EF1 tornado, Craig Key, Florida, September 10, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

September 10, 2008

Touchdown

3:42 AM EDT (07:42 UTC)

Lifted

3:50 AM EDT (07:50 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

0.5 miles (0.9 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$120,000

County

Monroe County

Touchdown point

24.851, -80.733

Lift-off point

24.857, -80.739

Record number

0809100142-01

Hurricane Ike moved west to west-northwest across eastern Cuba, just offshore the south central coast, and then crossed through western Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm force winds and two tornadoes were reported in the Florida Keys. However, rainfall amounts and storm surge were minimal.

A violent waterspout associated with a supercell made landfall as a tornado in Lower Matecumbe Key at Sunset Drive and moved northwest, crossing U.S. Highway One and then along Palm Drive through a residential section near Mile Marker 74 on the Overseas Highway. The tornado damage path ended on Buttonwood Lane before reaching Florida Bay. Most damage was to deck railings, screens, windows and soffits on numerous homes. A few homes displayed more significant damage, including penetration through exterior doors and walls, with one home losing 50 percent of its roof decking. The EF1 rating with estimated maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph was based on roof damage to a residence along Palm Drive. Debris from sheet metal paneling and mangrove branches may have contributed to a major power outage throughout all of the Keys from Islamorada through Key West as it was carried across U.S. Highway One and a major electrical transmission line.

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.

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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:45 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 Miami radar (KAMX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:40 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

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

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.