Tropical Storm Fay Tornado Report

On the evening of August 18, 2008, Tropical Storm Fay made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida near Naples. At approximately 2:00 AM on the morning of August 19, 2008, a spiral band from Tropical Fay spawned a tornado which touched down in the Village of Wellington. As a resident of the Village of Wellington, this consultant observed and analyzed the area that sustained the heaviest damage, the area of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic.

On the afternoon of August 19, 2008, arriving at the area of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, this consultant observed the following damage. In the path of the tornado were three or four large trees (approximately 50 feet high) that had been uprooted and knocked down. The tornado then hit the Palm Beach Equine Clinic's main building where this consultant observed tiles that were blown off the building. Near the building, a trailer had been thrown on its side. The tornado then hit a row of horse stables where it ripped off the roof of the middle rows of the stables. The tornado appeared to then have snapped a couple of power poles. Much of the debris from the area of the stables was thrown into a canal and a large field across the street approximately 50 to 100 yards away. The preliminary estimation of this consultant was that this area was hit by a tornado that was at the high end of an EF1 or near the low end of an EF2.

According to the "Tropical Storm Fay Wellington Tornado" report by the National Weather Service Forecast Office, Miami - South Florida, the total path of the tornado was approximately 2.75 miles long. The peak estimated winds from the tornado in the vicinity of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic area were approximately 115 mph based on NWS Survey Assessment, thus rating the tornado at the low end of an EF 2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Consultant Conclusion: The report on the tornado by the National Weather Service, Miami - South Florida Forecast Office confirmed this consultant's belief that the tornado that hit the Palm Beach Equine Clinic in the early morning hours of August 19, 2008, was indeed rated at the low end of an EF 2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This consultant then visited the rest of the tornado's path to correlate the damage to the estimated EF ratings of those particular areas.

References

National Weather Service Forecast Office, Miami-South Florida, August, 2008 : Preliminary Storm Damage Survey Results for Wellington Tornado 1-2.

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