Why Hurricane Milton produced such strong tornadoes
Hurricane Milton's tornadoes in Florida were a leading cause of death and damage from the storm. The U.S. has seen an abnormal number of intense tornadoes linked to hurricanes this year.
Hurricane Milton brought an earlier-than-expected dose of chaos before it made landfall this week, as supercell thunderstorms — which feature rotating updrafts and can produce tornadoes — raced across the state.
The resulting twisters led the National Weather Service to issue 126 tornado warnings, and the agency’s Storm Prediction Center fielded 45 preliminary reports of tornadoes.
In St. Lucie County, five people died after a tornado tore through a retirement community, accounting for nearly a third of the 17 deaths reported as a result of the hurricane so far.
As Florida begins the long process of cleaning up and recovering from Hurricane Milton, the tornado outbreak has emerged as a leading cause of death and damage in a state that is accustomed to tropical storms, but less familiar with powerful twisters.
Likely to go down in Florida history as one of the worst tornado outbreaks ever observed there during a cyclone, the day included one of the strongest tornadoes in South Florida’s history.
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