EF0 tornado, Tavernier, Florida, April 15, 2018

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

April 15, 2018

Touchdown

8:12 PM EDT (00:12 UTC)

Lifted

8:20 PM EDT (00:20 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

0.2 miles (0.4 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200

County

Monroe County

Touchdown point

25.002, -80.520

Lift-off point

25.005, -80.519

Record number

1804151812-01

A fast-moving pre-frontal squall line passing through the upper Florida Keys developed an embedded supercell thunderstorm with attendant mesocyclone along the Florida Bay side of Upper Matecumbe Key. The supercell thunderstorm moved east-northeast, producing a waterspout which made landfall on the bayside of Plantation Key, Islamorada. The tornado crossed the Overseas Highway, exiting oceanside just southwest of Tavernier Creek. The waterspout then made a second landfall oceanside in Tavernier southeast of Tavernier Creek before dissipating.

Summary: A waterspout or funnel cloud was observed backlit by |lightning over Florida Bay shortly before making landfall as a |tornado at Indian Mound Trail of the Indian Waterways subdivision of |Plantation Key, Islamorada. Large gumbo limbo tree limbs were downed |as well as the top of a palm tree, landing 20 yards from streetside |the front steps of a residence. And adjacent residence had a rolling |driveway gate completely dislodged from its mounts, pushed into a |trailered boat and car. The tornado continue to produce mostly |damage to large limbs of hardwood trees, including gumbo limbo and |mahogany, in a path rarely exceeded two residential properties in |width toward the east-northeast. An entire gutter and downspout |system was removed from a residence. Numerous loose items, including |filled trash cans and lawn/patio furniture was moved from the |backyards and understory of homes onto front lawns and streets. Most |of the observed damage in the Indian Waterways community were |consistent with 60 to 70 mph, with possible spot values near 75 mph.||The tornado crossed a patch of mangroves and undeveloped forest, and |reached greatest intensity at San Pedro Catholic Church. There, a |large tree split at the trunk, and an old-growth mahogany was |uprooted, falling toward the east onto a portion of the structure |connecting the rectory with the main church. Fortunately, the upper |portion of the tree did not substantially damage the roof, with no |leaks observed in the downpour that followed. However, several |barrel tiles were removed from the peak ridges forming the hip roof |pattern over the rectory, as well as from the southeast edge of the |church, onto the top of the church's main entrance. Numerous large |limbs were downed toward the east, with lightweight free-standing |signs deposited northward cross the tornado path from right to left.|Estimated wind speeds were maximized in the range of 90 to 100 mph |with maximum width near 60 yards. Good impact reference made to the |observed wind impacts at this location from recent Hurricane Irma, |all having previously been removed or repaired. ||The tornado continued toward the east-northeast, crossing U.S. |Highway 1 and the Old Highway, but weakened such that only large |tree limbs were downed. From this point, the tornado likely moved |out over the oceanside as a waterspout into Hawk Channel, southwest |of the oceanside entrance to Tavernier Creek.

A second path, likely a continuation as the waterspout made landfall |near Lincoln Avenue on the far southwest portion of Tavernier's |oceanside. Progressive narrowing of the damage path down to nearly |30 yards as well as a turn toward the northwest or north-northwest |was observed. Impacts lessened from near the waterfront, including |damaged fences and large limbs,gradually down to smaller limbs and |twigs was noted. No further impacts were observed northeast of Lowe |Street. It is likely the wind speeds 55 to 65 mph were observed, |weakening to below 50 mph roughly 3 blocks from the waterfront.

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:40 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 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.

Homestead Afb (HST), 56 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Miami radar (KAMX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:11 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 2018 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

18 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.