Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2020

EF0 tornado, Clearwater, Florida, June 6, 2020

This EF0 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Pinellas County on June 6, 2020, touching down at 5:59 PM EDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
June 6, 2020
Touchdown
5:59 PM EDT (21:59 UTC)
Lifted
6:04 PM EDT (22:04 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
0.9 miles (1.5 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Pinellas County
Touchdown point
27.978, -82.770
Lift-off point
27.990, -82.763
Record number
2006061559-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Tropical Storm Cristobal developed in the southern Gulf of Mexico on June 1 before moving north and making landfall in southeast Louisiana on June 7. Effects across the FL peninsula associated with the eastern periphery of the tropical storm included heavy rainfall, gusty winds and a few tornadoes.

Social media picture of trees on vehicles on Long Street near Ridge Ave. More trees downed near Gentry St. and Ridge Ave. Also damage near North Keene road and Sunset Point Rd, garage wall pushed in and additional tree damage.

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

The warnings

7 minutes of warning. NWS TBW issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:52 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:04 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC06:57 UTCCoastal Flood StatementTBW
18:00 UTC00:00 UTCRip Currents StatementTBW
18:00 UTC18:00 UTCHigh Surf AdvisoryTBW
21:52 UTC22:04 UTCTornado 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 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

10.0 hours before the tornado, 47 km from the path. June 6, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2020-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 476 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 596 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2020-06-06The 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 194 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
476 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
596 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.0 hours after it, 47 km from the path. June 7, 2020.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2020-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 455 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 447 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 2020-06-07The 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 107 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
455 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
375 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
447 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Clearwater Air Park (CLW), 1 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:15 UTC78.877170° 14 kt231013.5+RA
20:35 UTC7773.4160° 3 kt1012.9
20:55 UTC7775.2140° 3 kt1012.5
21:15 UTC78.875.2120° 3 kt1012.5
21:35 UTC78.875.2120° 3 kt1012.9
21:55 UTC78.877170° 5 kt1013.2+RA
22:15 UTC73.471.6220° 5 kt1013.5RA
22:35 UTC73.471.6230° 3 kt1013.5RA
22:55 UTC73.471.60° 0 kt1013.9RA
23:15 UTC73.471.6220° 5 kt1013.9RA
23:35 UTC73.471.6200° 3 kt1013.9RA
23:55 UTC73.471.60° 0 kt1013.9RA

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

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:59 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
21:57 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nnw ClearwaterPinellas, FLTREE REPORTED DOWN AT 1609 LONG STREET IN CLEARWATER.
21:59 UTCTORNADO1 Nnw ClearwaterPinellas, FLCORRECTED TIME. SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE OF TREES ON VEHICLES ON LONG STREET NEAR RIDGE AVENUE. MORE TREES DOWNED NEAR GENTRY STREET AND RIDGE AVENUE. ALSO DAMAGE NEAR NORTH KEENE ROAD AND SUNSET POINT ROAD, GARAGE WALL PUSH
23:59 UTCTORNADO1 Nnw ClearwaterPinellas, FLSOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE OF TREES ON VEHICLES ON LONG STREET NEAR RIDGE AVENUE. MORE TREES DOWNED NEAR GENTRY STREET AND RIDGE AVENUE. ALSO DAMAGE NEAR NORTH KEENE ROAD AND SUNSET POINT ROAD, GARAGE WALL PUSHED IN AND ADDITI

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 June 6, 2020

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 62:51 PM MDTEF1Carbon, WY1.2600
June 65:53 PM EDTEF0Sumter, FL0.375
June 66:07 PM EDTEF0Orange, FL0.010
June 66:20 PM EDTEF0Sumter, FL0.575$40,000
June 66:40 PM EDTEF0Orange, FL0.020
June 67:20 PM EDTEF1Orange, FL5.1500$956,000
June 68:27 PM EDTEF0Volusia, FL2.0200

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.