Q&A of the Day – Palm Beach County’s Tornado History
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio When was the last time we had an EF2 in SFL?
Bottom Line: Waterspouts in South Florida are common. I’ll always remember watching four of them develop in a row just off of South Palm Beach in 2007. Similarly, I remember Ashley and I watching a storm over the intracoastal which spun up a waterspout weaving its way across the water and flipping our neighbor’s boat off of their boatlift. Waterspouts are one thing, real deal tornadoes like what struck northern Palm Beach County on Saturday are not. The National Weather Service identified the tornado which struck North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens Saturday, as an EF2 with winds of 130 mph. The tornado lasted for a total of 11 minutes covering two and a half miles causing extensive damage to properties and cars in the path of the tornado. That’s certainly not the norm around here, however it is fairly common in other parts of the state.
Florida averages 68 tornadoes per year, or one about every five days. The reason it probably doesn’t feel that way to you is because they’re predominantly in the west and central part of the state. The top five counties in Florida for tornado activity are...
- #5 Seminole
- #4 Orange
- #3 Manatee
- #2 Pinellas
- #1 Hillsborough
Covering 1971 miles, Palm Beach County is the second largest in geography in the state and yet we’re only the 24th most likely to experience a tornado. By way of comparison, Hillsborough is twice as likely to be struck by a tornado as Palm Beach County. Since 1950, at the onset of formalized tornado tracking by the National Weather Service, Palm Beach County has experienced a total of 63 tornadoes. In other words, we average just under one tornado annually. In that respect, any tornado is fairly rare. The strongest tornado ever recorded in Palm Beach County was an EF3 in 1958 which started in Pahokee and continued through to Indiantown. Most of our tornadoes have been far more benign. An EF0 is the most common tornado that’s touched down in Palm Beach County and those are often the byproduct of tropical systems making their way through. To that end, and in answer to your question, it’s actually not been long at all since we had an EF2...
As Hurricane Ian made its way through Southwest Florida last September it spawned a few tornadoes. One was a powerful EF2 which began in northern Boca continuing through to western Delray. Prior to that one however, you’d have to go back to 2008, when the forever lasting tropical storm, Fay, spawned an EF2 in Wellington near the Polo Grounds as she was crisis crossing the state. So yes, what happened on Saturday afternoon in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens was highly unusual for two reasons. First, that it was a tornado which touched down in Palm Beach County which wasn’t spawned by a developed tropical system, and secondly that it was an EF2.