Tornado and Wind Damage

A weather alarm alerted me to this circulating cloud over Lake Theresa on Thursday (1/21/2010). I grabbed the cameras and ran to the shoreline to see what should have been a small EF0 tornado. I could see the fast moving, circulating clouds but if there was a tornado it was obscured by rain.

In very flat Florida the best sky vantage points are on lake shores. My view is to the north. In summer I can see thunderstorms building over Daytona Beach, 30 miles to the north of Lake Theresa.



ABOVE: Overnight strong straight line winds overturned tractor trailer trucks on I-95, to our east.



ABOVE: The clouds looked ominous reflecting on the lake. The temperature was 83 F.

WHY TORNADOES IN JANUARY?

Short answer: El Nino and global warming. More detailed answer. . .

A trough of low pressure oriented from west to east drifted south from northern Florida on 1/21 with an accompanying squall line. Discrete storm cells developed south of the frontal boundary and pushed quickly across east central Florida. Many of the cells exhibited rotation in a highly wind-sheared environment.

Tornadoes were reported in Ormond Beach with wind damage reported in DeLand. The following morning additional storms developed resulting in a tornado that occurred shortly after sunrise, southeast of us in Viera (just south of Cape Canaveral).



ABOVE: The tornado's path across Viera, Florida.



ABOVE: Another shot of the rotating storm that crossed Lake Theresa. It was moving very quickly (about 40 mph).



ABOVE and BELOW: Images of some of the minor damage in Viera, Florida.



Meanwhile, 3,000 miles to our west, the next El Nino storm system -- the strongest winter storm in at least 140 years -- was pounding California and Arizona.

Powerful winter storms affecting the Southwest U.S. are expected during strong El Nino events, but yesterday's storm was epic in its size and intensity. The storm set all-time low pressure records over roughly 10 - 15% of the United States.

Some of the all-time low pressure records set in Thursday's storm:

Los Angeles, CA: 29.07", Old Record: 29.25", January 17, 1988
Eureka, CA: 28.90", Old Record: 28.91", February 1891
San Diego, CA: 29.15", Old Record, 29.37", March 3, 1983
Fresno, CA: 28.94", Old Record, 29.10", January 27, 1916
Bakersfield, CA: 28.94", Old Record, 29.24", February 3, 1998

Salt Lake City, UT: 28.94", Old Record, 29.00" April 2002

Reno, NV: 28.94", Old Record, 29.00", January 27, 1916
Las Vegas, NV: 29.03" Old Record: 29.17", December 1949

Phoenix, AZ: 29.22", Old Record: 29.32", May 18, 1902
Flagstaff, AZ: 29.13", Old Record: 29.15", February 7, 1937
Yuma, AZ: 29.15", Old Record: 29.37", September 12, 1927

BELOW: Radar reflectivity from the Phoenix, Arizona Doppler radar at the time of a Phoenix tornado. The tornado touched down under the circle with a "+" inside. If verified this will be only the 7th January tornado in Arizona since record keeping began in 1950.