A rare EF-3 tornado tore through the Avenir community in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on October 9, 2024, as Hurricane “Milton” unleashed a tornado outbreak across Florida.
A powerful EF-3 tornado tore through Palm Beach Gardens on October 9, ripping off roofs and causing widespread damage. With winds of 225 km/h (140 mph), the tornado lifted a construction dumpster into the air and tossed it on top of a home in Regency Community at Avenir.
“I’ve never surveyed a tornado with this much damage and severity. EF-3 tornadoes are very rare in South Florida,” said NWS Meteorologist Robert Molleda. “It’s probably been many years since we’ve had an EF-3-rated tornado here in South Florida,” he added.
Several new homes in the Avenir community were damaged by the tornado which ripped off concrete block walls and large sections of the roofs from homes. People were seen putting tarpaulin over their damaged roofs once the storm had passed.
The tornado had a long track with its starting and end locations still unknown. The EF-3 rating of the tornado is still preliminary as it is based on just one neighborhood of Palm Beach Gardens which was among the hardest hit. A multi-day survey is needed to assign a final rating.
The tornado was part of a larger tornado outbreak triggered by Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane at around 20:30 local time on October 9.
NWS offices in Miami, Tampa Bay, and Melbourne collectively issued 98 Tornado Warnings on October 9, the most ever recorded for a single day in Florida’s history. NWS Miami alone issued 55 warnings, breaking the previous record of 37 warnings in a single day, set in 2022 during Hurricane Ian.
According to the NWS, 126 Tornado Warnings were issued on October 10 by NWS offices in Florida. This was the second-highest number of Tornado Warnings ever issued in the United States on a single day.
So far, only 5 to 7 tornadoes have been confirmed by the NWS through photographic or video evidence but no EF ratings are final as more surveying is needed to determine the actual number of tornadoes. Although there are reports of over 150 tornadoes, they are yet to be confirmed by authorities.
Tornadoes also spawned at the I-75 highway which was the main route taken by people trying to evacuate the region due to Milton.
So far, Milton has caused over 21 fatalities, with at least 20 deaths reported in Florida and 1 in Campeche, Mexico. As of October 12, over 1.7 million people are experiencing power outages due to Hurricane Milton’s impact.
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References:
1 Hurricane Milton Tropical Cyclone Update – NHC – Released at 00:30 UTC on October 9, 2024
2 Hurricane Milton Update as Florida Breaks Tornado Warning Record – Newsweek – October 9, 2024
3 ‘South Florida EF3s are very rare’: Avenir cleaning up after tornado – WPTV – October 11, 2024
4 Record-breaking 126 tornado warnings issued in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton – ClickOrlando – October 10, 2024
Thumbnail image credit: Storm Chasing Channel