Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2020

EF0 tornado, Orange City, Florida, August 18, 2020

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Volusia County on August 18, 2020, touching down at 3:48 PM EDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $40,000 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
August 18, 2020
Touchdown
3:48 PM EDT (19:48 UTC)
Lifted
3:49 PM EDT (19:49 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$40,000
County
Volusia County
Touchdown point
28.949, -81.266
Lift-off point
28.949, -81.265
Record number
2008181348-02

The damage survey

64 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MLB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 111 mph.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Numerous thunderstorms developed along outflow boundary and sea breeze collisions. These storms produced two tornadoes in western Volusia County, including a rare August EF-2. In addition, other thunderstorms produced strong winds and hail along the Volusia and Brevard County coasts.

A National Weather Service Damage Survey confirmed that a brief EF-0 tornado impacted the Sunset Hills subdivision east of Orange City. The tornado tracked along a 0.1 mile long path, with maximum winds estimated between 65-75 mph. The tornado had a maximum width of approximately 70 yards. Several large tree branches were downed on both sides of County Road 4101, between Sunnyside Ave and E Graves Ave. A mobile home was destroyed after its roof caved in at the intersection of Sunnyside Ave and County Road 4101. Preliminary damage estimates from the Volusia County Property Appraiser was $40,000, with one structure destroyed. There were no reported injuries or fatalities.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:36 UTC20:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryMLB
18:46 UTC19:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLB
19:47 UTC21:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryMLB
19:52 UTC20:15 UTCTornado WarningMLB
20:19 UTC23:30 UTCFlood WarningMLB

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 16:24 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.

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), 12:00Z

7.8 hours before the tornado, 92 km from the path. August 18, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2020-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 475 joules per kilogram, CIN -109, lifted condensation level 1373 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 12:00Z on 2020-08-18The 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 24 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 10 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
475 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1505 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1373 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cape Canaveral, FL (KXMR), 00:00Z

4.2 hours after it, 92 km from the path. August 19, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 2020-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 145 joules per kilogram, CIN -230, lifted condensation level 1444 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, Cape Canaveral, FL at 00:00Z on 2020-08-19The 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 -16 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 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
145 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-230 J/kg
Surface CAPE
379 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1444 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

DeLand (DED), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:55 UTC8774.8290° 19 kt241013.9TSHZ
18:15 UTC7873280° 4 kt1013.5TSRA
18:35 UTC81.374.7220° 3 kt1012.9VCTSRA
18:55 UTC8174.8120° 5 kt1012.9-VCTSRA
19:15 UTC80.274.730° 12 kt1012.2VCTS
19:35 UTC77.57260° 9 kt211012.5TSRA
19:55 UTC74.372.3230° 12 kt231016.9+TSRA BR
20:15 UTC72.37120° 9 kt1014.2+TSRA BR
20:35 UTC71.870110° 11 kt1014.6+TSRA BR
20:55 UTC71.470.570° 9 kt1014.2-VCTSRA
21:15 UTC71.670.2340° 6 kt1014.6-TSRA
21:35 UTC71.470.290° 7 kt1014.2-TSRA

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

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:46 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
18:54 UTCHAIL 1South DaytonaVolusia, FLSPECTRUM NEWS 13 RELAYED PHOTO OF QUARTER-SIZED HAIL IN SOUTH DAYTONA. TIME AND LOCATION APPROXIMATED BY RADAR.
18:59 UTCHAIL 1Port OrangeVolusia, FLSPECTRUM NEWS 13 RELAYED PHOTO OF HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS IN PORT ORANGE. TIME AND LOCATION APPROXIMATED USING RADAR.
19:00 UTCHAIL 0.885 W New Smyrna Beach AiVolusia, FLTRAINED SPOTTER IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH REPORTED NICKEL SIZED HAIL.
19:00 UTCHAIL 0.885 W New Smyrna Beach AiVolusia, FLTRAINED SPOTTER IN PORT ORANGE REPORTED NICKEL SIZED HAIL.
19:14 UTCTSTM WND GST 41Sanford AirportSeminole, FLASOS AT SANFORD AIRPORT MEASURED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 36 KNOTS OR 41 MPH FROM THE SSE.
19:19 UTCTSTM WND GST 534 Nne EdgewaterVolusia, FLWEATHER UNDERGROUND STATION IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH MEASURED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 53 MPH FROM THE NW.
19:48 UTCTORNADO1 Nnw De LandVolusia, FLNWS MELBOURNE STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS AN EF-2 TORNADO MOVED THROUGH NORTH DELAND WITH PEAK WINDS ESTIMATED AT 105-115 MPH. THE EF-2 DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO E WASHINGTON AVENUE BETWEEN ALABAMA AVE AND AMELIA AVE, THOUGH EF-1
19:48 UTCTORNADO5 Nne DebaryVolusia, FLNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE DAMAGE SURVEY CONFIRMS THAT A BRIEF EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN THE SUNSET HILLS SUBDIVISION EAST OFORANGE CITY. SEVERAL LARGE TREE BRANCHES WERE DOWNED ON BOTH SIDES OF COUNTY ROAD 41
19:52 UTCTSTM WND DMGDelandVolusia, FLNUMEROUS PICTURES AND REPORTS OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ALONG WITH LARGE TREES SNAPPED IN NORTH DELAND. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
21:35 UTCFLOOD5 N EdgewaterVolusia, FLWNDB REPORTS FLOODING ON FLAGLER AVE IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2020 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 18, 2020

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 183:48 PM EDTEF2Volusia, FL4.65501$8.0 million

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.