The powerful line of storms that moved across the state on Tuesday produced a brief tornado in St. Petersburg.
Rick Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Ruskin, said an EF-0 tornado touched down at an apartment building at 4:23 p.m.
He said winds reached up to 80 mph and blew a roof off a portion of the building.
ALSO READ: State of emergency declared, and tornado warning for the region
Clearly, I'm still living in 2023. I meant to put 2024* https://t.co/z4LoGTvekr
— Nicholas Krasznavolgyi (@NickKrasz_Wx) January 10, 2024
Davis said winds in the St. Petersburg area were generally around 50 mph outside of the heaviest storms, with gusts of 60 mph reported at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
There were also reports of localized flooding and downed trees across the region.
St Petersburg and Gulfport Florida just now seeing some strong rotation with many tornado watches and warnings. You can really see the spin from the cell leaving Gulfport at the end of this timelapse just south of Tropicana Field. 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/uMyPEw9XYX
— j.UAP (@JDFloridaSun) January 9, 2024
Davis said rainfall totals ranged from a half-inch to an inch across much of the region, with 0.56 inches reported at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg.
The storms also spawned several unconfirmed tornadoes in the Florida Panhandle.
While the weather service says the rain and winds have subsided as a cold front moves through, coastal areas remain at a high risk of rip currents and strong surf through Wednesday night.
Afternoon high temperatures will reach only the low to mid-60s on Wednesday and Thursday, with lows in the 40s and 50s.
High pressure building into the region will produce cooler and drier conditions with high temps in the upper 50s north to upper 60s south today then overnight low temps in the lower 40s north to lower 50s south tonight. #FLwx pic.twitter.com/rIx0zyXlpS
— NWS Tampa Bay (@NWSTampaBay) January 10, 2024
