Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2019

EF0 tornado, Madeira Beach, Florida, May 5, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Pinellas County on May 5, 2019, touching down at 12:40 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.

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
May 5, 2019
Touchdown
12:40 PM EDT (16:40 UTC)
Lifted
12:41 PM EDT (16:41 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Pinellas County
Touchdown point
27.794, -82.793
Lift-off point
27.798, -82.790
Record number
1905051040-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong complex of thunderstorms moved across the Eastern Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore across the Florida peninsula during the afternoon. Strong to severe thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage across west-central and southwest Florida along with a brief tornado as a waterspout moved ashore.

A NWS storm survey confirmed that a waterspout moved ashore on Madeira Beach before quickly dissipating. The tornado caused damage to a carport and an unsecured porch while also snapping trees and power lines in the area.

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
16:04 UTC17:00 UTCMarine WarningTBW

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:50 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.

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), 12:00Z

4.7 hours before the tornado, 40 km from the path. May 5, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2019-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1044 joules per kilogram, CIN -65, lifted condensation level 901 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2019-05-05The 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 86 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 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
1044 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2908 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
901 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
4.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), 00:00Z

7.3 hours after it, 40 km from the path. May 6, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2019-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 67 joules per kilogram, CIN -111, lifted condensation level 1293 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2019-05-06The 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 19 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 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
67 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1468 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1293 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:39 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
16:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw ClearwaterPinellas, FLA FEW REPORTS OF TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN THE 1100 BLOCK OF NORWOOD AVENUE.
16:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S SeminolePinellas, FLPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE. BROADCAST MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA REPORTS OF AN AREA OF WIDESPREAD DAMAGE IN MADEIRA BEACH. TREES AND LARGE BRANCHES SNAPPED OFF, POWERLINES KNOCKED DOWN, AND CARPORT AND PORCH DAMAGE. TIME ESTIMA
16:47 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 494 Nne Pinellas ParkPinellas, FLASOS AT KPIE REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 43 KNOTS.
16:49 UTCTSTM WND GST 622 E OldsmarHillsborough, FLA WEATHER STATION NEAR TAMPA BAY DOWNS RECORDED A 62 MPH THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST.
16:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGSaint PetersburgPinellas, FLLARGE TREE ON CAR IN SAINT PETERSBURG.
16:55 UTCWATER SPOUT5 Nnw SarasotaManatee, FLPUBLIC REPORTED A WATER SPOUT OVER SARASOTA BAY MOVING EAST TOWARDS MANATEE COUNTY.
16:59 UTCTSTM WND GST 583 Ene Pinellas ParkPinellas, FLA HOME WEATHER STATION AT SPARKS RC FLYING FIELD REPORTED A 58 MPH WIND GUST.
17:00 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 443 Wnw TampaHillsborough, FLASOS AT KTPA REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 38 KNOTS.
17:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGLand O LakesPasco, FLNUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN ACROSS LAND O LAKES.
17:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E BrandonHillsborough, FLTREE WAS REPORTED DOWN ON A HOUSE ON CLAYTON STREET IN BRANDON.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 5, 2019

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 511:27 AM EDTEF1Marion, FL0.9100
May 55:35 PM CDTUnratedLancaster, NE0.050
May 55:36 PM CDTEF0Ford, KS0.675
May 55:38 PM CDTEF2Lancaster, NE0.6200
May 55:45 PM CDTEF2Lynn, TX17.22,112$36,000
May 56:15 PM CDTEF1Meade, KS1.1100
May 56:25 PM CDTEF1Barton, KS0.675$40,000
May 56:30 PM CDTUnratedRice, KS0.250
May 56:49 PM CDTUnratedMeade, KS0.475
May 57:00 PM CDTEF0Rice, KS0.575$20,000
May 57:04 PM CDTUnratedMeade, KS0.775
May 57:12 PM CDTEF1Lynn, TX5.0880
May 57:13 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.3200
May 57:34 PM CDTEF1Reno, KS0.1300
May 57:35 PM CDTEF1Reno, KS0.4100$100,000
May 58:00 PM CDTUnratedReno, KS0.250
May 58:20 PM CDTUnratedReno, KS0.350
May 58:39 PM CDTEF0Sumner, KS0.875
May 58:49 PM CDTUnratedRoberts, TX6.4500
May 58:59 PM CDTEF0Borden, TX0.450
May 511:54 PM CDTEF1Noble, OK1.530$30,000

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.