CLEANING UP TORNADO DAMAGE
Orange County workers clean up tornado damage at Martin Street on Monday. The National Weather Service of Melbourne confirmed Monday that three tornadoes struck Central Florida this weekend, damaging 42 homes and businesses and causing nearly $1 million in damages.
Three tornadoes touched down over the weekend in Central Florida, the National Weather Service of Melbourne confirmed, and a weather team is investigating whether there were two more in Lake Monroe near Sanford and in the Mount Dora area.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Monday that 42 homes and businesses were damaged by the tornadoes, causing an estimated $955,700 in damage.
While not directly responsible for the tumultuous weather around Central Florida, Tropical Storm Cristobal did play a part in producing favorable conditions for funnel clouds to take form, said John Pendergrast, an NWS meteorologist.
Florida’s unique position between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic leaves it vulnerable to tornado formation when a hurricane begins spinning in the Gulf, Pendergrast said.
“We call it the active weather side, when [Florida] is on the eastern peripheral of the storm, we get a lot more active weather here,” Pendergrast said. “Heavy rain, tornadoes, and severe weather become likely. A hurricane doesn’t have to be nearby, either; as was the case here, but it produced conditions favorable for tornadoes.”
These conditions include “directional wind sheer,” which is an event that leads to differing directional wind speeds in the upper atmosphere.
As a result, multiple tornado events took place around Central Florida with the first two reports happening in two areas of Orlando.
The first was a land spout with a weak formation around the Premier Outlets area near Oakridge Boulevard, the NWS said.
However, it was the second tornado that made headlines the following day, when an EF1 tornado formed Saturday night in downtown Orlando.
The National Weather Service determined that the twister, with winds of 100 to 105 mph, started as a water spout on Lake Conway at 7:20 p.m. and lifted back to the sky at 7:32 p.m. near Lake Lawsona. There were no reports of injuries. Although, there was property damage.
Most of the damage was caused by trees falling onto homes, the NWS said.
The Lake Margaret Village apartment complex took the brunt of the tornado, with several buildings damaged. Heavy damages were also reported along Catherine Street just a few blocks south of State Road 408.
The following day, another funnel cloud appeared at around 3:40 p.m. in Emeralda near Lake Griffin, but did not produce any noteworthy damage, the NWS said.