{"id":270247,"date":"2026-05-14T01:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270247\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T01:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:22:10","slug":"florida-tornado-activity-down-sharply-despite-twisters-near-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/270247\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida tornado activity down sharply despite twisters near Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two tornadoes touched down in Pasco County on Tuesday afternoon, damaging homes as severe thunderstorms moved across the Florida Peninsula.<\/p>\n

According to the National Weather Service office serving the Tampa region, both tornadoes were rated EF-0, with peak winds estimated at around 85 mph.<\/p>\n

No injuries were reported, and damage was considered minor.
The first tornado developed near Hudson after the storm cell likely spent several hours producing waterspouts over the Gulf.<\/p>\n

While over land, the tornado traveled just over one mile and reached a maximum width of about 400 yards.<\/p>\n

Survey crews said tree branches fell onto power lines, while several homeowners reported roof and carport damage.<\/p>\n

\n 1 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0hudson.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Map of tornadoes that impacted west-central Florida on 5-12-2026.<\/p>\n

\n 2 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0tornadob.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Tornado damage in Pasco County, Florida from 5-12-2026.<\/p>\n

Nick Krasznavolgyi<\/p>\n

\n 3 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0tornadoa.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Tornado damage in Pasco County, Florida from 5-12-2026.<\/p>\n

Nick Krasznavolgyi<\/p>\n

\n 4 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0tornadoc.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Storm clouds over Pasco County on May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

Nick Krasznavolgyi<\/p>\n

\n 5 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0tornado3.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Map showing area of tornadic activity on May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

About 20 minutes after the first tornado, a second area of rotation developed in the Shady Hills area of Pasco County.<\/p>\n

Damage there mainly consisted of snapped tree branches, as the tornado remained on the ground for less than a mile.<\/p>\n

Both tornadoes prompted the issuance of Tornado Warnings, but forecasters said the overall severe weather setup was too isolated to warrant a wider Tornado Watch ahead of the storms.<\/p>\n

Tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale from EF-0 to EF-5, with lower-end tornadoes considered to be weaker and capable of causing relatively minor damage.<\/p>\n

\"Radar<\/p>\n

Radar image of Tornado Warning for portions of Hernando and Pasco counties on May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

Tornado reports down around state<\/p>\n

Tornado activity across the state is down more than 70% compared to what Florida typically experiences year-to-date.<\/p>\n

So far, the Sunshine State has recorded only four tornadoes, well below the usual total of at least 15 by this point in the year.<\/p>\n

In addition to the two tornadoes reported north of Tampa, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Walton County in January, while an EF-0 tornado was confirmed in Miami-Dade County in April.<\/p>\n

\"Severe<\/p>\n

Severe weather reports across the state of Florida through May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

None of the tornadoes caused major damage, and all produced winds below 100 mph.<\/p>\n

A lack of moisture-rich cold fronts during the winter and spring has largely contributed to the reduced number of tornado reports statewide.<\/p>\n

A lack of severe weather during the cooler months is common during La Ni\u00f1a patterns, which was experienced from 2025 into 2026.<\/p>\n

By contrast, El Ni\u00f1o events are often associated with an increase in severe weather during the winter and early spring.<\/p>\n

According to data from the Storm Prediction Center, June and September are typically the busiest months for tornado activity across Florida, as daily thunderstorm coverage increases and hurricane season ramps up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two tornadoes touched down in Pasco County on Tuesday afternoon, damaging homes as severe thunderstorms moved across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-270247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}