Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2018

EF0 tornado, Miramar, Florida, July 10, 2018

This EF0 tornado ran 4.7 miles across Broward County on July 10, 2018, touching down at 5:47 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
July 10, 2018
Touchdown
5:47 PM EDT (21:47 UTC)
Lifted
6:01 PM EDT (22:01 UTC)
On the ground
14 minutes
Path length
4.7 miles (7.5 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Broward County
Touchdown point
25.990, -80.540
Lift-off point
25.995, -80.465
Record number
1807101547-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Abundant moisture and instability across South Florida allowed thunderstorms to develop along the east coast sea breeze in the afternoon. Sea breeze and outflow boundaries continued to allow storms to develop over the same region causing flooding in Miami-Dade County and a Tornado in Broward. These storms also produced frequent to excessive lightning causing fatalities and damage across the east coast.

Multiple photos shared from broadcast media showed a tornado in western Broward County. The tornado occurred west of Griffin Road over the Everglades lasting a few minutes. There was no damage reported as it stayed over the open Everglades.

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.

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 19:53 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

9.8 hours before the tornado, 29 km from the path. July 10, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2018-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1756 joules per kilogram, CIN -18, lifted condensation level 993 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, Miami, FL at 12:00Z on 2018-07-10The 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 12 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 5 knots.1939Sfc1 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
1756 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2300 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Miami, FL (KMFL), 00:00Z

2.2 hours after it, 29 km from the path. July 11, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2018-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 184 joules per kilogram, CIN -280, lifted condensation level 1330 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2018-07-11The 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 -17 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 19 knots.1939Sfc1 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
184 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-280 J/kg
Surface CAPE
790 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1330 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Miami/Opa Locka (OPF), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:50 UTC160° 3 kt1016.6
19:53 UTC7976150° 3 kt1016.6VCTS
19:55 UTC140° 3 kt1016.6
20:00 UTC140° 4 kt1016.6
20:04 UTC8075140° 4 kt1016.6
20:05 UTC140° 4 kt1016.6
20:10 UTC150° 3 kt1016.6
20:15 UTC0° 0 kt1016.3-RA
20:20 UTC100° 3 kt1016.3-RA
20:25 UTC90° 5 kt1016.3-RA
20:30 UTC120° 5 kt1015.9
20:35 UTC140° 4 kt1015.9
20:40 UTC130° 4 kt1015.9
20:45 UTC150° 4 kt1016.3
20:50 UTC120° 4 kt1015.9
20:53 UTC8775130° 6 kt1015.9
20:55 UTC150° 5 kt1015.9
21:00 UTC170° 4 kt1015.9
21:05 UTC160° 4 kt1015.9
21:10 UTC150° 5 kt1015.6
21:15 UTC160° 3 kt1015.6
21:19 UTC8875200° 6 kt1015.6VCTS
21:20 UTC200° 6 kt1015.6
21:25 UTC200° 8 kt1015.9
21:35 UTC200° 6 kt1015.9
21:40 UTC190° 6 kt1015.9
21:45 UTC190° 5 kt1015.9
21:50 UTC220° 5 kt1015.9
21:53 UTC8575220° 5 kt1015.9VCTS
21:55 UTC230° 3 kt1015.9
22:00 UTC220° 3 kt1016.3
22:05 UTC330° 8 kt1016.3
22:07 UTC8474350° 11 kt141016.6TS
22:10 UTC340° 17 kt1016.6
22:15 UTC340° 11 kt1016.9
22:20 UTC340° 8 kt1016.9
22:21 UTC7970360° 6 kt1016.9TS
22:25 UTC330° 5 kt1016.9
22:30 UTC360° 5 kt1017.3
22:35 UTC40° 8 kt1017.3-RA
22:40 UTC777440° 11 kt171016.9-TSRA BR
22:45 UTC10° 11 kt1017.3RA BR
22:50 UTC340° 10 kt1017.6+RA BR
22:53 UTC7573310° 16 kt1017.6+TSRA BR
22:55 UTC 16 kt1017.9+RA BR
23:00 UTC330° 8 kt1017.9+RA BR
23:05 UTC340° 7 kt1017.9RA BR
23:10 UTC50° 8 kt1017.6-RA
23:15 UTC90° 8 kt1017.6-RA
23:20 UTC90° 9 kt1017.3-RA
23:25 UTC70° 9 kt1017.6-RA
23:30 UTC90° 10 kt1017.6-RA
23:35 UTC100° 12 kt1017.3-RA
23:40 UTC80° 12 kt1016.9-RA
23:45 UTC80° 12 kt1016.9-RA

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

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:47 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
19:01 UTCHAIL 0.752 Sw Liberty CityMiami-Dade, FLA MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC CALLED TO REPORT DIME SIZE HAIL ASSOCIATED WITH A THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTHEAST OF MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
19:11 UTCTSTM WND GST 451 Ese Miami InternationMiami-Dade, FLA THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST OF 45 MPH / 39 KNOTS WAS RECORDED BY THE WEATHERBUG MESONET SITE ...MNTLA... LOCATED AT THE MIAMI INTL AIRPORT SOUTH TERMINAL. THIS SITE IS ELEVATED AT 95 FEET.
21:57 UTCTORNADO12 Wnw PennsucoBroward, FLPHOTOS RELAYED BY NBC6 SHOW A TORNADO WEST OF THE WESTERN BROWARD COUNTY METRO, WEST OF GRIFFIN ROAD OVER THE EVERGLADES. TIME AND LOCATION USING RADAR DATA.
22:01 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD11 Wnw PennsucoBroward, FLA TRAINED SPOTTER CALLED TO REPORT A FUNNEL CLOUD OVER THE EVERGLADES AT 601PM EDT. THE FUNNEL EXTENDED APPROX HALF WAY FROM CLOUD BASE. LOCATION VIA RADAR
22:08 UTCHAIL 0.251 Wsw Pembroke PinesBroward, FLAN OFF DUTY NWS METEOROLOGIST REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL IN PEMBROKE PINES WEST OF I 75 AT 608PM EDT.
22:35 UTCLIGHTNING5 Ne Coral GablesMiami-Dade, FLLIGHTNING STRUCK AND DOWNED A POWER POLE ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF NW 7TH STREET NEAR NW 15TH AVENUE IN MIAMI. THE POWER POLE FELL ACROSS NW 7TH STREET, RESULTING IN THE CLOSURE OF BOTH THE STREET AND THE THIRD BASE PARKIN
23:15 UTCFLOOD1 Ne Liberty CityMiami-Dade, FLAN OFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE REPOTED FLOODING ALONG I 95 IN MIAMI DADE COUNTY AT 715 PM EDT. ONE OF THE EXPRESS LANES WAS CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 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.