Siesta Keys, Sarasoto Florida TORNADO kills 2

JoeTampa wrote:
I'm a Skywarn spotter for NWS and helped relay amateur radio reports overnight.

I've been a Skywarn Spotter in Michigan for over a decade, and took the course for Brevard County in December. A few differences I noticed, between northern and southern tornadoes: Midwesterners might not recognize a Florida tornado, since they don't form those classic "Kansas supercells" shown on TV; they might not realize that prime tornado season is Jan/Feb; that El Nino adds the shear to Florida's atmosphere so the tornadoes are larger and longer-lived; or that FL tornadoes in El Nino years tend to strike in the middle of the night.

Brevard County is so concerned with the El Nino/stronger tornado connection that they staged "The Great Tornado Practice Drill" a few weeks ago, to make sure that everyone knows where to take shelter, whether at home or at work. And sheltering in an RV is a VERY bad idea.

I'm at Sun N Fun. I woke the wife, grabbed her and the two dogs and waited it out in a bath house. Probably 50 folks in the one bath house. Not something we are use to. Thank God and man for technology.

I've never been concerned about tornado warnings until this one. My daughter awoke to her phone alert but I slept thru my phone's alert. We watched the weather reporting thru directTv until we had rain fade and relied on our phones to track the storms. Very sad people died because of the lack of having a good warning system. We're maybe 20 miles from the worst hit areas, but a bit of wind knocked over my pool storage unit and I noticed a porta-potty knocked over down the street. We will rebuild!

We're in Cortez, Fl just north of Siesta Key by Anna Marie Island, I have to tell you it was the first time I have ever been scared.
It was the middle of the night and those winds last for three hours.
There were times it felt like we were being lifted, at that point there is nothing you can do but ride it out but it's not something I'd ever want to go thru again.
With this El Nino system, it's possible though that it will happen again this winter.
Stay safe everyone....

Sher

Tornadoes' are just a fact of life for Midwestern snowbirds. You dodge them in the fall, then especially in the spring for the return trip home. A drive thru Joplin, MO is a real eye opener for a new snowbird.

The problem is when you're south for the winter tornado season is over and you feel pretty safe. Your guard goes down, and it becomes party time. I would think a lot are now sleeping with one eye open.

We're in Tampa. Strong winds and lots of rain. We put in the slides and kept the weather radio on. It alerted all night. Here's our rules: For winds over 45mph we put in the slides. If it alerts to a severe thunderstorm warning with gusts over 50mph we evacuate. Even straight line winds can cause major damage. If it's a tornado warning we evacuate. We don't argue and second guess. We just go. We have done so 4x in over 6 years of full timing. Better be safe than sorry. The locations where we had to evacuate were: FL, OH, IL and KS. Another tidbit my son who lives in Oklahoma told us - tornadoes typically travel from the SW toward the NE.

I'm a Skywarn spotter for NWS and helped relay amateur radio reports overnight. 2 confirmed tornados thus far. I am far enough north that all of the severe weather was south of us. We had considered going to Sun & Fun in Sarasota, and I am now glad we didn't.

The two fatalities were from a tornado near Duette, FL that lifted a mobile home and threw it 100'. Lots of damage at Siesta Key, but no fatalities there that I am aware of. The damage on TV is pretty horrifying.

Hoping all of you are safe and sound if you are in the area.