Chance exists for more tornadoes this week; stay vigilant, says National Weather Service

It ain’t over.

Maybe.

Conditions might be right for tornadoes later this week, just like the twister that touched down on the Intracoastal just off of Fort Lauderdale beach early Saturday evening.

South Floridians need to be vigilant, says the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Miami.

“We have another cold front that will be approaching the region late Monday into early Wednesday,” explains Robert Garcia, a senior meteorologist for the NWS. “And that’s going to open up a window for strong to severe thunderstorms. We’re going to have very breezy conditions. It’s going to be very windy on those days, even ahead of it. So it’s not going to be a good day to be out on the beaches, not going to be a good day to be on your boat. Even on the Intracoastal Waterway, it’s going be fairly rough. But as those storms arrive ahead of the cold front, it is very possible that we could see another round of strong severe thunderstorms and with that, unfortunately, tornadic activity or straight line wind damage are both potentials that we’re going to have to keep an eye out for.”

Saturday’s twister showed up in videos taken by residents and posted on social media. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Garrett Pingol told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the tornado, “…made contact with some structures, power lines and marine vessels in that immediate area.” No injuries were reported.

In a news conference at Fire Station 49 — which had a bird’s eye view of Saturday’s tornado from where is it perched on a narrow strip of the Intracoastal just across the street from Fort Lauderdale Beach Park’s Playground — Garcia said that a survey team had collected data and can now classify the twister as a EF0 (on the Enhanced Fujita Scale), which means winds of 65 to 85 miles per hour.

“We assess that along that one-and-a-half mile path (and) that it reached a maximum width of 100 yards and a maximum wind speed of 80 miles per hour,” Garcia says. “In terms of the time, the tornado looks like it came down around 5:47 yesterday evening, and it was on the ground for a few minutes before dissipating in the Intracoastal Waterway around 5:50.

“We saw tarps, portions of awnings that were tossed around. We saw fences that were impacted by things like wood at construction sites, just different types of debris, a lot of tree damage. Significant parts of these neighborhoods lost oak trees, and a lot of long-lived trees that have been there for years (and) survived hurricanes.”

Tornado ripping through Rio Vista and Ft Lauderdale Beach @NWSMiami @WPLGLocal10 @JimCantore @SurfSkiWeather @VermonsterWx pic.twitter.com/02PrWjpeym

— Ben Yanowitz (@Yano729) January 6, 2024

Garcia adds, “I think at this point, we’re just grateful that folks weren’t hurt, and again, another reminder, take it seriously if you receive a tornado warning on your phone or on television … any which way you receive it. Take it seriously. Take action with the protection of your life or the life those in your care.”

Sunday afternoon the NWS released a statement for the region that forecasts:

• A few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible late Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of an approaching cold front.
• Dangerous marine and beach conditions likely beginning Monday and lasting through mid week.
• Strong southerly winds on Tuesday ahead of the front may require a Wind Advisory for at least a portion of the east coast metro areas.
• Minor coastal flooding is possible Tuesday for Collier and mainland Monroe counties.

Best video yet of the Fort Lauderdale, FL #tornado showing the compact supercell structure and as the tornado passed into the waterway pic.twitter.com/TwfgnuUmS4

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) January 7, 2024

“It’s not terribly unusual, maybe once or twice a year we’ll see an impact here in Broward County similar to this,” Garcia says. “But again, we remind folks —- as we head into this week, potentially Tuesday, we could have another event with strong to severe thunderstorms — to have different ways of receiving that information that could wake you up. These things can happen very quickly, sometimes with little to no advance notice, besides the warning going off on your phone. And so when you do receive a warning whether it’s on television on your phone, however you receive it, take it seriously. You may have moments to act to get to safety. You want to make sure you can get into an interior room away from windows in the lowest level of your home. And that gives you the best chance against the winds and anything that’s potentially thrown.”