Florida-Deadly Tornado Outbreak Sumter,The Villages,N.Smyrna

[Josephine96]

I'd be willing to bet this tornado is an f 3 I'll even go borderline f 4... the tornado that hit my house in 98 was an f 3 borderline f 4..

These pics are so sad.. But I'm so fixated on this because I only watched it unfold this morning.. I never got any pics till about 4:30ish when I got home from work..

RIP to the 19 dead and to prayers to my fellow neighbors who were forever changed..

[CrazyC83]

I'd be willing to bet this tornado is an f 3 I'll even go borderline f 4... the tornado that hit my house in 98 was an f 3 borderline f 4..

These pics are so sad.. But I'm so fixated on this because I only watched it unfold this morning.. I never got any pics till about 4:30ish when I got home from work..

RIP to the 19 dead and to prayers to my fellow neighbors who were forever changed..

What does that translate into on the EF-scale? I wonder how the degree indicators will play out?

[Josephine96]

On the new scale ur asking..?

[HurricaneBill]

EF5s start at 200mph. So an EF5 = at least upper-end F3.

[Josephine96]

i don't know if I'm gonna like the new scale.. An f 5 sounds too weak at 200 mph. Please forgive me if u think that last statement was ridiculous lol..

[angelwing]

Any word on Tavares????? A list that I am on, the person cannot get in touch with her mother-in-law and she cannot get a hold of her, a recording says due to an emergency all lines are done (she tried both alnd line & cell)

Any info would be appreciated!!!!

Mary

[Gorky]

The new scale is based on damage that is dependant on the building types it hit. I doubt any buildings damaged this morning even have damage indicators for EF5 on the new scale or possibly even EF4. According to the scale, mobile homes need to be completely demolished and swept away for the maximum rating of a mid to high end EF3. Single story wood framed residences need to be completely collapsed including interior rooms and again, the maximum rating awarded for that is an EF4 assuming it is well built and completely swept away. I'm not sure I saw much evidence of this happening. Most of the extreme damage was to mobile homes which might well keep this to an EF3 rating.

[rxdoc]

No tornado damage in Tavares and no other storm damage that I am aware of.

[HurricaneBill]

Since 1950, only 2 Florida tornadoes have received F4 ratings. One in 1958 and the other in 1966.

[tbstorm]

I knew it!!!
Sad to say my gut feeling was right........

jaxfladude.... you were on the money with your call as a repeat of El Nino 98. I think this one may be even more powerful than '98.

[tbstorm]

Thanks for the kind words. I am a bit tired after working last night and then mid day today. Last night i did a 55 minute weather covering the Citrus county warning i was on straight and solo from 2:09 am through 3:04 i needed water, bad

Whenever there is some strong storms (especially in the summer) I alway turn on Bay News 9. You guys do a great job with providing weather info, espically when severe weather hits. Great thing is that if there's some svr wx, there's someone on live.. as you were indicating in u r post. Your hard work it worth ti!

[HurricaneBill]

jaxfladude.... you were on the money with your call as a repeat of El Nino 98. I think this one may be even more powerful than '98.

Hopefully not as deadly. So far the toll is at 19, but at least 2 people are missing. I heard it could be days before an exact figure.

[Lindaloo]

i don't know if I'm gonna like the new scale.. An f 5 sounds too weak at 200 mph. Please forgive me if u think that last statement was ridiculous lol..

Well what house could withstand 261 plus winds? That would be a no brainer. It needed to be adjusted for damage and so does the hurricane scale.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Images like these are what lead me to believe this was likely an F4:


^^Severe tree and home and automobile damage^^


^^Mobile home park completely demolished^^


^^Most walls on well-built home destroyed^^


^^Most walls on well-built home destroyed^^

Enhanced fujita scale: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ef-scale.html

It really all depends on the surveyers though. There are so many factors to consider in the new scale that it may be hard for them to decide between F3 and F4. I do know, however, that a church able to withstand 150mph winds was destroyed in the storm. This means that this tornado was, at the weakest, a strong F3.

[tbstorm]

Hopefully not as deadly. So far the toll is at 19, but at least 2 people are missing. I heard it could be days before an exact figure.

yes I am with you on that one... hopefully not as deadly. Can u imagine if that supercell would have went thru metro Orlando?

[CrazyC83]

Using those pics on the EF scale:

Pic 1 - 110 to 150 mph

Pic 2 - 120 to 155 mph

Pic 3 - 130 to 175 mph

Pic 4 - 130 to 175 mph

Using those pictures, it could be between 130 and 175 mph as they represent the strongest building damage. Which would make it either an EF3 or low-end EF4. Of course, that is just based on four pictures.

[jaxfladude]

Hopefully not as deadly. So far the toll is at 19, but at least 2 people are missing. I heard it could be days before an exact figure.

yes I am with you on that one... hopefully not as deadly. Can u imagine if that supercell would have went thru metro Orlando?

Stop giving the Weather Channel ideas.........
Prayers to all who went thru the storms and/or twisters last night in C. FLA!!!
1-800-Help-Now
http://www.redcross.org

[artist]

http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByStat ... ype=public

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
505 PM EST FRI FEB 2 2007

...TORNADO WITH 140 TO 150 MPH WINDS CONFIRMED IN NORTHEASTERN
SUMTER COUNTY...

one of the tornado's -
click link for rest of report

[wxmann_91]

I knew it!!!
Sad to say my gut feeling was right........

jaxfladude.... you were on the money with your call as a repeat of El Nino 98. I think this one may be even more powerful than '98.

This is not a repeat of El Nino 98, which was the most powerful Nino ever recorded. (note that the measurement of a nino is by the SSTA's over the equatorial Pacific) In fact this nino is even weaker than the one in 03. The fact that tornado outbreaks occurred both 1998 and 2003 could've been fostered by upper atmospheric patterns that can be associated with El Nino, but by no means are they an indicator of the strength of it.

(BTW, the 98 outbreak in Florida was characterized by 7 strong, long track tornadoes spawned by 3 supercells that left 42 dead. This outbreak, although very intense, pales in comparison to that one.)

[HurricaneHunter914]

Apparently, this Florida Weather is on the news all over the US! My Aunt in NJ heard about the storms today and called to make sure we were okay. I pray for the victims of this storm. But I must admit, this storm sets a high bar for anymore storms coming into Florida. I hope nothing stronger comes though.