News and Events

October 27th, 2006 - Friday

Warm moist, unstable air in advance of approaching cold front produced several tornadoes across the eastern Florida Panhandle and Big Bend on Friday afternoon and evening, October 27th. One tornado flipped a Frito-Lay truck on its side in the Winn-Dixie parking lot in the Phillips Inlet area of western Bay County.      

       Green Line in the image is my estimate of Track... Was it a waterspout? From my view I did not see a surface reflection to the SSW of my location in the parking lot.. Beyond the houses, maybe .25mile was the Gulf Of Mexico... There could have been...had good visibility of cell... just so happens the tornado dropped down on the vehicle... within 50yrds. MORE TO COME... Including video!   3 Minutes of OMG!

 

* Video Removed *

Video Removed Temporary... Will be editing the original when I get it back. Estimated Time of Return:Unknown


Friday, Oct. 27th, 2006 (11:00pm CDT)

           At approximate. 2:25pm CDT... I intercepted a tornado, along with another person from WJHG 7.....at the Winn Dixie Parking lot on the west end of Panama City Beach, Fl. (bay county) I would estimate the winds to have been an 50-80mph (F0?). It stayed down from my estimate on the ground for at least a .25 to .50 mile... coming down to 20-30 seconds at a time.. I did see power flashes to my northeast, along with debris above the tree line... at least 1min to 2 min after passing over me... MOVEMENT WAS FAST!!!! I did not see it come ashore as a waterspout... it could have.. but my visibility was about .50 miles.. I was facing to the SW....I EXPECTED THE SYSTEM TO COME ASHORE EAST OF ME... based on the information I was giving.... IT DID NOT... IT CAME RIGHT AT US AND I WAS ABLE TO MOVE OUT OF A COMPLETE DIRECT HIT...(by a few yards).. BUT IT WAS LOUD....I saw the rotation coming at the last second... looked up above me and saw the white funnel coming down.... when I looked back to the ground it was touching down to the left of the vehicle... The twister dropped down.. maybe 25-50yds in front of me and I hauled butt in to get out of its path...floored it and went west... Debris did hit the vehicle... mainly tree branches from the palm tree in the area. Also a Lays delivery truck 20 yards from me flipped as I floored it to the west of the rotational debris on the ground. YES I SAID A FEW BAD WORDS.... MY goal was not to run into the twister.. instead if basically found me...

 

Apalachicola Tornado of October 27th, 2006:

      The most significant severe weather occurred when a waterspout came ashore and produced F1 tornado damage in Apalachicola. The tornado cut a path approximately 1 mile long (see Figure 1) and more than 100 yards wide, damaging a fast food restaurant, school, hospital, electric power substation, and dozens of homes. Hundreds of trees were either uprooted or had their tops sheared off. Luckily, no one was hurt. Figures 2 and 3 shows the reflectivity and storm-relative velocity, respectively, associated with the convective cell as it moved ashore near Apalachicola. Rotational velocities were surprisingly weak, unlike other tornadoes of this magnitude. Figure 4 shows damage to a home caused by the tornado.

This image depicts the damage path of the tornado that hit Apalachicola, FL, on Friday, October 27, 2006.
Figure 1. Damage path of the tornado that hit Apalachicola, FL, on Friday, October 27, 2006.

This image depicts a base reflectivity image from the Tallahassee, FL, (KTLH) doppler radar showing a tornadic thunderstorm as it moved ashore into Apalachicola, FL, at 2215 UTC Friday, October 27, 2006.
Figure 2. Base reflectivity image from the Tallahassee, FL, (KTLH) Doppler radar showing a tornadic thunderstorm as it moved ashore into Apalachicola, FL, at 2215 UTC Friday, October 27, 2006.

This image depicts a storm relative velocity image from the Tallahassee, FL, (KTLH) doppler radar showing a tornadic thunderstorm as it moved ashore into Apalachicola, FL, at 2215 UTC Friday, October 27, 2006.
Figure 3. Storm relative velocity image from the Tallahassee, FL, (KTLH) Doppler radar showing a tornadic thunderstorm as it moved ashore into Apalachicola, FL, at 2215 UTC Friday, October 27, 2006.

This image depicts a home damaged by the tornado.
Figure 4. This image depicts a home damaged by the tornado.

Additional details can be found in TLH local storm report for this event.