Tornado in Escambia County, Florida

This tornado developed from an isolated supercell thunderstorm. The tornado first touched down southwest of Lambert-Ridge Road southeast of McDavid. The tornado gradually increased in strength and width as it continued northeast toward Century. The first EF-2 intensity damage noted was on Holland Drive where a workshop was completely destroyed. The tornado reached its peak intensity (widespread EF-2 damage with isolated EF-3 damage) as it moved into Century. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. A couple of homes experienced complete loss of the roof with only the walls of small interior rooms remaining. Extensive tree damage was noted with numerous softwood and hardwood trees either uprooted or snapped. Numerous power poles were also snapped. The tornado continued to track northeast out of Century and moved across the Florida Alabama state line into Escambia County Alabama.

A strong EF1 tornado first touched down west of Highway 29 and to the south of Molino Road. The tornado then moved northeast just to the south of Molino Road to near Old Molino and then crossed the Escambia River and dissipated just east of the river. The tornado damaged approximately 60 structures, including homes, storage buildings and businesses sustained varying degrees of damage ranging from minor to heavy. Forty of the structures were uninhabitable. No injuries were reported.

It was determined from a National Weather Service Storm Survey that a weak F1 tornado struck the Gonzalez community just East of US Highway 29. The first touchdown was near Old Chemstrand Road and Golden Rod Road where some trees and a county road tower were damaged. The tornado tracked northeast near tree top level across Wyman Lane where trees were blown down. The tornado continued moving northeast and crossed Water Oaks Trail where it went back into the cloud just east of Water Oaks. This is where the most structural damage occurred. Seven or eight homes suffered roof damage and a couple of homes had porches blown off . One home had the back porch picked up and blown about 300 yards into another home across the street. Some asphalt was also ripped up out of the street and blown into a home. No injuries were reported.