Small Tornado Touched Down In Boca
MIAMI (CBS4) - Tuesday night's heavy rain and gusty wind across parts of South Florida got a little more intense in Boca Raton where the National Weather Service reports a tornado touched down.
It happened around 10:50 p.m. in the neighborhood of Cameo Woods, hear the intersection of Military Trail and Cameo Real. Neighbors said the twister formed and snapped off tree branches and uprooted a large tree in the area of East Camino Drive and Tree Top Circle.
"We had been warned all evening but you never expect something like this," said Betty Fitzsimmons.
Tees at a nearby golf course had to be repositioned so players could get around fallen ficus trees.
"It takes a sixty mile an hour wind, they have shallow roots. They are a problem," said Paul Ackels.
"It's a shame to lose trees, I hate to see them down," said fellow duffer Tony Bardaro.
A NWS team checked out the area and when compared with the radar data concluded that a brief tornado had occurred.
The stormy weather was the result of a powerful front moving down the state. Central Florida experienced some very strong storms whose wind caused damage to homes and knocked out power to thousands of people.
The worst of the damage was reported in Groveland, where the NWS said 12 to 20 homes were damaged. It was unclear if a tornado caused the damage. The National Weather Service in Melbourne reported possible tornadoes in Ocoee, Edgewater, The Villages and Lake Apopka. It was not clear if any of those actually touched down.
The fast-moving cold front did have one really beneficial effect, it brought much-needed rainfall to the region with some areas receiving nearly 1.5 inches overnight.
Rainfall for the last 24 hours averaged 1.11 inches across the 16-county region of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). The Southwest Coast and the Kissimmee Basin recorded the highest rainfall totals over that time.
Lake Okeechobee received more than an inch of rain during the last 24 hours. The lake is currently 12.41 feet above sea level, or about two feet below its historical average for this time of year
