EF1 tornado, Beresford to De Land, Florida, January 4, 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

January 4, 2020

Touchdown

11:26 AM EST (16:26 UTC)

Lifted

11:30 AM EST (16:30 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

4.4 miles (7.1 km)

Path width

265 yards (242 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$25,000

County

Volusia County

Touchdown point

29.002, -81.351

Lift-off point

29.026, -81.284

Record number

2001041026-01

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MLB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 98 mph.

• Reported damage of power poles downed at Beresford Ave and Boundary Ave.
• Eyewitness report of tornado touching down on Lake Beresford, causing damage along several roadways including Faito Road, then heading towards Woodward Elementary School.

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

A severe thunderstorm moving across central Florida produced two tornadoes, one in Okahumpka in Lake County, then another in DeLand in Volusia County.

National Weather Service staff conducted a damage survey and confirmed a EF-1 tornado in occurred in DeLand on January 4, 2020. Peak winds were estimated between 90 and 100 mph, along a 4.39 mile long path, with a maximum width of 265 yards. A DeLand resident on a large paddleboat on Lake Beresford observed the waterspout/tornado touching down just southwest of his location on the lake. The tornado moved onshore causing tree damage to a nearby property near South Beresford Road. The tornado continued generally northeast clipping the southern side of Woodward Avenue Elementary School, crossing multiple streets, subdivisions, a large park, a nursing home, and dissipated near the intersection of Colorado Avenue and New York Avenue. Damage estimates indicate several large trees toppled, numerous large branches downed, two homes experienced major roof damage, significant roof damage to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building, structural damage at Melching Field and Earl Brown Park, 8-10 power poles snapped at the base, and 10 additional structures received lesser, minor-moderate damage. City of DeLand officials estimate the damage in the city to be around $25,000.

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

DeLand (DED), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:25 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.

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

1 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.