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Tornado Had 100-MPH Winds

Andy Jones / Tampa Tribune photo

Inmates helped out as work continued Monday cleaning up debris from damage caused by a tornado early Sunday morning at the Pasco County Sheriff's Office Land O' Lakes Detention Center.

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By Neil Johnson and Lisa A. Davis of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 02:20 pm

TAMPA - The National Weather Service said the tornado that wrecked a Pasco County jail annex Sunday morning stayed on the ground for seven minutes and had winds of 100 mph.

The tornado was on the ground from 5:20 to 5:27 a.m. and touched down in Land O' Lakes, right at the jail entrance on Central Boulevard. It cut a 3.1-mile path 100 yards wide.

A weather service survey of the damage classified the tornado as EF-1 on the six-level scale that runs from 0 as the weakest to 5, the most intense.

The tornado traveled northeast toward State Road 52. Its track ended about three miles east of U.S. 41 and State Road 52.

The weather service determined the size of the tornado by surveying damage that included three overturned vehicles and 7,000-pound air conditioning units dislodged and tossed up to 20 feet.

The weather service estimated damage at $500,000 but also said the amount likely would increase as Pasco officials make a better tally.

Cleanup continues today at the jail complex, which lost the annex housing unit, had another damaged and saw some roof damage to the main jail.

Moments before the train noise and rotating wind roared through the jail campus, 184 inmates were evacuated from two dome structures.

Sheriff Bob White said today that 85 women in the aluminum- and plastic-coated canvas structure that was destroyed were moved to Hernando County. Marion County accepted 50 men, and 49 inmates housed in the damaged or destroyed minimum-security buildings remained in Land O' Lakes.

As many as 25 more inmates could be moved, White said. Jails from as far away as Georgia have offered to house Pasco inmates. With the two structures being lost, the Pasco jail's bed capacity is 793. As of this morning, the jail had 1113 inmates, White said.

The storm system that spawned the tornado heralded a blast of cold weather that left Florida shivering this morning.

The tornado came from a long-lived supercell thunderstorm that moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico about 4:40 a.m.

The same supercell produced a wind gust of 78 mph at Clearwater Beach and gusts of 40-50 mph at numerous locations.

Bay area residents this morning encountered temperatures in the 30s as well as a brisk wind that combined to make it feel like freezing or colder.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory, in place until 8 a.m., for the entire Bay area, warning folks that temperatures could feel as low as 30 degrees. Even after the advisory expired, the wind chill in Tampa hovered below freezing.

For Hernando County north, the weather service issued a freeze warning, in place until 9 a.m., expecting temperatures to drop to freezing or below for several hours.

The cold won't go away for the Nature Coast. The weather service says the freeze warning is in effect for Tuesday morning, also.

The north wind in Tampa was blowing about 14 mph, with gusts to 20 mph.

Though the wind made it feel colder than the actual temperature, without it, temperatures would have been lower. Wind stirs the air and keeps the coldest air from settling near the ground.

This is the first time temperatures in Tampa have fallen into the 30s since Feb. 17.

The high today may not be much more than 60 degrees.

The weather service expects temperatures Tuesday morning to be even lower but without the wind, so it may not feel as cold.

Here's a sampling of morning lows from across the state:

* Tampa: 38

* Balm: 37

* St. Petersburg: 42

* Lakeland: 37

* Brooksville: 35

* Sarasota: 43

* Gainesville: 32

* Ocala: 30

* Live Oak: 32

* Orlando: 38

* Cross City: 30

* Tallahassee: 34

* Key West: 64

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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