Source – Over 120 tornado warnings went out in Florida today, according to tornadohq.com, before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key about 8:30 p.m. Several people were reported killed in a St. Lucie County neighborhood.
The powerful storm is bearing down on the west coast of Florida as a Category 3 hurricane with hurricane-force winds extending 35 miles out from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extending out up to 255 miles.
The National Weather Service confirmed 10 of those tornadoes in Florida before Milton’s landfall.
But tornadoes can occur more than 1,000 miles away from where a hurricane makes landfall and far from the path of the hurricane’s center, said Roger Edwards, a lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center, who specializes in tornadoes.
According to the weather service, Milton is likely to spin off more tornadoes than many Category 4 hurricanes, given two things: Milton’s wind sheer and instability.
According to the weather service, Milton is likely to spin off more tornadoes than many Category 4 hurricanes, given two things: Milton’s wind sheer and instability.
Note: At least two tornadoes have been spotted around Vero Beach. At 4:27 p.m., the National Weather Service said a tornado was over Vero Beach Highlands, heading north at 15 mph.
An hour later, the NWS said, “A confirmed large and extreme dangerous tornado was located over Vero Beach, moving north at 30 miles per hour.”
