Tornado Cloud spotted in Naples, Tropics involved?

[mf_dolphin]

I'm not a Met but I would say it's more likely caused by the typical summer pattern getting started.

[cycloneye]

Typical afternoon Diurnal heating causes convection to grow and form strong thunderstorms and some may be severe.

[mf_dolphin]

Yea, but tornados are pretty rare in S. Florida if not involved with a tropical system aren't they?

Kevin Cho

Actually Florida has a fairly high incidence of tornados. With our heat, humidity, and colliding seabreezes we get a lot of tornado activity. The difference here as opposed to the mid-west is that our tornados are usually small and fairly short-lived.

Here are a couple of links that illustrate that:

http://www.disastercenter.com/tornado/rank.htm

http://www.disastercenter.com/florida/tornado.html

[dhweather]

Florida also has lots of waterspouts that move inland as very weak tornados.

[george_r_1961]

Typically tornadoes that form out of "air mass" thunderstorms are quite weak and short lived. By "air mass" thunderstorms I mean the typical ones that form on hot summer days as a result of diurnal heating and not a frontal boundary or tropical cyclone. We had one here a few years ago. A weak tornado, spotted by law enforcement, dropped down in a trailer park (go figure) doing minimal damage to a few sheds and scaring the daylights out of a few residents.

[jlauderdal]

Yea, but tornados are pretty rare in S. Florida if not involved with a tropical system aren't they?

Kevin Cho

neagtive...strong tornados are very rare but f1's are not and actually we get plenty of funnel clouds. finally had a nice soaking rain in fll last night around 8..we need it since it has been breezy and sunny for awhile now so the lawns were not looking so great, this morning they are all green.

[jlauderdal]

Florida also has lots of waterspouts that move inland as very weak tornados.

yes we get plenty of waterspouts especially in the keys but its very rare that they move onshore, our tornados develop in the afternoons with the typical summertime thunderstrom very different from what you see in the middle part of the country where the tornados develop as a result of fronts and thus they are much stronger

[WhirlWind]

Wow, that is kind of scarey as I live right by Mantee Middle School, and knew nothing of this.....
WhirWind
P.S. Welcome back to all this season, I am looking forward to reading all your post and chatting in the room again for about the 5th season. I hope all had a great and safe winter.....