February 1965 South Florida tornado outbreak

The February 1965 South Florida tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected the southern Florida peninsula on February 23, 1965.[nb 1] At least four confirmed tornadoes touched down between 10 a.m.–1 p.m. EST (15:00–18:00 UTC); the strongest tornado moved through the Fort Lauderdale area and produced F3 damage on the Fujita scale, injuring six people. In addition, a F1 tornado also moved through northern Broward and southern Palm Beach counties. Two tornadoes also affected Lee County, producing F2 and F1 damage, respectively. 50 percent of the tornadoes attained strong (F2–F3) intensity.[6]

February 1965 South Florida tornado outbreak
TypeTornado outbreak
DurationFebruary 23, 1965
Tornadoes confirmed4 confirmed
Max. rating1F3 tornado
Casualties0 fatalities, 8 injuries
Areas affectedFlorida

1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

Confirmed tornadoes
Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total
0 0 2 1 1 0 0 4

February 23 event
List of confirmed tornadoes – Tuesday, February 23, 1965[nb 2][nb 3]
F# Location County / Parish State Start
coord.		 Time (UTC) Path length Max. width Summary Refs.
F1 Northeastern Margate to Boca Raton to Southwestern Delray Beach Broward, Palm Beach FL 26.25°N 80.20°W / 26.25; -80.20 (Margate (February 23, F1)) 15:50–? 14.1 miles (22.7 km) 33 yards (30 m) Intermittent, minor damage was reported between Pompano Beach and Delray Beach. [8][9]
F3 Fort Lauderdale Broward FL 26.10°N 80.17°W / 26.10; -80.17 (Fort Lauderdale (February 23, F3)) 16:15–? 5 miles (8.0 km) 60 yards (55 m) See section on this tornado – Six people were injured. [10][9][11]
[12]
F1 NE of San Carlos Park Lee FL 26.50°N 81.75°W / 26.50; -81.75 (San Carlos Park (February 23, F1)) 17:45–? 0.1 miles (0.16 km) 33 yards (30 m) This tornado caused substantial damage to "saran cloth" housing and vegetation at a plant nursery and inflicted two injuries. Touchdown may have occurred near Iona. [13][9]
F2 Fort Myers Lee FL 26.62°N 81.87°W / 26.62; -81.87 (Fort Myers (February 1965, F2)) 17:45–? 0.5 miles (0.80 km) 67 yards (61 m) Grazulis did not list this tornado as an F2 or stronger. [14][9][11]

Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
F3 tornado
Max. rating1F3 tornado
Damage$140,000
Casualties6 injuries
Areas affectedFort Lauderdale, Florida
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The second tornado touched down near Chula Vista and moved north-northeast across western portions of the city of Fort Lauderdale, affecting 40 blocks of the city.[11] The small funnel was visible from a jetliner waiting to take off from Fort Lauderdale International Airport.[12] Later, it briefly lifted prior to touching down in Oakland Park, and it dissipated northeast of Wilton Manors. Though three funnel clouds occurred along the path, only one tornado developed. One home was destroyed, while seven trailers, three cars, and multiple trucks received severe damage.[11] Most of the damage affected a marina and a trailer park, though damage to power poles left about 2,400 residents powerless.[12] The width of the damage path did not exceed 60 yards (180 ft). The tornado caused six injuries, three of them due to airborne debris, and at least $140,000 (1965 USD) in damages.[12] The tornado is officially estimated to have been an F3 event. It remains the second of only three F3/EF3 tornadoes to affect Broward County since 1950; the others occurred on April 10, 1956, and March 1, 1980. However, tornado researcher Thomas P. Grazulis classified the tornado as an F2.[11]

Non-tornadic effects

In addition to tornadoes, severe thunderstorms produced strong wind gusts that damaged at least three homes near Lehigh Acres. Multiple funnel clouds occurred over at least two counties in southern Florida, and at least one waterspout touched down near West Palm Beach.[9]

See also

Notes
  1. An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes; however, the threshold varies slightly according to local climatology. On the Florida peninsula, an outbreak consists of at least four tornadoes occurring relatively synchronously—no more than four hours apart.[1][2][3][4][5]
  2. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.
  3. Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.[7]

References
  1. Hagemeyer, Bartlett C. (September 1997). "Peninsular Florida Tornado Outbreaks". Weather and Forecasting. Boston: American Meteorological Society. 12 (3): 400. Bibcode:1997WtFor..12..399H. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1997)012<0399:PFTO>2.0.CO;2.
  2. Grazulis 2001, p. 206
  3. Hagemeyer 1997, p. 401
  4. Hagemeyer, Bartlett C.; Spratt, Scott M. (2002). Written at Melbourne, Florida. Thirty Years After Hurricane Agnes: the Forgotten Florida Tornado Disaster (PDF). 25th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology. San Diego, California: American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  5. Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
  6. National Weather Service (February 2020). "Events reported between 02/23/1965 and 02/23/1965 (1 day)". National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  7. Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. Boston: American Meteorological Society. 19 (2): 310. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  8. National Weather Service (February 2020). Florida Event Report: F1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  9. U.S. Weather Bureau (February 1965). "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena". Storm Data. Asheville, North Carolina: National Climatic Data Center. 7 (2): 8.
  10. National Weather Service (February 2020). Florida Event Report: F3 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  11. Grazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. p. 1060. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
  12. "Tornadoes Strike 2 Florida Sectors". New York Times. United Press International. 24 February 1965.
  13. National Weather Service (February 2020). Florida Event Report: F1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  14. National Weather Service (February 2020). Florida Event Report: F2 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
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