2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak
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The 2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak was a localized but devastating
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
event that took place in central Florida early on February 2, 2007. Early morning temperatures had risen well above average for the season; combined with increased moisture and a powerful
jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
, this created enough
instability In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds. Not all systems that are not stable are unstable; systems can also be mar ...
and wind shear for thunderstorms to rotate and spawn tornadoes. Due to the conditions, a long-tracked
supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms ( ...
formed and produced three tornadoes over one hour and seventeen minutes. The supercell resulted in a 70-mile (110-kilometer) trail of damage. Twenty-one people were killed and 76 others were injured in the outbreak. The first tornado damaged 1,145 homes and destroyed 200 others in Sumter County before hitting the Lady Lake area where it killed eight people. A total of 180 homes were damaged and 101 homes were destroyed in Lake County. The second tornado killed 13 people in the Lake Mack area and damaged or destroyed over 500 homes and other structures during its existence, including the 1500-foot (450-meter) tall transmission tower of
WCFB WCFB (94.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida, serving the Greater Orlando area. WCFB is owned by Cox Radio and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. Its studios and offices are located on North Jo ...
FM. The final tornado damaged roofs, car ports and garage doors along its path through New Smyrna Beach. The outbreak was the second-deadliest on record for Florida, with damages of $218 million.


Synopsis

In east central Florida, a warm sector, a region of warm surface air between a
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...
and a
warm front A warm front is a density discontinuity located at the leading edge of a homogeneous warm air mass, and is typically located on the equator-facing edge of an isotherm gradient. Warm fronts lie within broader troughs of low pressure than cold f ...
, was positioned ahead of a progressing cold front. Large scale lift was supported by a very strong
jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
aloft, with strong vertical shear evident, conducive for rotating thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Instability In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds. Not all systems that are not stable are unstable; systems can also be mar ...
increased overnight with temperatures and dew points increasing through the pre-dawn hours. For example, northwest of
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
, temperatures were still at , which was about 3 degrees warmer than the average high for the day and 14 degrees warmer than the average low. The conditions helped several thunderstorm cells to develop ahead of the cold front in a line, in the Gulf of Mexico. One of these thunderstorm cells matured into a supercell thunderstorm that remained intact, while other cells to its north failed to sustain themselves. The supercell had strong rotation visible on radar as it approached the western Florida Coast before it produced three tornadoes, two rated EF3 from Sumter County to the coastal waters of
Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the ...
during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. After moving offshore, the main tornado-producing supercell quickly weakened and decayed into a bunch of showers, while another supercell produced an EF0 tornado four hours after the main supercell moved offshore. At 3:06 am EST (0806 UTC), the
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
(NWS) issued a
tornado warning A tornado warning ( SAME code: TOR) is a severe weather warning product issued by regional offices of weather forecasting agencies throughout the world to alert the public when a tornado has been reported or indicated by weather radar within the ...
for northern Lake County until 4:00 am EST (0900 UTC). At 3:10 am EST (0810 UTC), the first tornado touched down near The Villages and traveled at into Lake County. Five minutes after the tornado touched down, a severe weather update bulletin was issued by the NWS stating that there was a high likelihood of an extremely dangerous tornado and people in the path were in a life-threatening situation. The tornado received an EF3 rating on the
Enhanced Fujita Scale The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated as EF-Scale) rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage they cause. It is used in some countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Mongolia. The Enhanced Fujita scale repla ...
and had a track length of . Initially, the tornado was thought to have still been on the ground and a third bulletin was released at 3:34 am EST (0834 UTC). At this time, Doppler radar indicated that a tornado was forming or was on the ground roughly north of Umatilla. The
mesocyclone A mesocyclone is a meso-gamma mesoscale (or storm scale) region of rotation (vortex), typically around in diameter, most often noticed on radar within thunderstorms. In the northern hemisphere it is usually located in the right rear flank (back ...
that produced the first tornado restrengthened and formed another tornado near Paisley at 3:37 am EST (0837 UTC) in Lake County. A second tornado warning was issued at 3:52 am EST (0852 UTC) for
Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the ...
as the tornado was tracking toward the area. It went east northeast toward the Lake Mack area, exceeding . The tornado received an EF3 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and traveled a total of . A third tornado warning was issued in Volusia County at 4:13 am EST (0913 UTC), nearly ten minutes before the third tornado touched down. The supercell produced its last tornado east of
Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
at 4:22 am EST (0922 UTC) and dissipated five minutes later at the
Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...
, from where it touched down. The tornado had a maximum width of around the time it reached peak intensity. The tornado was rated EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and traveled for .


Confirmed tornadoes


February 2 event


Paisley–DeLand, Florida

After the previous EF3 tornado had dissipated, the supercell produced a second EF3 tornado, the deadliest of the outbreak, at 3:37 a.m. EST (08:37 UTC). The high-end EF3 tornado first touched down southwest of Paisley, snapping numerous trees and toppling a radio tower before moving east and striking Lake Mack. Numerous mobile homes and RVs were obliterated, and numerous trees were snapped and debarked, some of which had mobile home frames wrapped around them. The tornado continued east and tore through the south side of DeLand before dissipating. Numerous mobile homes, frame homes, and apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed in DeLand. In all, 421 homes and mobile homes were damaged, and 192 others were destroyed. The tornado killed 13 people and injured 51 others.


Aftermath

The outbreak was the second-deadliest on record for Florida, behind one that killed 42 people in February 1998. Damages from the tornado outbreak totaled $218 million (2007 US$). Christopher Patton, spokesman for the Lake County emergency operations center, described the damage as "unlike even perhaps the hurricanes of 2004 when we had minor roof damage, screen damage, pool damage. This is way far more devastating." The tornadoes were the first to be rated on the
Enhanced Fujita Scale The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated as EF-Scale) rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage they cause. It is used in some countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Mongolia. The Enhanced Fujita scale repla ...
, which replaced the original
Fujita Scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
. U.S. President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
signed a declaration to designate Sumter, Lake, Volusia and
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
counties as
disaster area A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and serv ...
s. A
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was declared by
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...
for the same counties. More than 400 
American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
volunteers from across several states went to help in central Florida. The
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
chapter of the American Red Cross sent six volunteers with emergency response vehicles to the main area of damage.
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross to help aid victims and
Feed The Children Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Its mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." The organ ...
sent two truckloads of relief supplies to the central Florida area. The
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
brought several mobile kitchens to offer relief to victims and
Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
helped by offering citizens the use of a wireless emergency communication center, in addition to cleaning and repairing cellular phones damaged by the storms.
Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
anchored the
CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...
from Lady Lake on February 2. The broadcast was slated to be from Miami, where
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
was held two days later as the game was to air on CBS. A
moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...
was held before
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
in Miami to honor the victims of the tornadoes.


See also

*
List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred in North America. #''The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. Some North Americ ...
*
1966 Tampa tornado family Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...


Notes


References


External links


Special Report: The Central Florida Tornadoes: One Year Later
from the ''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
''
Special Report: Tornadoes Ravage Central Florida
from the ''St. Petersburg Times''
Survey of Sumter County tornado

Lady Lake tornado report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groundhog Day tornadoes, 2007 F3 tornadoes Tornadoes of 2007 Tornadoes in Florida Lake County, Florida 2007 natural disasters in the United States 2007 in Florida February 2007 events in the United States