Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2012

EF0 tornado, (Tix)Space Cntr Exec, Florida, June 24, 2012

This EF0 tornado ran 1.2 miles across Brevard County on June 24, 2012, touching down at 11:37 PM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
June 24, 2012
Touchdown
11:37 PM EDT (03:37 UTC)
Lifted
11:38 PM EDT (03:38 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.2 miles (1.9 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Brevard County
Touchdown point
28.531, -80.861
Lift-off point
28.548, -80.862
Record number
1206242137-01

What the Weather Service recorded

While Tropical Storm Debby was located over the northeast Gulf of Mexico, numerous strong rain bands rotated across east-central Florida. One particular persistent, mini-supercell produced three tornadoes as it traveled north from Okeechobee to Brevard County. The tornadoes occurred over rural areas of Osceola and Brevard Counties, which limited damage. Another mini-supercell moved north from Polk County and produced discontinuous tornado damage along a 3.7 mile path in southeast Lake County. A linear squall line behind the mini-supercells caused a localized area of property damage in northwest Osceola County. A canoe capsized on an inland lake in Lake County due to gusty winds and choppy conditions on the water, resulting in a drowning. Multi-day rainfall totals exceeded four inches across portions of Seminole, Orange, Volusia and Lake Counties, with maximum accumulations of 7-9 inches near Pierson, Lady Lake, and Astor Park in Lake County. No significant flooding occurred due to abnormally dry soil conditions prior to the rain event.

The third and final tornado associated with a Tropical Storm Debby mini-supercell that traveled from northern Okeechobee County to northern Brevard County occurred just south of State Road 50 and west of Interstate 95, to the west of Titusville. This location was also just north of the Great Outdoors RV Park. Two motorists traveling on Highway 50 observed the tornado briefly touchdown (illuminated by lightning strikes), just to the south of their locations. One of the motorists provided a detailed eyewitness account of the tornado touchdown. While there was little to damage in the immediate area of the tornado, a path of downed tree limbs was noted immediately after the touchdown, from near the entrance of the RV Park to State Road 50.

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

The warnings

23 minutes of warning. NWS MLB issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:14 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:46 UTC and running to 08:39 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:46 UTC08:39 UTCTornado WatchMLB
02:39 UTC03:18 UTCTornado WarningMLB
03:14 UTC04:00 UTCTornado WarningMLB
08:39 UTC17:57 UTCTornado WatchMLB
15:00 UTC00:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryMLB
17:57 UTC01:32 UTCTornado WatchMLB

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 01:01 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.

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), 00:00Z

3.6 hours before the tornado, 36 km from the path. June 25, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 680 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 719 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-06-25The 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 268 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 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
680 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1513 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
719 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
377 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
9.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), 12:00Z

8.4 hours after it, 36 km from the path. June 25, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 628 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 784 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-06-25The 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 169 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 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
628 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
723 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
7.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:37 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
03:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 5DebaryVolusia, FL24 HOUR RAINFALL ENDING AT 11 PM.
03:40 UTCTORNADO5 Wnw Port Saint JohnBrevard, FLPUBLIC SIGHTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF I-95 AND SR50.
03:43 UTCTSTM WND GST 554 N Haulover CanalVolusia, FLUSAF 54 FT WND TOWER NUMBER 22 MEASURED A SUSTAINED WIND OF 35 KT/40 MPH AND WIND GUST OF 48 KT/55 MPH FROM 150 DEGREES.
03:43 UTCTORNADO3 Sw TitusvilleBrevard, FLPUBLIC SIGHTED BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT INTERSECTION OF I-95 AND SR50 EXIT 215. TREE LIMBS DOWN IN A PATH ON SR50 WEST OF I-95.

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

The other tornadoes of June 24, 2012

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2410:15 AM EDTEF0Hardee, FL17.0100$65,000
June 2411:00 AM EDTEF0Glades, FL0.010$5,000
June 2411:10 AM EDTEF0Collier, FL16.230
June 2412:00 PM EDTEF0Collier, FL0.020
June 2412:23 PM EDTEF0Highlands, FL3.51501$15,000
June 2412:25 PM EDTEF0Palm Beach, FL0.020
June 2412:25 PM EDTEF0Collier, FL0.120
June 241:25 PM EDTEF0Palm Beach, FL1.230$50,000
June 242:05 PM EDTEF0Miami-Dade, FL0.520$10,000
June 243:04 PM EDTEF0Glades, FL0.020
June 243:23 PM EDTEF1Highlands, FL5.3100$60,000
June 243:40 PM EDTEF1Pinellas, FL0.775$130,000
June 244:39 PM EDTEF0Hillsborough, FL1.150$90,000
June 245:17 PM EDTEF1Pasco, FL0.475$650,000
June 246:55 PM EDTEF0Polk, FL0.925$4,000
June 248:04 PM EDTEF2Polk, FL6.2150$390,000
June 248:21 PM EDTEF1Pinellas, FL3.050$150,000
June 248:59 PM EDTEF0Lake, FL3.7100
June 249:55 PM EDTEF0Osceola, FL3.1100
June 249:57 PM EDTEF1Citrus, FL5.0100$90,000
June 2410:46 PM EDTEF0Osceola, FL1.150

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.