EF1 tornado, De Funiak Springs to Ponce De Leon, Florida, April 23, 2020

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

April 23, 2020

Touchdown

3:13 PM CDT (20:13 UTC)

Lifted

3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

9.1 miles (14.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

Counties

Walton and Holmes counties

Touchdown point

30.710, -86.120

Lift-off point

30.713, -85.967

Record number

2004231413-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 88 mph.

• Trees down along Bob Sikes road and TDS
• 4 windows blow out. Roof peel allowed water in

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

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.

Tree damage was first noted along Bob Sikes Rd. just west of Hwy 331. The tornado then crossed Hwy 331 knocking down a few business signs and trees as well as blowing in four windows of a series of businesses at a strip mall. A large retail business|also had part of it's roof peeled back and a couple HVAC units blown off. The tornado continued east northeast with points surveyed along Bay Ave southeast of DeFuniak Springs as well as County Rd 183 south of Argyle. Trees and large limbs were downed|at both locations. The location south of Argyle was the last portion of the track able to be surveyed as the track then went into inaccessible portions of Holmes County south of HWY 90. Radar was used to extend the track a few more miles into Holmes|county. The tornado lifted before reaching Ponce De Leon or Highway 81.

Tree damage was first noted along Bob Sikes Rd. just west of Hwy 331. The tornado then crossed Hwy 331 knocking down a few business signs and trees as well as blowing in four windows of a series of businesses at a strip mall. A large retail business also had part of it's roof peeled back and a couple HVAC units blown off.The tornado continued east northeast with points surveyed along Bay Ave southeast of DeFuniak Springs as well as County Rd 183 south of Argyle. Trees and large limbs were downed|at both locations. The location south of Argyle was the last portion of the track able to be surveyed as the track then went into inaccessible portions of Holmes County south of HWY 90. Radar was used to extend the track a few more miles into Holmes|county. The tornado lifted before reaching Ponce De Leon or Highway 81.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:04 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 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 Slight 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.

DeFuniak (54J), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:14 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.