EF0 tornado, Edgewater Gulf Beach to Southport, Florida, April 23, 2020

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 23, 2020

Touchdown

4:00 PM CDT (21:00 UTC)

Lifted

4:13 PM CDT (21:13 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

13.4 miles (21.6 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

County

Bay County

Touchdown point

30.180, -85.810

Lift-off point

30.148, -85.589

Record number

2004231500-01

Another in a series of strong upper level troughs pushed through the southeast states, resulting in another enhanced risk of severe storms from the Storm Prediction Center. The tri-state area was hit fairly hard again, with numerous reports of wind damage documented along with several tornadoes.

Tornado moved onshore in along Panama City Beach just west of Lower Grand Lagoon. Only minor damage was reported in Panama City Beach. The tornado cross St. Andrew Bay and impacted the area around the marina in downtown Panama City. Several unsecured construction trailers were destroyed along with a camper trailer. The tornado continued moving east through the Cove neighborhood before dissipating just east of the North Tyndall Parkway. Reports from Bay County EMA, along with media reports from WMBB and WJHG were used to analyze this tornado.

No significant damage reported. Track based radar and video from social media (via WMBB). Video showed debris being lofted by tornado and power flashes from power lines. Tree damage was minimal, consisting of down limbs, mainly in the vicinity of the playground at Southport Elementary School.

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:45 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:47 UTC and running to 22:18 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. 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 Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:02 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 2020 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

29 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.