National Weather Service confirms waterspout in Miami; no injuries reported
South Florida’s traditional afternoon summer thunderstorms stirred up something massive in Miami on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service preliminarily classified a giant white funnel that formed near Sunny Isles Beach and Golden Beach as a waterspout, but later confirmed it moved on land, making it a tornado.
According to an NWS statement, the event lasted three minutes, from 1:20 p.m. to 1:23 p.m.
NWS Miami warning coordination meteorologist Robert Molleda said the NWS was waiting for information from the Golden Beach Police Department before deciding on whether to send a survey team out.
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Initial reports were that the tornado quickly dissipated as it reached the shore and no injuries were reported.
"Damage consisted primarily of numerous broken/snapped tree branches, including to a large Sea Grape tree, a couple of newly-planted trees toppled, several damaged/twisted metal gates, and tossed lawn/patio furniture," NWS Miami wrote in statement.
The weather service added, "Some of the debris ended up in the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. Most of the damage was confined to ocean-facing homes and properties. One home had water blown in through a set of sliding glass doors due to the force of the wind."
According to NWS Miami's statement, estimated peak winds for the weather event were between 80 mph and 85 mph, making it an EF-0 twister.
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"This damage is mainly consistent with EF-0 intensity, although one or two spots could have experienced winds close to the EF-1 threshold," according to NWS Miami.
The waters surrounding Florida provide warmth and moisture for growing clouds that can spawn waterspouts, according to a 2015 story from the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network. .
Often, the clouds that form them are not thunderstorms. In fact, it doesn’t have to be raining for a waterspout to develop, and they can occur while skies are partly sunny, Barry Baxter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said Tuesday.
Waterspouts are caused by a convergence of very light winds -- a land breeze and an ocean breeze, 5 knots or less from each direction.
When waterspouts form from storm clouds, those clouds can carry them onshore, at which point they are considered tornadoes. But they are usually much weaker, and of shorter duration, than a tornado that has formed over land. A typical waterspout is more stationary than a tornado, and lasts only about 5 to 10 minutes.
Follow Kimberly Miller on Twitter: @Kmillerweather
Contributing: Jordan Culver, USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NWS: Miami waterspout moves inland, dissipates with no injuries
