National Weather Service confirms tornado in Leon County

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The National Weather Service (NWS) in Tallahassee confirmed that a tornado touched down in Southern Leon County on Wednesday, January 25.

The tornado was rated as an EF1 with estimated peak winds of 105 mph. It remained on the ground for approximately four miles before dissipating.

According to NWS Tallahassee, the tornado touched down just north of the Leon-Wakulla County line between Springhill Road and Crawfordville Highway in the Apalachicola National Forest. The tornado then tracked northeast through the forest and dissipated before reaching populated areas around Lake Munson and Capital Circle.

There were no injuries reported as a result of this confirmed EF1 tornado. Joe Worster with the NWS Tallahassee survey team reported that the damage was limited to snapped and uprooted trees.

Worster also mentioned that the tornado came very close to the NWS weather radar site, which is located at TLH International Airport. At this point, the tornado entered an area of the radar known as the ‘cone of silence.’ In this area, the radar cannot pick up data due to the angle at which the radar beams are emitted.

There was no damage to the radar, as the tornado lifted a few miles before it reached the radar site. The NWS kept the tornado warnings up until they could confirm that there was no longer a tornado on the ground.

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