Hurricane Milton spawned at least 11 different tornadoes on the Treasure Coast, but the National Weather Service in Melbourne hasn’t finished counting. The final tally could be at least 14 tornadoes, officials told TCPalm late Thursday.
The Oct. 9 tornadoes touched down three to six hours before Hurricane Milton even made landfall at 8:30 p.m. near Siesta Key in Sarasota. They ranged from EF0 to EF3 with paths ranging from 3 miles to 31 miles. They hit Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach.
Here are some highlights:
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The first tornado touched down at 2:05 p.m., and the last touched down at 5:35 p.m.
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One was an EF3 tornado, two were EF2 tornadoes, six were EF1 tornadoes, and two were EF0 tornadoes.
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The longest path was 31.6 miles from Palm City to Fort Pierce, and the shortest was 3 miles within Port Salerno.
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The widest tornado was 500 yards at its maximum, and the narrowest was 100 yards at its maximum.
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The longest duration was 50 minutes, and the shortest was 5 minutes.
The worst damage was caused by an EF3 tornado with a peak wind gust of 155 mph that touched down at 4:59 p.m. and traveled northeast from Fort Pierce to Vero Beach for 21.2 miles in 31 minutes. It fluctuated between EF3, EF2 and EF1, and its path was as wide as 500 feet.
It started south of Midway Road, less than a mile east of 11 Mile Road and just west of the Interstate 95 interchange and went out to sea just south of the Tracking Station Beach Park in Indian River County.
That tornado tore through the following:
Treasure Coast tornadoes
They are listed in the order they touched down in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
Martin County-St. Lucie County (Palm City, Port St. Lucie)
St. Lucie County (Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce area)
St. Lucie County-Indian River County (Fort Pierce, Vero Beach)
Indian River County (Vero Beach)
Martin County (Port Salerno, near Stuart)
Indian River County (Vero Beach)
St. Lucie County (Fort Pierce)
St. Lucie County-Indian River County (near Fort Pierce, Spanish Lakes, Vero Beach)
Martin County-St. Lucie County (Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce)
Martin County (Jupiter, Hobe Sound)
Martin County (Hobe Sound, Port Salerno, near Stuart)
EF Scale for tornadoes
The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:
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EF0: 65 to 85 mph
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EF1: 86 to 110 mph
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EF2: 111 to 135 mph
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EF3: 136 to 165 mph
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EF4: 166 to 200 mph
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EF5: More than 200 mph
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm’s entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X @gonthescene.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hurricane Milton tornadoes Spanish Lakes, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach
