Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2021

EF0 tornado, Fort Braden, Florida, April 10, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Leon County on April 10, 2021, touching down at 11:28 AM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
April 10, 2021
Touchdown
11:28 AM EDT (15:28 UTC)
Lifted
11:31 AM EDT (15:31 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.4 miles (3.8 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Leon County
Touchdown point
30.373, -84.529
Lift-off point
30.381, -84.490
Record number
2104100928-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Multiple round of showers and thunderstorms ahead of a strong cold front affected the tri-state region during the April 9-10 period. An initial round of storms on April 9th brought primarily large hail to the region, and then a squall line pushed through on April 10th with primarily damaging winds as well as a few tornadoes, mainly across Florida. Some flooding was also reported, mainly across Florida where the heaviest rainfall amounts occurred in a short period of time.

A brief tornado touched down in a forested area west of Tallahassee with no structural damage reported. The only damage was to trees with a dual-pol tornadic debris signature evident from TLH radar.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:20 UTC and running to 16:33 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
14:20 UTC16:33 UTCTornado WatchTAE
14:56 UTC16:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
15:29 UTC16:00 UTCTornado WarningTAE

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:44 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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

3.5 hours before the tornado, 20 km from the path. April 10, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-04-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 13 joules per kilogram, CIN -541, lifted condensation level 1046 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-04-10The 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 276 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-541 J/kg
Surface CAPE
170 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
276 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

8.5 hours after it, 20 km from the path. April 11, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -82592, lifted condensation level 1513 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-04-11The 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 146 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82592 J/kg
Surface CAPE
33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Tallahassee Regional (TLH), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
13:30 UTC150° 11 kt1009.8BR
13:35 UTC150° 11 kt1009.8BR
13:40 UTC160° 11 kt1009.5BR
13:45 UTC150° 11 kt1009.5BR
13:50 UTC160° 10 kt1009.5BR
13:53 UTC6967160° 9 kt1009.5BR
13:55 UTC170° 11 kt1009.5BR
14:00 UTC160° 11 kt1009.5BR
14:05 UTC160° 14 kt221009.5BR
14:10 UTC170° 9 kt1009.5
14:15 UTC160° 10 kt1009.5
14:20 UTC160° 11 kt1009.1
14:25 UTC170° 11 kt1009.1
14:30 UTC160° 11 kt1009.1
14:35 UTC160° 13 kt1008.8
14:40 UTC160° 14 kt1008.8
14:45 UTC170° 11 kt1008.8
14:50 UTC180° 15 kt211009.1
14:53 UTC7167170° 12 kt211009.1
14:55 UTC180° 11 kt1009.5
15:00 UTC180° 11 kt1009.8
15:05 UTC180° 11 kt1009.8
15:10 UTC180° 13 kt1010.2
15:15 UTC180° 11 kt171010.2
15:20 UTC170° 13 kt1009.8
15:25 UTC 15 kt1010.2
15:30 UTC180° 10 kt1010.2
15:35 UTC170° 10 kt1009.8-RA
15:40 UTC150° 11 kt1009.8-RA BR
15:44 UTC7168230° 23 kt321011.2-TSRA BR
15:45 UTC 23 kt291011.2-RA BR
15:50 UTC 14 kt1011.5+RA BR
15:53 UTC6561300° 11 kt321011.5+TSRA BR
15:55 UTC300° 8 kt1011.5RA BR
16:00 UTC300° 8 kt1011.9-RA BR
16:05 UTC280° 5 kt1011.9-RA BR
16:10 UTC260° 7 kt1011.9-RA BR
16:15 UTC250° 5 kt1011.9-RA BR
16:20 UTC260° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:25 UTC250° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:30 UTC250° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:35 UTC270° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:37 UTC6461280° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:40 UTC260° 5 kt1011.5-RA
16:45 UTC250° 10 kt1011.5-RA
16:50 UTC260° 10 kt1011.5-RA
16:53 UTC6561260° 7 kt1011.5-RA
16:55 UTC260° 8 kt-RA
17:00 UTC260° 9 kt1011.2-RA
17:05 UTC270° 9 kt1011.2-RA
17:10 UTC270° 10 kt1011.2-RA
17:13 UTC6562270° 11 kt1010.8-RA
17:15 UTC270° 11 kt1010.8-RA
17:20 UTC270° 9 kt1010.5-RA
17:25 UTC270° 11 kt1010.8

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

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:24 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
15:04 UTCTSTM WND DMGHosfordLiberty, FLNUMEROUS TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT LIBERTY COUNTY.
15:46 UTCTSTM WND DMGForest Meadows ParkLeon, FLTREE DOWN BLOCKING ROADWAY AT N MERIDIAN AND MILLERS LANDING.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 10, 2021

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 101:26 AM CDTEF1Saint Landry Parish, LA3.6187$20,000
April 102:06 AM CDTEF3Saint Landry Parish, LA8.720017$1.0 million
April 106:23 AM CDTEF1Walton, FL15.8100$10,000
April 108:42 AM CDTEF2Bay, FL0.5100$500,000
April 108:45 AM CDTEF0Bay, FL0.525
April 109:00 AM CDTEF1Bay, FL0.330$100,000
April 104:18 PM EDTEF0Kent, MI0.665$75,000
April 105:45 PM EDTEF1Manatee, FL0.5501$1.0 million
April 105:50 PM EDTEF0Oconee, SC1.220$30,000
April 106:38 PM EDTEF0Spartanburg, SC1.120
April 107:21 PM EDTEF0Rutherford, NC0.120$5,000
April 108:10 PM EDTEF0McDowell, NC0.620$1,000

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.