EF0 tornado, Verna, Florida, November 11, 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

November 11, 2020

Touchdown

12:18 PM EST (17:18 UTC)

Lifted

12:28 PM EST (17:28 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

0.4 miles (0.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Manatee County

Touchdown point

27.430, -82.300

Lift-off point

27.430, -82.294

Record number

2011111118-01

Hurricane Eta originated from a tropical depression that formed in the central Caribbean Sea on October 31st. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Eta later that day and continued rapid intensification to major hurricane status on November 2nd while moving westward across the western Caribbean, reaching peak intensity of 150 mph and 923 mb on November 3rd, before making landfall near Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Eta meandered across Nicaragua and Honduras while weakening to a tropical depression through November 5th before emerging over the northwest Caribbean Sea while gradually turning northeast. Eta regained tropical storm status on November 6th and made landfall in Cuba on the 7th, emerged in the Florida Straits and turned westward on the 8th before making landfall in the Florida Keys later that day. The storm made a southwest jog into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on the 9th before it briefly stalled then turned northward on the 10th. Eta accelerated north-northeast across the eastern Gulf toward the western Florida coast and briefly strengthened to a minimal hurricane during the early morning hours on the 11th, reaching a second peak of 75 mph and 983 mb while centered about 170 miles south-southwest of Tampa. Eta then weakened to a tropical storm as it approached the peninsula and made landfall on November 12th near Cedar Key around 4 AM EST with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and a minimum central pressure of 996 mb.||The highest measured wind gust in west central Florida was 60 mph at Punta Gorda (KPGD) in Charlotte County. Greatest water level rises occurred at Old Port Tampa in Hillsborough County, where a peak of 3.87 ft MHHW was observed. Area rainfall amounts were generally in the 5- to 10-inch range, with a maximum storm total rainfall amount of 10.39 inches recorded near Sun City Center in Hillsborough County.||Levy County- In Levy County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 50 mph at a mesonet site on Cedar Key. Rainfall was below 5 inches across the area with no significant damage being reported. The maximum storm surge was 2.10 ft MHHW in Cedar Key.||Citrus County- In Citrus County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 53 mph at a mesonet site in Crystal River. Rainfall was below 5 inches across the area with the highest total being 3.64 inches in Inverness. No significant damage was reported. ||Hernando County- In Hernando County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 48 mph at a mesonet site in Weeki Wachee. Rainfall was below 5 inches across the area with the highest total being 3.18 inches at the Brooksville-Tampa Regional Airport. No significant damage was reported. ||Pasco County- In Pasco County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 44 mph at the AWOS located at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. Rainfall was generally around 5 inches across the area with the highest total being 5.05 inches in Holiday. No significant damage was reported. ||Pinellas County-In Pinellas County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 60 mph at the weather flow site on Clearwater Beach. Rainfall was generally above 5 inches with the highest rain total being 9.11 inches at a site in St. Petersburg. The wind resulted in many homes being damaged, as well as knocking over trees and power lines. There was also significant beach erosion along southwest facing beaches from Redington Shore to Pass-a-Grill. Pinellas County Emergency Management reported 88 homes with major damage, 621 homes with minor damage, and 1,496 other homes being affected. The total property damage by Eta in Pinellas County was estimated at $40.1 million. The maximum storm surge was 3.47 ft MHHW at St. Pete Beach. ||Hillsborough County- In Hillsborough County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 59 mph at the weather flow site at the Tampa Bay Cut. Rainfall was generally above 5 inches, with the highest rain total being 10.39 inches at a site in Sun City Center. The wind resulted in some homes being damaged, as well as knocking over trees and power lines. Hillsborough County Emergency Management reported 8 homes with major damage, 15 homes with minor damage, and 10 other homes being affected. The total property damage by Eta in Hillsborough county was estimated at $485,00. The maximum storm surge was 3.87 ft MHHW at Old Port Tampa. ||Manatee County-In Manatee County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 54 mph at the ASOS site at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Rainfall was generally above 5 inches, with the highest rain total being 8.10 inches at a site in South Bradenton. The wind and salt water flooding resulted in some homes being damaged, as well as knocking over trees and power lines. There was also significant beach erosion along barrier island from Anna Maria Island to Long Key. Manatee County Emergency Management reported 6 homes with major damage, 27 homes with minor damage, and 99 other homes being affected. An EF-0 tornado was also found to have briefly touched down near Myakka causing porch damage to one home. The total property damage by Eta in Manatee County was estimated at $10.3 million. The maximum storm surge was 3.03 ft MHHW at Port Manatee. There was one indirect fatality reported in Bradenton Beach when a man was electrocuted when he touched an appliance while standing in water that had entered his house.||Sarasota County-In Sarasota County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 57 mph at the AWOS site at Venice Municipal Airport. Rainfall was generally around 5 inches, with the highest rain total being 6.23 inches at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The wind caused some damage to homes, as well as knocking over trees and power lines. Also, storm surge caused the first floor of multiple hotels on Lido Key to be evacuated and caused damage to parking lots and jetties in the area. The National Weather Service estimates about $500,000 in damages in the county. ||Charlotte County- In Charlotte County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 60 mph at the ASOS at Punta Gorda Airport. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches, with the highest rain total being 4.58 inches at a site in Rotonda. The wind caused some damage to homes, as well as knocking down a few trees and power lines. Also, storm surge caused beach erosion and flooded streets and parking lots near Punta Gorda, Manasota Key, and Englewood Beach areas. The National Weather Service estimates about $100,000 in damages in the county. ||Lee County- In Lee County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 52 mph at the ASOS at Southwest Florida International Airport. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches, with the highest rain total being 4.77 at the Southwest Florida International Airport. The wind caused some damage to homes, as well as knocking down a few trees and power lines. Also, salt water flooding was observed on south exposed beaches and nearby homes. The National Weather Service estimates about $100,000 in damages in the county. The maximum storm surge was 2.74 ft MHHW in Fort Myers.||Sumter County- In Sumter County no tropical storm wind speeds were recorded. Rainfall was generally around 5 inches across the area with the highest total being 5.51 inches in Wildwood. No damage being reports. ||Polk County- In Polk County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 44 mph at the ASOS located at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches across the area with the highest total being 4.31 inches in Lakeland. No damage being reports. ||Hardee County- In Hardee County there was no tropical storm force winds recorded. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches and no significant damage was reported. ||Desoto County- In Desoto County there was no tropical storm force winds recorded. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches and no significant damage was reported. ||Highlands County- In Highlands County the highest wind reported from Hurricane Eta was a gust of 39 mph at the AWOS located at the Sebring Regional Airport. Rainfall was generally below 5 inches across the area. No damage being reports.

Emergency Manager reported a porch damage destoryed on the 6000 block of county road 675 near Myakka. Radar verified a short lived tornado was the cause of the damage.

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

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 13:08 UTC and running to 22:00 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 16:22 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 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.

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:18 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

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.