Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2024

EF0 tornado, Saint Petersburg Ports Site, Florida, January 9, 2024

Name: EF0 tornado, Saint Petersburg Ports Site, Florida, January 9, 2024
Start: 2024-01-09T21:23:00.000Z
End: 2024-01-09T21:24:00.000Z
Location: Saint Petersburg Ports Site, Florida

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Pinellas County on January 9, 2024, touching down at 4:23 PM EST and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: January 9, 2024
Touchdown: 4:23 PM EST (21:23 UTC)
Lifted: 4:24 PM EST (21:24 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width: 10 yards (9 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
County: Pinellas County
Touchdown point: 27.753, -82.640
Lift-off point: 27.753, -82.640
Record number: 2401091523-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TBW, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 82 mph.

Partial roof loss on two story apartment building. No visible damage to structure otherwise.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

A prefrontal squall line ahead of a cold front over the eastern Gulf of Mexico extending south from an area of low pressure moving across the southeast U.S. and Mid-Atlantic produced tornadoes in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, along with damaging straight-line winds in Sarasota County.

A very brief EF-0 tornado with maximum estimated winds of around 80 mph produced minor roof damage to a structure in Saint Petersburg just north of 18th Avenue between 5th and 6th Street. Just west of the building were parked cars, trees, and a telephone pole with no damage. However, roof covering material was found deposited in this area. No other visible damage could be found in the vicinity.

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

The warnings

13 minutes of warning. NWS TBW issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:10 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:15 UTC and running to 22:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
12:00 UTC	00:00 UTC	Wind Advisory	TBW
12:00 UTC	08:57 UTC	High Surf Advisory	TBW
12:00 UTC	00:00 UTC	Rip Currents Statement	TBW
15:00 UTC	20:37 UTC	Coastal Flood Watch	TBW
15:00 UTC	00:36 UTC	Coastal Flood Warning	TBW
18:15 UTC	22:55 UTC	Tornado Watch	TBW
20:43 UTC	21:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	TBW
20:54 UTC	21:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW
21:10 UTC	21:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	TBW
21:22 UTC	21:31 UTC	Tornado Warning	TBW
00:36 UTC	12:00 UTC	Coastal Flood Statement	TBW

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 19:58 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jan 9, 3:08 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 9, 3:08 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
308 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION, MARINE, FIRE WEATHER...

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 211 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

Squall line continuing to advance eastward across the region with
gusty southerly winds out ahead of it. This line will exit the
forecast area later this evening with a few showers behind it.
Winds will diminish and shift to northwest overnight as the cold
front moves through with cooler drier air returning for midweek.

Our next storm system approaches late in the week with a warm
front lifting north Thursday and Thursday night leading to more
clouds and some showers. During Friday the cold front associated
with this system will approach with gusty southerly winds bringing
warm moist air back north again. Cold front will move across the
area Friday night preceded by another line of convection. Overall
pattern is similar to todays event, but not looking quite as
strong at this time.

Cooler drier air returns for the weekend and then we'll do it all
again late Monday through Tuesday as another storm system develops
and moves across the southeast states.

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 211 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

Showers and thunderstorms will move across the TAF sites during
the mid to late afternoon and evening hours causing some IFR/local
LIFR conditions along with the possibility of some strong wind
gusts up to 50 knots. Convection moves out by midnight tonight
with VFR conditions returning and west to northwest winds
diminishing to around 10 knots for the rest of the TAF period.

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 211 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

The line of thunderstorms will move across the waters this
afternoon and evening. Gusty southerly winds will continue ahead
of the line then to westerly and northwesterly behind it tonight.
A Gale Warning remains in effect for all zones into this evening
followed by Small Craft Advisory tonight into tomorrow. Elevated
winds will diminish on Wednesday, with seas diminishing during
midweek. High surf risk and high risk of rip currents will remain
at least until Thursday morning.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 211 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

The line of showers and thunderstorms will exit the region early
tonight with cooler drier air building back in for midweek. The next
system will approach late in the week with more showers and possibly
a few thunderstorms returning. After this afternoon there are no
additional fire weather concerns as winds will diminish and minimum
relative humidity values will remain above critical levels.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TPA  55  63  51  65 /  40   0   0  20
FMY  58  70  55  70 /  90   0   0  30
GIF  51  66  47  65 /  70   0   0  20
SRQ  57  66  51  68 /  60   0   0  30
BKV  49  64  44  67 /  30   0   0  20
SPG  56  61  54  64 /  50   0   0  30

&&

.TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...Wind Advisory until 7 PM EST this evening for Coastal Charlotte-
     Coastal Citrus-Coastal Hernando-Coastal Hillsborough-
     Coastal Lee-Coastal Levy-Coastal Manatee-Coastal Pasco-
     Coastal Sarasota-DeSoto-Hardee-Highlands-Inland Charlotte-
     Inland Citrus-Inland Hernando-Inland Hillsborough-Inland
     Lee-Inland Levy-Inland Manatee-Inland Pasco-Inland Sarasota-
     Pinellas-Polk-Sumter.

     Coastal Flood Warning until 7 AM EST Wednesday for Coastal
     Citrus-Coastal Hernando-Coastal Hillsborough-Coastal Levy-
     Coastal Manatee-Coastal Pasco-Coastal Sarasota-Pinellas.

     High Rip Current Risk through Thursday morning for Coastal
     Charlotte-Coastal Hillsborough-Coastal Lee-Coastal Manatee-
     Coastal Sarasota-Pinellas.

     High Surf Advisory until 7 AM EST Thursday for Coastal Charlotte-
     Coastal Hillsborough-Coastal Lee-Coastal Manatee-Coastal
     Sarasota-Pinellas.

Gulf waters...Gale Warning until 7 PM EST this evening for
     Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound-Coastal waters from
     Bonita Beach to Englewood FL out 20 NM-Coastal waters from
     Englewood to Tarpon Springs FL out 20 NM-Coastal waters from
     Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM-Tampa Bay waters-
     Waters from Bonita Beach to Englewood FL out 20 to 60 NM-
     Waters from Englewood to Tarpon Springs FL out 20 to 60 NM-
     Waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 to
     60 NM.

     Small Craft Advisory from 7 PM this evening to 1 PM EST
     Wednesday for Coastal waters from Englewood to Tarpon
     Springs FL out 20 NM-Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to
     Suwannee River FL out 20 NM-Tampa Bay waters-Waters from
     Bonita Beach to Englewood FL out 20 to 60 NM-Waters from
     Englewood to Tarpon Springs FL out 20 to 60 NM-Waters from
     Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 to 60 NM.

&&

Close

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 9, 1:15 PM EST, 3 hours 8 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL
115 PM EST Tue Jan 9 2024

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1210 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 N Highpoint           27.92N 82.71W
01/09/2024  M60 MPH          Pinellas           FL   Mesonet

            Mesonet station 1446W Largo Fire Rescue
            Station 40.

&&

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

9.4 hours before the tornado, 24 km from the path. January 9, 2024.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -376 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 337 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 558 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 690 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

St Petersburg (SPG), 2 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
19:25 UTC			190° 22 kt	29	1005.8
19:30 UTC			190° 21 kt	35	1005.8
19:35 UTC			190° 23 kt		1005.4
19:40 UTC			180° 23 kt	32	1005.4
19:45 UTC			190° 22 kt	32	1005.1
19:50 UTC			190° 22 kt	29	1005.4
19:53 UTC	71	69	190° 23 kt	34	1005.4
19:55 UTC			180° 23 kt	34	1005.4
20:00 UTC			180° 22 kt	32	1005.1
20:05 UTC			180° 23 kt	30	1004.7
20:10 UTC			190° 20 kt	27	1004.7
20:15 UTC			190° 21 kt	27	1004.7
20:20 UTC			190° 24 kt	33	1004.7
20:25 UTC				34	1004.4
20:30 UTC				31	1004.4
20:34 UTC	71	69	190° 26 kt	36	1004.4
20:35 UTC				29	1004.1
20:40 UTC				32	1004.4
20:45 UTC				32	1004.4
20:50 UTC					1004.1
20:53 UTC	70	69	180° 24 kt	33	1003.7	VCTS
20:55 UTC				31	1003.7
21:00 UTC					1003.7
21:05 UTC				31	1003.7	-RA
21:10 UTC				37		-RA
21:12 UTC	71	70	190° 24 kt	38	1003.7	-TSRA
21:15 UTC				35		-RA
21:20 UTC			200° 22 kt	32	1004.7	-RA
21:25 UTC					1005.8	-RA
21:27 UTC	70	69	300° 19 kt	37	1006.8	VCTS -RA
21:30 UTC	66	65	330° 26 kt	36	1005.8	VCTS +RA BR
21:30 UTC				35	1005.8	+RA BR
21:33 UTC	62	62	320° 31 kt	41	1004.7	+TSRA BR
21:35 UTC				29	1005.8	+RA BR
21:38 UTC	62	61	300° 7 kt	41	1007.1	+TSRA BR
21:40 UTC			240° 9 kt	16	1007.5	+RA BR
21:45 UTC			250° 11 kt		1007.5	+RA BR
21:49 UTC	60.8	60.8	300° 9 kt	21	1007.5	VCTS +RA BR
21:50 UTC			300° 10 kt	16	1007.5	+RA BR
21:53 UTC	61	61	290° 8 kt	19	1007.5	VCTS RA BR
21:55 UTC			280° 7 kt		1007.5	-RA BR
22:00 UTC	62	61	280° 8 kt	16	1007.8	VCTS -RA BR
22:00 UTC			280° 9 kt		1007.8	-RA BR
22:05 UTC			290° 9 kt		1007.8	-RA
22:10 UTC			310° 10 kt	16	1007.8	RA BR
22:15 UTC			320° 9 kt		1007.1	-RA BR
22:16 UTC	61	61	310° 9 kt	16	1007.1	-RA BR
22:20 UTC			300° 7 kt		1007.1	-RA BR
22:25 UTC			290° 5 kt		1007.5	-RA
22:30 UTC			280° 4 kt		1007.5	-RA
22:35 UTC			280° 5 kt		1007.8	RA BR
22:40 UTC			310° 4 kt		1008.1	-RA BR
22:45 UTC			300° 2 kt		1008.1	-RA
22:50 UTC			270° 2 kt		1008.1	-RA
22:53 UTC	61	61	4 kt		1008.1	-TSRA BR
22:55 UTC			300° 5 kt		1008.1	+RA BR
23:00 UTC			260° 8 kt		1008.5	RA BR
23:04 UTC	61	60	5 kt		1008.5	VCTS -RA BR
23:05 UTC			280° 5 kt		1008.5	-RA
23:10 UTC					1008.5	-RA
23:15 UTC			260° 5 kt		1008.5	-RA
23:20 UTC			250° 5 kt		1008.5	-RA
23:22 UTC	62	60	270° 8 kt		1008.5	-RA

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

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:20 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
21:20 UTC	TSTM WND GST 63	1 Ese Gulfport	Gmz830, FL	Mesonet station XCBN Clam Bayou Nature Park.
21:23 UTC	TORNADO	2 E Saint Petersburg	Pinellas, FL	A Local Storm Report was reported by Pinellas County 911 in St Petersburg. The roof of the apartment building at the incident address was damaged by a possible tornado.
21:55 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	1 W Macdill Air Force	Hillsborough, FL	AWOS station KMCF Macdill AFB Tamp.
22:02 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	1 S Whitfield	Manatee, FL	ASOS station KSRQ Sarasota Bradent.
22:09 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 E Fruitville	Sarasota, FL	Sarasota County Emergency Management reports tree damage along Cattleman Rd just south of Fruitville Rd. Time estimated by radar.
22:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Ene Fruitville	Sarasota, FL	Few trees knocked down when line of storms moved across area.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2024 tornado in Florida Every tornado in Florida since 1950 Warnings in force in Florida now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 9, 2024

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 9	2:29 AM CST	EF1	Santa Rosa, FL	1.7	150
January 9	3:24 AM CST	EF1	George, MS	0.2	30
January 9	3:47 AM CST	EF0	Mobile, AL	3.0	20
January 9	3:56 AM CST	EF0	Mobile, AL	1.5	20
January 9	4:12 AM CST	EF0	Mobile, AL	0.7	30
January 9	4:29 AM CST	EF1	Walton, FL	10.9	220			$100,000
January 9	4:32 AM CST	EF1	Baldwin, AL	1.9	230
January 9	4:35 AM CST	EF1	Baldwin, AL	0.3	50
January 9	4:38 AM CST	EF0	Baldwin, AL	5.1	20
January 9	4:48 AM CST	EF1	Walton, FL	5.4	160			$50,000
January 9	5:03 AM CST	EF0	Holmes, FL	1.0	100			$75,000
January 9	5:31 AM CST	EF0	Bay, FL	0.2	50			$1,000
January 9	5:31 AM CST	EF3	Bay, FL	5.2	550			$15 million
January 9	5:43 AM CST	EF2	Bay, FL	12.9	600		2	$5.0 million
January 9	5:53 AM CST	EF1	Houston, AL	1.2	225			$100,000
January 9	6:03 AM CST	EF1	Calhoun, FL	9.8	450			$5,000
January 9	6:25 AM CST	EF2	Jackson, FL	16.3	600		7	$5.0 million
January 9	7:06 AM CST	EF1	Walton, FL	0.3	200			$50,000
January 9	8:12 AM EST	EF0	Fulton, GA	1.6	75
January 9	7:50 AM CST	EF2	Jackson, FL to AL	34.8	1,000	1	10	$6.3 million
January 9	7:59 AM CST	EF0	Washington, FL	0.9	50
January 9	8:03 AM CST	EF2	Bay, FL	0.9	150			$75,000
January 9	9:46 AM EST	EF2	Early, GA	21.7	800			$376,000
January 9	10:32 AM EST	EF0	Leon, FL	1.0	50
January 9	12:27 PM EST	EF1	Catawba, NC	9.0	250	1	4	$250,000
January 9	12:55 PM EST	EF1	Coffee, GA	7.3	400
January 9	1:43 PM EST	EF1	Evans, GA	4.8	200			$100,000
January 9	2:10 PM EST	EF1	Lexington, SC	3.3	150		1
January 9	2:46 PM EST	EF2	Bamberg, SC	2.1	500			$1.8 million
January 9	4:00 PM EST	EF1	Hillsborough, FL	0.6	75			$250,000
January 9	4:08 PM EST	EF0	Duval, FL	0.2	30

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.