Tampa Bay Tornadoes: Damage Assessments Released

RUSKIN, FL — As people in Manatee and Sarasota counties begin the recovery process following the Sunday touchdown of tornadoes in both Florida communities, the National Weather Service in Ruskin has released the details of its damage assessment.

Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016’s severe weather moved in during the early morning hours, producing two tornadoes. One cut through the Manatee County community of Duette, killing two and injuring five before it was through. The other left an estimated $3 million in damage and two injuries in its wake as it traveled from Siesta Key into Sarasota.

The preliminary damage estimates reveal in numbers the intensity of Sunday’s storms:

Manatee County’s Tornado

The weather service says this tornado started at 3:35 a.m. and ran a 9.2-mile course through northern Manatee County’s Duette community before dissipating at 3:48 a.m. The details on the storm’s intensity are as follows:

• Tornado rating – EF2
• Estimated peak wind – 127 mph
• Maximum path width – 300 yards

That tornado destroyed a single-wide mobile home and a 2,000-square-foot barn. Steven Wilson, 58, and Kelli Wilson, 51, were killed when the tornado tore through their home. Four children and Steven M. Wilson, 38, were injured.

Sarasota County’s Tornado

This tornado started in Siesta Key at 3:17 a.m. and ran a 1.14-mile path into Sarasota before dissipating at 3:22 a.m. The details on the tornado’s intensity are as follows:

• Tornado rating – EF2
• Estimated peak wind – 132 mph
• Maximum path width – 350 yards

The Sarasota County tornado left two injuries in its wake and damaged multiple homes and buildings in its path. “One home on Siesta Key had the second floor collapse,” the weather service report noted. “That caused the two injuries. The width of the tornado began at 350 yards when it moved onshore at the beach and narrowed to around 100 yards as it moved across the Intercoastal Waterway.”

See Also:

• Victims Identified After Tampa Bay Tornado Kills 2, Injures 5
• Duette Tornado: How To Help The Victims
• Florida Tornadoes: What You Need to Know
• $3 Million Storm Damage Estimated in Sarasota County
• Severe Storms, Tornadoes in Tampa Bay’s Winter Forecast
• Weather Radios: Deals On Tools For Tracking Florida’s Severe Storms

“This is the type of damage we can expect from El Nino type tornadoes,” weather service meteorologist Tyler Fleming told Patch. When this weather pattern is present, it’s “very common for these tornadoes to happen in the middle of the night.”

“Generally, for Florida an El Nino winter means cooler than normal temperatures and wetter than normal (conditions),” weather service meteorologist Rick Davis said in an earlier interview.

The El Nino weather pattern arises when the sea surface temperatures rise in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and impact the northern hemisphere, Davis explained. When that happens, the southern branch of the Jetstream becomes more active. That enables systems to move across the Pacific, across the southern states, through the Gulf of Mexico and into Florida.

“Because the storm systems have a more southern latitude, they’re expected to produce more rain for us and then with that southern storm track more cold fronts (could move in), increasing the chances for severe weather,” Davis said.

Those increased chances for severe weather events also have forecasters urging Tampa Bay area residents to get and use weather alert smartphone apps or NOAA weather radios so they can stay abreast of changing weather conditions. Weather radios receive advisory broadcasts and emergency alerts without the need for paying a monthly subscription. They are generally battery operated or draw solar energy so they can function in poor weather conditions. The radios are designed to send audible alerts when hazardous weather is imminent and are generally loud enough to wake people up in the middle of the night if the need arises, forecasters have said.

The Tampa Bay area is in for a chilly, but mostly clear start to the week, the National Weather Service forecast states. Rain and storm chances don’t enter the forecast until Friday.

Image of a tornado courtesy of the National Weather Service Facebook page