Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2023

EF0 tornado, Chipola Park, Florida, April 27, 2023

This EF0 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Calhoun County on April 27, 2023, touching down at 3:33 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 27, 2023
Touchdown
3:33 PM CDT (20:33 UTC)
Lifted
3:35 PM CDT (20:35 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.9 miles (1.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Calhoun County
Touchdown point
30.210, -85.220
Lift-off point
30.218, -85.208
Record number
2304271433-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong spring storm system moved through the area with ample instability and shear for severe weather. Numerous reports of severe weather were received across the tri-state area. Two tornadoes occurred across southwest Georgia, and seven tornadoes occurred across the eastern Florida panhandle and big bend. An EF2 tornado produced significant damage in the town of Hosford, FL.

A well defined TDS occurred in a rural area in far southern Calhoun county. No structures were in the path to be impacted. This tornado was rated EF0 due to tree damage.

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

The warnings

2 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:31 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:48 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 15:37 UTC and running to 21:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:37 UTC21:43 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTAE
18:01 UTC18:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
18:41 UTC19:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
18:49 UTC19:15 UTCTornado WarningTAE
19:10 UTC19:45 UTCTornado WarningTAE
19:38 UTC22:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryTAE
19:38 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
20:15 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
20:31 UTC20:48 UTCTornado WarningTAE
20:51 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:10 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

8.6 hours before the tornado, 90 km from the path. April 27, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2023-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 485 joules per kilogram, CIN -75, lifted condensation level 706 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 2023-04-27The 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 25 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
485 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Surface CAPE
38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:33 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
18:00 UTCLIGHTNING1 Sw Pfn-Bay County AirBay, FL*** 1 INJ *** A MAN WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN THE PANAMA CITY AREA. TIME ESTIMATED.
18:02 UTCHAIL 1.52 Sw SouthportBay, FLREPORT FROM MPING: PING PONG BALL (1.50 IN.).
18:04 UTCHAIL 1.751 N Lynn HavenBay, FL
18:05 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 N Panama CityBay, FLREPORTED AT 426 WEST 23RD STREET, PANAMA CITY, FL.
18:08 UTCHAIL 1.751 Wnw SouthportBay, FLTHERE WERE MANY REPORTS OF HAIL AROUND THIS SIZE, INCLUDING AT THE EOC. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AS WELL AT MANY LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY.
19:15 UTCTORNADO1 Nne Scotts FerryCalhoun, FLA TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED THAT HE SAW A TORNADO TOUCH DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 71 WITH DOWNED TREES ALONG THE HIGHWAY BETWEEN 2 PM AND 2:30 PM CT.
19:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nne Scotts FerryCalhoun, FLTREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 71 SOUTH NEAR WILLIAMS MEMORIAL.
19:52 UTCTORNADO2 Nnw TelogiaLiberty, FLDAMAGE IN THE HOSFORD AREA WITH A CONFIRMED TDS ON RADAR.
20:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 582 W MillvilleGmz750, FL58 MPH GUST AS STATION PACF1.
20:04 UTCTSTM WND GST 59Tyndall AfbBay, FLAWOS STATION KPAM TYNDALL AFB.
20:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 762 S Lynn HavenBay, FL76 MPH WIND GUSTS FROM BAY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE WEATHERSTEM.
20:05 UTCTORNADOLynn HavenBay, FLPHOTOS OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WITH CONFIRMED TDS IN THE AREA.
20:10 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 504 Se Tyndall AfbBay, FLDRONE RUNWAY MEASURED 50 MPH GUST.
20:11 UTCTSTM WND GST 561 Ese Tyndall AfbBay, FLAWOS STATION KPAM TYNDALL AFB.
20:33 UTCTORNADO2 Ssw Chipola ParkCalhoun, FLWELL DEFINED TDS ON RADAR.
20:56 UTCMARINE TSTM WIND 504 Sse Saint Joseph StatGulf, FLAMBIENT STATION GUSTED TO 50 MPH.
21:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGScotts FerryCalhoun, FLSEVERAL TREES DOWN IN CALHOUN COUNTY.
21:23 UTCTORNADO7 Nne Jewel Fire TowerWakulla, FLBRIEF TDS ON RADAR.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 27, 2023

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 272:14 PM CDTEF0Calhoun, FL0.550
April 273:54 PM EDTEF2Liberty, FL2.5960$500,000
April 273:04 PM CDTEF1Bay, FL0.875$200,000
April 275:21 PM EDTEF0Wakulla, FL2.350
April 276:11 PM EDTEF1Thomas, GA1.2160
April 276:14 PM EDTEF0Gadsden, FL1.575
April 276:20 PM EDTEF1Thomas, GA2.375$5,000
April 276:42 PM EDTEF1Madison, FL0.6100

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.