130$10,000
August 191:45 PM EDTEF1Brevard, FL0.3302$420,000

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.