Could South Florida see tornadoes as powerful and destructive as
those that plowed over Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee,
Virginia and Kentucky on Wednesday and Thursday? “We’ve never
had anything remotely close,” said meteorologist Roberto Garcia
of the National Weather Service in Miami. Most of the tornadoes
that develop in South Florida reach no higher than EF1, or up to
110 mph, on the Enhanced Frijita scale. Even tornadoes embedded
in tropical storms and hurricanes rarely exceed EF1 strength, he
said. As a result, tornado deaths in this region are rare; only
eight people have been killed in spring and winter tornado
outbreaks since 1925, the weather service said. Some of the
tornadoes that raked across the six southern states this week
intensified to EF4 level, or up to 200 mph. Almost 300 people
were killed, including 210 in Alabama alone. Hundreds more were
injured. Why is South Florida essentially protected from the
top-end twisters? Tornadoes are frequently created out of warm
moist air clash