EF1 tornado, Santa Rosa Beach to Douglas Crossroads, Florida, January 9, 2024

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

January 9, 2024

Touchdown

4:29 AM CST (10:29 UTC)

Lifted

4:39 AM CST (10:39 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

10.9 miles (17.6 km)

Path width

220 yards (201 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Walton County

Touchdown point

30.346, -86.232

Lift-off point

30.476, -86.127

Record number

2401090429-01

83 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 106 mph.

• Mutliple trees snapped or uprooted
• Possible rear flank downdraft winds.
• Trees snappws in multiple directions
• Owner mentioned the roof was a complete loss

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

A high impact severe weather event impacted the tri-state region on January 9th with supercells producing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts, followed by a major squall line with widespread wind damage and additional tornadoes. Preceding this activity, very strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts of 40-60 mph occurred, with even a gust to 70 mph at the Albany airport. There were 14 tornadoes confirmed across the tri-state region, including 3 EF0s, 5 EF1s, 5 EF2s, and 1 EF3. This activity was driven by a deepening area of low pressure west of the region with a record strong low level jet crossing the region. The winds at 850 mb were in in the 65-80 knot range, and sufficient instability existed to support mixing some of these very strong environmental winds to the surface. ||Two significant tornadoes touched down in Bay county, including 1 EF3 and 1 EF2. These two tornadoes in Bay county resulted in damage to 326 buildings for a total market value loss of $20,350,311. There were 234 single family homes damaged, 46 mobile homes damaged, 22 condos damaged, 2 multi-family homes damaged, and 22 commercial buildings damaged. Of these 326 buildings, 113 sustained 5% damage, 86 sustained 15% damage, 2 sustained 20% damage, 29 sustained 30% damage, 17 sustained 35% damage, 28 sustained 45% damage, and 51 sustained 100% damage.

The tornado initially moved onshore with damage to trees and buildings at the intersection of W County Highway 30A and Laura Hamilton Blvd consistent with an EF-1 rating. It would then proceed to continue moving off to the northeast sporadically damaging trees and roofs of houses across the area. The tornado would then cross through a majority wooded area before crossing US Highway 98 before entering the woods once again. A high concentration of damage to homes and trees consistent with an EF-1 rating was found off of Chat Holly Rd. before the tornado crossed Choctawhatchee Bay. Max winds were estimated near 110 mph. The tornado would then parallel US Highway 331 as it crossed the bay before making landfall once again at Bay Grove Rd. where numerous manufactured homes were damaged along with tree damage consistent with an EF-1 rating. EF-1 damage had been observed leading up to US 331 where the tornado appears to have dissipated. Thanks to Walton County Emergency Management for assistance with this damage survey.

A tornado, associated with the same cell which produced a tornado in southern Walton County, touched down south of Rock Hill Road. A large concentration of tree damage and damage to a manufactured home were then observed off Rock Hill Rd. consistent with an EF-1 rating with max winds estimated at 95 mph. The tornado continued north and dissipated in a wooded area. Additional tree damage just to the east of the track along Rock Hill road may have been associated with very strong rear flank downdraft winds associated with this cell. Thanks to Walton County Emergency Management for assistance with this damage survey.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:42 UTC and running to 12:08 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 05:56 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), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:28 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 2024 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

31 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.