EF0 tornado, Grayton Beach to Bruce, Florida, January 25, 2023

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

January 25, 2023

Touchdown

5:04 AM CST (11:04 UTC)

Lifted

5:07 AM CST (11:07 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.5 miles (2.4 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Walton County

Touchdown point

30.350, -86.150

Lift-off point

30.360, -86.128

Record number

2301250504-01

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.

• Numerous trees down in heavily forested area based on photos from Walton County emergency management.
• Numerous trees down in heavily forested area based on photos from Walton County Emergency Management.

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

A couple of strong upper level shortwaves impacted the area during the latter half of January, bringing with them a couple of rounds of severe weather with numerous reports of trees and power lines blown down. In addition, a few tornadoes occurred across the tri-state area.

A brief Tornadic Debris Signature occurred on Eglin AFB radar in a forested area. No structures were impacted, and the tornado was rated EF0 due to tree damage.

A short-lived tornado tracked through a heavily forested portion of southern Walton County, touching down just north of the intracoastal waterway near Bunker Road and dissipating shortly thereafter. The track and EF0 intensity is based on photos of tree damage from Walton County Emergency Management and a Tornadic Debris Signature from the Eglin Air Force Base WSR-88D Radar.

Another short-lived tornado tracked through a heavily forested portion of southern Walton County. No structures were impacted, and the 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.

3 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 11:01 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:03 UTC and running to 12:37 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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 Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:04 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 2023 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.