NORTH SEMINOLE, Fla. — Residents in Seminole continued cleanup Monday after Sunday's tornado.
Residents said the storm damaged more than a dozen condos at Boca Ciega Point.
A confirmed EF-0 tornado hit North Seminole around 1 a.m. Sunday, causing some serious damage in Pinellas County.
Residents said the wind ripped through the attached sunrooms on multiple units.
Also, in another nearby Seminole neighborhood, the roof was ripped off an apartment building and residents in that neighborhood spent their Valentine's Day cleaning up debris.
Neighbors said the storm got bad, fast.
"In 30 seconds, this is what happens,” one Seminole resident said. “I've lived here all my life, um yeah, it was intense."
ORIGINAL STORY
An EF-0 tornado jumped around North Seminole at about 1 a.m. Sunday, causing serious damage for some homeowners.
A storm resulting from unsettled conditions sparked by a stalled cold front produced strong winds and rolled through the area overnight, spinning up an EF-0 tornado in the area.
A tornado warning was in effect in Pinellas County at about that time, and officials said significant damage was reported in Bay Pines. The roof was ripped off an apartment complex in part of the storm's path.
Weather service officials have confirmed the storm contained an EF-0 tornado with maximum winds of 75 mph that traveled 1.3 miles and was 30 yards wide.
Neighbors in North Seminole said they heard what they called a wall of loud winds.
One area resident said he was sitting outside with his wife when strong winds drove them inside.
“Just very, very loud, windy and crashing, and it’s hard to explain unless you’re in it, you know?” Richard Grande explained.
The conditions lasted about 30 seconds, residents said.
At one home, a fence was left in pieces, and in another area, splintered wood was found, but residents could not identify from where it came. Meanwhile, some areas nearby did not appear early Sunday to have any damage. There was no major flooding early Sunday.
THE CLEAN UP HAS STARTED! Neighbors here in north Seminole are now accessing the damage after heavy winds tore up the neighborhood @BN9 pic.twitter.com/4N2OVY38oe
— Gabby Arzola (@GabrielleArzola) February 14, 2021
The determination that the storm was a tornado came Sunday afternoon, when National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Noah came out to survey the area.
"I’m looking for what got damaged, and that’ll help me [figure out] what the wind speed is, and that’ll give us a rating for the tornado,” Noah said.
Noah, who has been with the National Weather Service for 30 years, uses pictures, his notes, and conversations with residents in the area to determine the type of storm that made landfall. Debris found after the storm can help meteorologists figure out the trajectory of a tornado and to help better forecast future storms.
More storms could affect the area Sunday afternoon and evening, forecasters said.