1998 — Feb 22-23, Tornadoes, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia Counties, Central FL-42

–42  Grazulis, Thomas. Tornado Project Online. “US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.”

–42  History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, Feb 22, 1998. “Deadly Tornadoes Rip…”

–42  NCDC. Storm Events Database. Tornado. Search Results for all Counties in FL, Feb 22-23.

—  3  Orange County, Feb 22, 23:41-Feb 23 00:00. F3 Winter Garden, tornado. NCDC.

—  Female, 68, mobile home; males, both 80, both in mobile homes.

–25  Osceola County, Intercession City tornado, Kissimmee, Feb 23, 00:40-00:55.[1]

—  Females, 31, 33, 45, 47, 65, 66, 67, and 75, in mobile homes.

—  Males, 1, 22, 23, 30, 38, 50, and 51, in mobile homes.

—  Female, 64, 70, 71 and 85 in vehicles.

—  Males, 33, 51, 51, 69, 71 and 73 in vehicles.

–12  Seminole County, F3, 00:10 to 00:25.[2]

  1. Male, 9, mobile home.
  2. Male 23, mobile home.
  3. Male 26, mobile home.
  4. Male, 37, mobile home.
  5. Male, 41, mobile home.
  6. Male, 49, mobile home.
  7. Male, 53, permanent home.
  8. Male, 62, mobile home.
  9. Female, 11, mobile home.
  10. Female, 21, mobile home.
  11. Female, 39, mobile home.
  12. Female, 40, mobile home.

—  1  Volusia Co., Daytona Beach, F2, Feb 22, 22:55-23:05. Male, 41, mobile home.[3]

—  1  Volusia Co., Osteen vicinity. Feb 23, 00:25-00:28. Male, 53, recreational vehicle.[4]

–42  St. Petersburg Times.  “Storm Q&A.”  February 2, 2007.

 

Narrative Information

 

NCDC, Daytona Beach Volusia County: “The first tornado in a major tornado outbreak set down along Route 92 about 5 miles southwest of Daytona Beach. The category F2 tornado moved about 8 miles to the northeast passing over the junction of Interstate 95 and Interstate 4 and finally lifted in the south part of Daytona Beach west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Six hundred structures were damaged or destroyed. One person was killed in a mobile home and three others were injured.” (NCDC, Storm Events Database. Tornado, FL, Volusia, 2-22-1998.)

 

NCDC, Orange County, Winter Garden: “The Lake County tornado moved into Orange County about 5 miles southwest of Winter Garden moving northeast at 45 mph. It rapidly intensified to a category F3 tornado with estimated winds near 200 mph. The tornado moved through Winter Garden between 11:47 pm and 11:55 pm destroying a mobile home community in Winter Garden. There were three fatalities and 70 injuries. Five hundred structures were either damaged or destroyed.”

 

NCDC, Osceola County Kissimmee: “The deadliest tornado of the outbreak was a category F3 that touched down initially one mile south of Intercession City. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph and ripped through the town of Kissimmee killing 25 people. The hardest hit areas were the Morningside Acres mobile home community and the Ponderosa Recreational Vehicle Park. In all eight people were killed in recreational vehicles, fifteen in mobile homes and one in an automobile. The tornado continued northeast and moved into Orange County six miles north of St. Cloud. One hundred and fifty people were injured and over 1000 structures were damaged or destroyed.” (NCDC. Storm Events Database. Tornado, FL, Osceola Co., Feb 23, 00:40-00-55.)

 

NCDC, Osceola County, Kissimmee: “The deadliest tornado of the outbreak was a category F3 that touched down initially one mile south of Intercession City. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph and ripped through the town of Kissimmee killing 25 people. The hardest hit areas were the Morningside Acres mobile home community and the Ponderosa Recreational Vehicle Park. In all eight people were killed in recreational vehicles, fifteen in mobile homes and one in an automobile. The tornado continued northeast and moved into Orange County six miles north of St. Cloud. One hundred and fifty people were injured and over 1000 structures were damaged or destroyed.” (NCDC/NOAA. Event Record Details. Tornado, 23 Feb 1998, 12:40 AM EST)

 

NCDC, Sanford, Seminole County: “The Seminole County category F3 tornado was produced by the same supercell that produced the Winter Garden tornado. It initially set down near Longwood and moved northeast at 45 mph. The tornado passed through several neighborhoods in the southeast portion of Sanford killing 12 people in mobile homes and injuring 70. It continued northeast and crossed into Volusia County 5 miles east of Sanford. The near 200 mph winds of the tornado damaged or destroy 625 structures.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Florida, Seminole County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:10-00:25.)

 

NCDC, Volusia County: “The Sanford tornado crossed into Volusia County near Highway 46 and the St. Johns River where it killed a 53 year old man in a recreational vehicle at a fish camp. The tornado continued northeast for 2 miles and dissipated in a rural part of south Volusia County.” (NCDC. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, FL, Volusia, Feb 23, 00:25-00:28.)

 

Grazulis: “During the first killer tornadoes of the year, three supercells dropped killer tornadoes in Florida around midnight on February 22-23, striking while people slept. The final total seems to be forty-two deaths and about 260 injured. President Clinton toured the damage and declared 14 counties eligible for Federal disaster relief.”  (Grazulis, Tornado Project. “US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.”)

 

9:55 PM: “The tornado touched down near I-95 and I-4 in South Daytona, Volusia County, blowing 4 tractor-trailers off the highway. It damaged many mobile homes in the Colonial Colony South trailer park. A man was killed when his trailer caved in on him. A family whose roof was damaged found one of their roof trusses a few days later, in the trailer park area, about a mile away from their home.” (Grazulis. Tornado Project. “US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.”)

 

12:10 AM (23rd):  “ Many structures were destroyed in the Altamonte Springs to Sanford area of Florida, much of it at the Sanford airport. Thirteen people were killed. In one residence, a couple, their daughter and her fiancé were all killed. The young woman’s body was found by divers when they searched the creek behind the home. Her 5-year-old daughter survived. One man who was wearing a life-jacket when he fell asleep in an RV(a practice he followed on stormy nights)at Rod’s Fish Camp was blown into the raging St. Johns River when the vehicle was overturned. He suffered several broken ribs and other injuries, but remained afloat in Lake Harney, clinging to an overturned boat, until rescuers found him about a mile from the RV site. Another man was also blown into the river and was reported missing for several days until his body was found. Wreckage from the half dozen or so trailers was washed as far away as 6 miles up the river. All but one death occurred in mobile homes or RVs.” (Grazulis. Tornado Project.  “US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.”)

 

12:50 AM (23rd):  “Numerous buildings, mobile homes and an RV park were destroyed from Campbell City to Boggy Creek Road in Kissimmee, Florida(Osceola County). Twenty-five people were killed, all but one of which were in mobile homes, modular homes, trailers or campers. Dogs were used to search the pine woods near the Ponderosa Park campground in the hopes of finding survivors still in the underbrush. An sleeping 18-month-old boy was flung, mattress and all, from his great-grandmothers home into the branches of a fallen oak tree in the yard. He was found a half hour after the tornado struck, tucked safely into the mattress, five feet above the ground, covered by sheetrock, boards, and branches which had blown onto it. The child survived with only a few scratches. The house he was in had been destroyed. A 70-year-old Episcopal priest was asleep in a chair when it was hurled 60 yards across the street. His modular home was destroyed and he was fatally injured. Seven other people in that same residential area were killed. About two miles away, every one of the 163 homes in the Flamingo Lakes subdivision was damaged to some degree. About half of these homes, valued at between $100,000 and $200,000 were “destroyed”, but there were no deaths there.” (Grazulis.)

 

History.com: “Seven tornadoes rip through central Florida on this day in 1998, killing 42 people. This was the deadliest outbreak of twisters in Florida’s history.

 

“The potential for deadly storms in the winter of 1997-98 in Florida was first forecast in October. The El Nino weather system was in full effect, pushing high-altitude jet stream winds further south than normal–right through the middle of Florida. Meteorologists predicted that this would give rise to a significant possibility of tornado activity in Florida, where such events are usually quite rare. A few twisters hit southern Florida on February 2, but were not deadly. On Friday, February 20, officials saw that an unusually warm system arriving from the southeast was set to collide with the jet stream, which suggested that tornadoes were very likely. The public was alerted.

 

“On Sunday, official tornado warnings were issued for counties across the central portion of the state. However, despite the advance notice, many people went to bed and turned off their radios and televisions, missing the detailed warnings that were issued in the evening. The first tornado struck down at about 10:30 p.m.; six more formed over the next several hours.

 

“The most powerful and deadly tornado of the series came down in Kissimmee at 12:40 a.m. It was categorized as an F3 with winds up to 206 miles per hour. The tornado destroyed multiple motor homes in the city’s Ponderosa RV Park, where 10 people died, including a man who was thrown onto the Florida Turnpike. Elsewhere in Kissimmee, an 18-month-old child was pulled right out of its father’s arms by the tornado and killed. In all, 25 people lost their lives in Kissimmee.

 

“The last of the 42 victims died from his injuries on March 5. At least 250 people were seriously injured and approximately 3,000 buildings were destroyed. And it could have been worse–the tornadoes took paths that went just north and just south of the city of Orlando, the most heavily populated part of the region.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, February 22, 1998. “Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Central Florida.”)

 

Sources

 

Grazulis, Thomas P. Tornado Project Online. “US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.” Accessed 1-4-2009 at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, February 22, 1998. “Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Central Florida.” Accessed 12/07/2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=02/22&categoryId=disaster

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Event Record Details, Tornado, Florida, 23 Feb 1998, 12:19 AM EST.  NCDC: NOAA Satellite and Information Service. Accessed 2-3-2009 at:

http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~314262

 

National Climatic Data Center. Storm Events Database. Tornado. Search Results for all Counties in Florida, Feb 23, 1998. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=%28C%29+Tornado&beginDate_mm=02&beginDate_dd=23&beginDate_yyyy=1998&endDate_mm=02&endDate_dd=23&endDate_yyyy=1998&county=ALL&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=12%2CFLORIDA

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Florida, Orange County, Feb 22-23, 1998. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5643841

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, FL, Osceola County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:40-00-55. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5641811

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Florida, Seminole County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:10-00:25. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5643842

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, Florida, Volusia County, Feb 22, 1998, 22:55-23:05. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5643839

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, Florida, Volusia County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:25-00:28. Accessed 1-17-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5643843

 

St. Petersburg Times, FL. “Storm Q&A.”  2-2-2007. Accessed at:  http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/02/State/Storm_QA.shtml

 

 

[1] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, FL, Osceola County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:40-00-55. See, also, NCDC/NOAA. Event Record Details. Tornado, 23 Feb 1998.

[2] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, FL, Seminole County, Feb 23, 1998.

[3] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, FL, Volusia County, Feb 22, 1998, 22:55-23:05.

[4] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, FL, Volusia County, Feb 23, 1998, 00:25-00:28.