Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2008

EF0 tornado, Marathon, Florida, February 13, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Monroe County on February 13, 2008, touching down at 1:32 PM EST and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 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
February 13, 2008
Touchdown
1:32 PM EST (18:32 UTC)
Lifted
1:34 PM EST (18:34 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
County
Monroe County
Touchdown point
24.703, -81.086
Lift-off point
24.706, -81.076
Record number
0802131232-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A short-lived tornado, not associated with a supercell thunderstorm, occurred along the leading edge of a squall line across the Flamingo Island subdivision of Marathon.

A weak tornado, possibly a landfalling waterspout, produced EF0 damage along an intermittent path from Saguro Lane through Ocatillo Lane in the Flamingo Island subdivision of Marathon. The longest continuous damage path was approximately 100 yards long with a width of 25 yards. Damage was limited to live palm fronds and small broken branches, several found hanging in utility wires. Three homes were reported with minor roof damage, mainly to soffets blown upward into the roof cavity and a few shingles torn off. A second damage path, in-line with the path in Flamingo Island, was noted at the Marathon High School. One small tree was broken at the base, with an unsecured soccer goal overturned. A wooden canopy used as a sunscreen for the high school athletic field's press box was blown down.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 16:17 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.

Key West, FL (KEYW), 12:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 67 km from the path. February 13, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-02-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1835 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 708 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-02-13The 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 108 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1835 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2387 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.7
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Key West, FL (KEYW), 00:00Z

5.5 hours after it, 67 km from the path. February 14, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Key West, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-02-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 17 joules per kilogram, CIN -196, lifted condensation level 1002 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Key West, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-02-14The 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 -25 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Surface CAPE
342 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1002 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Marathon (MTH), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
16:53 UTC8372210° 12 kt181013.2
17:53 UTC8372210° 8 kt1013.2
18:07 UTC78.871.6240° 8 kt171013.2TSRA
18:10 UTC78.871.6210° 15 kt261013.2+TSRA
18:21 UTC71.664.4220° 12 kt221012.5TSRA
18:34 UTC73.466.2280° 21 kt331013.5TSRA
18:49 UTC69.864.4280° 19 kt351012.9VCTS -RA
18:53 UTC7064290° 16 kt301012.9VCTS -RA
19:05 UTC71.664.4280° 16 kt241013.2
19:53 UTC7367 3 kt1012.2

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Key West radar (KBYX), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:31 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
18:05 UTCWATER SPOUT1 S Ramrod KeyLower Keys In Monr, FLA WATERSPOUT WAS OBSERVED ONE MILE SOUTH OF RAMROD KEY MOVING EAST. DURATION UNKNOWN.
18:08 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 40Ramrod KeyLower Keys In Monr, FLA WIND GUST OF 35 KNOTS WAS MEASURED AT A CWOP AUTOMATED STATION AT THE FLORIDA KEYS AQUEDUCT AUTHORITY PUMP STATION ON RAMROD KEY.
18:09 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 51Cudjoe KeyLower Keys In Monr, FLA WIND GUST TO 44 KNOTS WAS MEASURED AT A CWOP AUTOMATED STATION ON CUDJOE KEY.
18:32 UTCTORNADO1 S MarathonMiddle Keys In Mon, FLA TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY MONROE COUNTY SHERIFFS DISPATCH. A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED BY A FORMER EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR AND FORMER CITY MANAGER. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF DAMAGE TO TREES...PALM FRONDS AN
18:35 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 53MarathonMiddle Keys In Mon, FLA WIND GUST OF 46 KNOTS WAS MEASURED AT THE VOICE OF AMERICA RADIO STATION BETWEEN BOOT KEY AND FLAMINGO ISLAND IN MARATHON.
18:40 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 40MarathonMiddle Keys In Mon, FLA WIND GUST OF 35 KNOTS WAS MEASURED AT THE MARATHON AIRPORT ASOS.

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

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.