Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2012

EF0 tornado, Goodland to Golden Gate, Florida, June 24, 2012

From Goodland to Golden Gate, this EF0 tornado ran 16.2 miles across Collier County on June 24, 2012, touching down at 11:10 AM EDT and reaching 30 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
11:10 AM EDT (15:10 UTC)
Lifted
11:40 AM EDT (15:40 UTC)
On the ground
30 minutes
Path length
16.2 miles (26.1 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Collier County
Touchdown point
25.762, -81.641
Lift-off point
25.990, -81.580
Record number
1206240910-01

What the Weather Service recorded

The outer bands from Tropical Storm Debby located in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico continued to move over South Florida. Severe thunderstorms developed during the late morning into the afternoon with severe wind gusts and eight tornadoes were also spawned. The eight tornadoes that occurred over a span of four hours was the most number of tornadoes in one day over the southern Florida peninsula since October 14, 1964 when Hurricane Isbell also spawned eight tornadoes. All of the tornadoes were of EF0 intensity.

Storm spotter videos, observations and Doppler radar data indicated that a waterspout moving NNE over Sullivan Bay passed about 3 miles east of Cape Romano then moved over Blackwater Bay and onto the mainland three miles east of Goodland. The tornado was captured on video crossing US 41 near a roadside picnic area about 1/2 mile east of the Collier-Seminole State Park entrance. Damage was confined to trees in a non-populated area of the Everglades.

A trained spotter observed a tornado just north of Alligator Alley about 10 miles west of State Road 29. This tornado was likely spawned by the same storm that produced the earlier tornado in southern Collier County.

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
22:12 UTC23:15 UTCMarine WarningMFL
22:56 UTC00:09 UTCMarine WarningMFL
08:48 UTC20:10 UTCSmall Craft AdvisoryMFL
13:10 UTC13:45 UTCMarine WarningMFL
15:12 UTC15:45 UTCMarine WarningMFL
15:52 UTC23:58 UTCTornado WatchMFL
23:39 UTC00:45 UTCMarine WarningMFL
23:58 UTC03:15 UTCTornado WatchMFL

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:12 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

3.2 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. June 24, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3139 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 527 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-06-24The 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 181 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
3139 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3862 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Miami, FL (KMFL), 00:00Z

8.8 hours after it, 132 km from the path. June 25, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, 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 2990 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 539 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Miami, 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 181 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
2990 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
539 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
10.1
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Naples Municipal (APF), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
13:10 UTC80.678.8 1011.9TS BR
13:32 UTC80.677140° 9 kt1012.2VCTS BR
13:37 UTC80.677140° 9 kt1012.2VCTS -RA BR
13:53 UTC80.2476.82140° 13 kt1012.5-RA BR
14:53 UTC79.775150° 7 kt181012.5RA BR
15:11 UTC78.875.2160° 14 kt1012.2VCTS -RA BR
15:26 UTC78.875.2160° 14 kt1012.2-RA BR
15:53 UTC79.5274.3160° 14 kt1012.2-RA BR
16:15 UTC80.675.2160° 13 kt1011.9VCTS -RA BR
16:30 UTC80.675.2160° 13 kt1011.5-RA BR
16:53 UTC8074.48160° 13 kt1011.5-RA BR

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

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:10 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
15:40 UTCTORNADOE GoodlandCollier, FLAT 1150 AM EDT...A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC REPORTED THAT A TORNADO FORMED JUST EAST OF GOODLAND AND WAS MOVING EASTWARD. THE TORNADO CROSSED US-41...TAMIAMI TRAIL...AND WAS HEADING TOWARD I-75...ALLIGATOR ALLEY. REPORT DELA
16:10 UTCTORNADO10 Wnw Rock IslandCollier, FLTORNADO SPOTTED BY TRAINED SPOTTER JUST NORTH OF ALLIGATOR ALLEY ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF STATE ROAD 29.
16:35 UTCTORNADO8 Sw ImmokaleeCollier, FLTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED TORNADO AT THE INTERSECTION OF IMMOKALEE ROAD AND EVERGLADES BLVD.

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 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
June 2411:37 PM EDTEF0Brevard, FL1.225

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.