EF1 tornado, (Cof)Patrick Afb to Sharpes, Florida, September 10, 2017

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, 2017

Touchdown

9:48 PM EDT (01:48 UTC)

Lifted

9:50 PM EDT (01:50 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

3.4 miles (5.4 km)

Path width

60 yards (55 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Brevard County

Touchdown point

28.417, -80.677

Lift-off point

28.446, -80.721

Record number

1709101948-01

Hurricane Irma moved northward over the far western Florida peninsula between the afternoon of September 10 and the morning of September 11 at Category 1-2 strength. During the closest point of approach to east-central Florida during the early morning hours of September 11, rain bands associated with the inner core elongated west-to-east and lifted through northwest Osceola County, Lake County and western Orange County. Due to the large size of the wind field, a long duration of damaging tropical storm force winds with gusts to hurricane force was experienced across all of east-central Florida. There were no direct hurricane-related fatalities, however 10 indirect fatalities occurred during the evacuation and recovery phases of the hurricane. Preliminary damage estimates across east central Florida exceeded $1.3 billion.||A storm surge of 2-3 feet affected the coast of Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River Counties, and 3-4 feet of storm surge impacted the coast of Brevard and Volusia Counties. Moderate to major beach erosion occurred along the entire east-central Florida coastline. Water levels rose within the coastal lagoon system generally rose between 1 and 3 feet (although locally up to 4.5 feet within a few constricted areas of the lagoon, primarily within north Brevard and Volusia Counties) due to coastal surge and run-off from heavy rain and slow drainage to the Atlantic through the inlets. River flooding caused to enter some homes adjacent to the Halifax River, primarily in Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and north Daytona Beach. Many docks and boat houses along the Indian, Banana and Halifax Rivers were damaged from the combination of high water and wave action. ||Rainfall totals of 10-15 inches were widespread across east-central Florida. The highest totals occurred in a swath from northern St. Lucie County to far southern Indian River County, where accumulations reached 15 to nearly 22 inches. A significant portion of this rain fell during the early morning hours of September 10 as excessive rain bands trained onshore ahead of the main rain area associated with Hurricane Irma. Flooding entered several homes and many roadways became impassible. Hurricane rain bands also resulted in flooding of homes and roadways in many other areas later on September 10, including Fellsmere (Indian River County) where a dozen people were rescued from flood waters and north Merritt Island (Brevard County) where water approached or entered several homes. During the early morning hours of September 11, flooding breached several hundred homes and resulted in the rescue of 200 residents in Orlo Vista (Orange County) when a lake and adjacent retention ponds overflowed. ||Widespread heavy rain fell within the St. Johns River basin and caused the entire river (from Cocoa in Brevard County to Astor in Lake County) to reach flood stage. The Astor area was the first to reach flood stage during the afternoon of September 10, then Cocoa very early on September 11 and Lake Harney that evening, Deland very early on September 12 and Sanford very late on September 14. All points along the river eventually reached moderate to major flood stage, impacting adjacent homes, structures, property and roadways. The river remained in flood for well over one month. ||Ten tornadoes were confirmed, including eight within Brevard County (one EF-0, six EF-1, and one EF-2), one in Volusia County (EF-1) and one in Lake County (EF-1). Additional tornadoes likely occurred, however it was impossible to distinguish weak, short track tornado damage from the overall widespread, background wind damage of similar velocities.

Based on a NWS storm survey, a waterspout moved onshore from the Atlantic and caused tornado damage as it continued across the barrier island, affecting Patrick Air Force Base. The EF-1 tornado (estimated 85 to 95 mph) removed the roof from a small building east of Highway A1A, then produced minor to moderate damage to several storage buildings, mainly in the form of partial loss of roof coverings and broken glass in some east and north facing windows. Several, large steel CONEX storage containers within the tornado path were rolled 100+ feet downwind (northwest). Damage also occurred to antennas mounted on free standing towers and to some small trees and shrubs. The tornado then weakened as it approached the Banana River. DOD23, DI2, EXP-UB; DOD25, DI1, EXP.

A NWS storm survey confirmed that a waterspout moved onshore along Rockledge Drive near River Woods Drive in Rockledge and produced EF-1 tornado damage (winds estimated 95-105 mph) along a short track. Approximately six homes sustained significant roof damage and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. A portion of one roof was removed and at least one other home had a portion of its metal roof peeled back. Several homes adjacent to the area of most significant damage also experienced a lesser degree of shingle damage. At least one screen patio was destroyed, several others were damaged and some fences were blown over and carried downwind. DI2, DOD4, EXP; DI27, DOD4, EXP.

A NWS storm survey confirmed that a tornado formed on North Merritt Island within or southeast of The Savannahs subdivision, producing strong EF-1 damage (winds estimated 100-110 mph) to numerous homes on Savannahs Trail. Over a dozen homes sustained significant shingle damage and approximately six pool screen enclosures were destroyed. Numerous trees were snapped. The tornado continued northwest and crossed East Hall Road near Leilani Lane, producing tree and minor roof damage to a few homes. The tornado then traveled through the southern portion of the Island Lakes Mobile Home Park at EF-1 strength (estimated winds of 95 to 105 mph) and impacted over 25 mobile homes. Several mobile homes were destroyed and many others sustained moderate to major damage (the neighborhood was nearly completed evacuated for Hurricane Irma). The tornado then weakened, but toppled the steeple at the Orsino Baptist Church, after crossing North Courtney Boulevard. Tree damage and minor roof damage occurred along the remainder of the path until the Indian River was reached. DI2, DOD4, EXP; DI3, DOD6, LB-EXP; DI24, DOD4, LB.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS MLB issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:45 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 16:04 UTC and running to 03:51 UTC.

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 01:12 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 Melbourne radar (KMLB), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:49 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 2017 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.