Tornado? Is it something to worry about in Sarasota? (Tampa: mobile home, new construction)

[Cardiff by the Sea]

I thought I read that the only time there are tornadoes in Sarasota is in conjunction with a hurricane. But looking at the current weather map, I can't understand why tornadoes would not be a problem in Sarasota.

Please educate me.

[beninfl]

Tornadoes - Florida Climate Center

Truly destructive tornadoes are most frequently reported in Florida during the spring and summer; the most powerful usually strike in spring. Florida has the dubious distinction of having a higher frequency of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles than any other state, including Oklahoma! In Florida, measured in frequency of tornadoes for every 10,000 square miles, the coast between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers has a particularly high incidence, as do the western panhandle and parts of the Atlantic Coast.

So, what is a tornado? Simply put, a tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is spawned by a severe thunderstorm. It connects from the thunderstorm to the ground and often appears to have a funnel or column shape. A tornado, one of nature's most violent storms, can develop suddenly, and have winds in excess of 250 mph.

Generally, tornadoes in Florida form

along a squall line ahead of an advancing spring cold front from the North,
along the squall lines in areas where masses of warm air converge,
from isolated local summer thunderstorms, and/or
within a hurricane.

What triggers a tornado is still not altogether clear. Tornadoes spawn inside clouds when there is great turbulence and winds of various speeds and velocities come in contact with one another. Although there is uncertainty about the triggers, meteorologists are able to identify atmospheric conditions conducive to tornadic activity.

The intensity of a tornado can be determined only after the event when survey teams from the National Weather Service can examine structural damage. After the survey is complete, the tornado is given a value from the Fujita Scale. The Fujita Scale was developed by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita and categorizes tornadoes on the basis of their intensity and area. The scale relates a tornado's damage to the fastest quarter-mile wind speed at the height of the damaged structure to determine its intensity. Over the years, problems with the initial Fujita Scale had arisen and in 2007 the new Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale was adopted. The EF Scale helps determine the intensity of a tornado when there is no structural damage (as can happen when, for example, a tornado passes through a corn field).

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Well that was certainly an education. I grew up in tornado alley and everyone had storm cellars. I don't recall seeing them in Sarasota. Do many people have them?

Ben Where did that map come from? I want to see the same map for Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Never mind. Just saw the link.

[dcp528]

Gee thanks beninfl for that info. Something else I need to think about while living in Florida! I did notice that not only is Tampa/St Petersburg area known for sinkholes, that area seems to get hit a lot with tornadoes.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

It seems like Florida gets lots of tornadoes, but not big ones. Here is a map of where the big ones have hit for the last 64 years, and Florida isn't even on the map. (fyi the numbers on the map are the order in which they happened).

F5 and EF5 Tornadoes of the United States - 1950-present (SPC)

That EF scale is based on the amount of damage the tornado causes. If you look at the everglades, no big tornado damage there cause there is not much to damage.

[coastal chic]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

I grew up in tornado alley and everyone had storm cellars. I don't recall seeing them in Sarasota. Do many people have them?

"Safe rooms" are becoming more popular in new construction. However, any closet or room without windows will work.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by coastal chic

"Safe rooms" are becoming more popular in new construction. However, any closet or room without windows will work.

It may work in Florida, but in the midwest many tornados will take everything above the foundation. When I was a kid in rural Kansas, we'd head for the fruit cellar and sit under some heavy shelving when tornado activity was likely. Our one-room school house had an underground "tornado shelter" a few steps from the school's back door, although we never used it in the five years I attended the school. (Tornado season usually began with the beginning of summer break.)

On my sister's Iowa farm, they've been hit with 5 major tornados since living there. Only one tree remains from all the trees and buildings that were standing when they moved in several decades ago. Their old house was never hit, but a year after they tore it down and built a new one, the new one was hit and lost part of its roof, the attached garage, and several windows. My sister looked out her bedroom window, saw/heard it coming and ran for the basement. Before she reached the steps the window she'd been looking out of exploded and she saw the roof lift off of her kitchen.

[PixiStix]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

It may work in Florida, but in the midwest many tornados will take everything above the foundation. When I was a kid in rural Kansas, we'd head for the fruit cellar and sit under some heavy shelving when tornado activity was likely. Our one-room school house had an underground "tornado shelter" a few steps from the school's back door, although we never used it in the five years I attended the school. (Tornado season usually began with the beginning of summer break.)

On my sister's Iowa farm, they've been hit with 5 major tornados since living there. Only one tree remains from all the trees and buildings that were standing when they moved in several decades ago. Their old house was never hit, but a year after they tore it down and built a new one, the new one was hit and lost part of its roof, the attached garage, and several windows. My sister looked out her bedroom window, saw/heard it coming and ran for the basement. Before she reached the steps the window she'd been looking out of exploded and she saw the roof lift off of her kitchen.

The difference is, here, you are likely in a concrete block house vs. wood frame up north. I grew up in Indiana & have experienced my share of tornados- luckily, most were small but the big one literally went down main street of my hometown & wiped out everything.

Do I worry about that here? Honestly, not at all....

[OKCSteel]

Block homes help tremendously. Here in Oklahoma, they still have their heads up their collective butts and build houses out of wood and have very few building codes to address tornados. They should build homes like they do in Florida.

I lived in Florida for 12 years and my Aunt and Uncle lived there (and still do) for 30 plus. They and I have never knew of anyone being hit by a tornado in Florida. I've never even seen one in Florida. That map seems to show a significant amount and intensity in the Tampa to Sarasota area.

If you live in a new home, built to the most recent Florida codes, you shouldn't have to worry about tornados below EF3.

In Oklahoma, they put most of the safe rooms underground but they are very small and go in your garage beneath your car. You basically climb down stairs and sit on a bench at the bottom. I was at Sam's Club this past weekend and they had a steel above ground unit that they were showing and the cost was less than $4,000. If I were to put one in my house, I would go with the above ground unit.

[bbronston]

I've seen some photos of steel above-ground shelters that sort of look like large safes or storage rooms that were the only thing left after a tornado blew away the house. If I were going to make a storm shelter, I'd use one of those and put it in the garage (which would obviously need to be large enough to handle it.) Although we have many tornadoes, they tend not to be that strong or stay on the ground that long and most damage seems to be from big trees being blown onto cars or thru roofs. Unfortunately, it really doesn't matter when the house was built if you have a large oak over-hanging your roof....or if you live in a mobile home.