Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2012

EF0 tornado, (Apf)Naples Muni Arp, Florida, April 6, 2012

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Collier County on April 6, 2012, touching down at 9:43 AM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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
April 6, 2012
Touchdown
9:43 AM EDT (13:43 UTC)
Lifted
9:45 AM EDT (13:45 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Collier County
Touchdown point
26.168, -81.812
Lift-off point
26.169, -81.809
Record number
1204060743-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong cold front produced a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that moved across South Florida during the morning and early afternoon. Approximately 4,000 customers lost power in Collier County, with an estimated 5,800 in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

A resident of Ambassador Club Condos observed a waterspout moving onshore with damage to several sliding glass doors, minor damage to roofing, along with broken tree branches and snapped palm trees. Maximum winds were likely in 65-80 mph range.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
13:53 UTC14:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFL

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 12:55 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

1.7 hours before the tornado, 157 km from the path. April 6, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-04-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2930 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 478 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 2012-04-06The 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 167 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
2930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2620 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.7
Supercell composite
16.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Miami, FL (KMFL), 00:00Z

10.3 hours after it, 157 km from the path. April 7, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 563 joules per kilogram, CIN -18, lifted condensation level 1407 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-04-07The 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 11 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
563 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1037 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1407 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Naples Municipal (APF), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
11:53 UTC7967230° 13 kt1010.2
12:53 UTC7969240° 15 kt221010.5
13:36 UTC78.869.8250° 11 kt1010.5VCTS
13:42 UTC7771.6270° 29 kt411011.2+TSRA
13:47 UTC69.869.8280° 11 kt411011.5+TSRA FG
13:53 UTC7171280° 12 kt191011.5TSRA BR
13:57 UTC71.671.6270° 10 kt181010.8+TSRA BR
14:04 UTC73.4250° 13 kt181010.8TSRA
14:14 UTC73.469.8250° 17 kt251011.2+RA BR
14:19 UTC73.469.8260° 12 kt231011.2+RA FG
14:24 UTC73.469.8270° 6 kt221011.2VCTS RA BR
14:27 UTC73.469.8270° 6 kt1011.2VCTS -RA BR
14:29 UTC73.469.8270° 7 kt1011.2VCTS -RA BR
14:38 UTC73.469.8270° 7 kt1011.2VCTS
14:53 UTC7469.62250° 10 kt151011.2-RA BR
15:04 UTC75.271.6250° 7 kt1011.2
15:28 UTC75.271.6250° 14 kt201010.8

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

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:42 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
13:40 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 394 N NaplesCollier, FLMEASURED AT VILLAGE ON VENETIAN BAY. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR AND NEARBY OBSERVATIONS.
13:43 UTCTORNADO2 Nnw NaplesCollier, FLRESIDENT OF AMBASSADOR CLUB CONDOS IN THE 1900 BLOCK OF GULF SHORE BLVD NORTH OBSERVED A WATERSPOUT MOVING ONSHORE. PICTURES RECEIVED INDICATE MINOR DAMAGE TO ROOFING AND DOORS, ALONG WITH BROKEN TREE BRANCHES AND A SNAP
13:47 UTCTSTM WND GST 47NaplesCollier, FLTHE NAPLES MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...APF...RECORDED A WIND GUST TO 47 MPH...OR 41 KNOTS...DURING A THUNDERSTORM.
13:50 UTCTSTM WND GST 455 N Golden GateCollier, FLMEASURED AT GOLDEN GATE FIRE STATION 73. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR AND NEARBY OBSERVATIONS.
13:50 UTCHAIL 0.75NaplesCollier, FL
13:55 UTCHAIL 16 N Golden GateCollier, FLREPORTED NEAR COLLIER BOULEVARD 1 MILE SOUTH OF IMMOKALEE ROAD.
13:55 UTCHAIL 1NaplesCollier, FL
13:58 UTCTSTM WND GST 462 Nne North Blocks GoldCollier, FLMEASURED AT SABAL PALM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR AND NEARBY OBSERVATIONS.
14:00 UTCHAIL 1East NaplesCollier, FL

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2012 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.