ORLANDO, Fla. – Three tornadoes touched down Monday in Central Florida as severe weather moved across the region, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS Jacksonville office said an EF-0 tornado, with winds of 85 mph, touched down, along Interstate 75 at mile marker 340 near Ocala. The NWS said the tornado’s intermittent path was more than 11 miles long.
Weather officials said the storm lifted a stationary construction trailer and snapped numerous trees before touching back down along Sapphire Run at SE Maricamp Road near Silver Springs Shores, where it caused minor roof and window damage.
“In case you were or you are stuck in traffic on I-75 southbound, here is what is going on,” Marion County sheriff’s officials posted earlier on Facebook. “The storm that just whipped through Marion County caused trees and debris to land across I-75 southbound near marker 340, which is just south of the Highway 484 exit. At this time, I-75 southbound has two lanes closed while workers are trying to clear the trees and debris.”
SCARY VIDEO | This video shows scary weather moving across I-75 in the Ocala area around 11 a.m. https://t.co/KlxTn8ewdT pic.twitter.com/gqaFfycYg1
— News 6 WKMG (@news6wkmg) April 20, 2020
Meanwhile, NWS in Melbourne said tornadoes touched down near Sanford and DeLand.
Seminole County officials tweeted video of a tornado south of the Boombah Sports Complex in Sanford.
Seminole County has been in contact with @NWSMelbourne to determine what type of weather system was spotted south of Boombah Sports Complex. pic.twitter.com/Kkywi14j2r
— Seminole County, FL (@seminolecounty) April 20, 2020
Video shared with News 6 by Ryan Bowser shows what appears to be a funnel cloud over the south side of Lake Jesup.
#tornado south side of lake Jessup while the north side was getting smacked, rare to see a supercell like this in FL pic.twitter.com/bhOFMj3eS6
— Ryan Bowser (@MrRyanBowser) April 20, 2020
Juan Rios, a News 6 viewer in the Sanford area, shared the following video with News 6, which shows a dark sky with large storm clouds and heavy rainfall.
Un pequeño susto en Sanford Florida area
— Juan Rios (@JuanGRiosRivera) April 20, 2020
Tornado pic.twitter.com/sL8AsADJSJ
There were also reports of downed trees and power lines in DeLand.
Power lines were toppled near South Florida Avenue and New Street, and a blown transformer ignited a tree at Arizona Avenue and Stone Street.
“That was an insane storm. Hope everyone is OK,” DeLand city officials tweeted.
Here's some footage of the storm coming through this morning from City Hall. Damage appears to be isolated to southwest DeLand. Duke Energy reported about 300 customers without power - 10 calls are related to power lines and trees down. pic.twitter.com/YbfVzOurQw
— City of DeLand (@CityofDeLand) April 20, 2020
That was an insane storm. Hope everyone is ok.
— City of DeLand (@CityofDeLand) April 20, 2020
No injuries were reported in the region.
High temperatures will be near 90 degrees. The average high on this date is 83. The record highs is 96, set in 1908.
Tuesday and Wednesday will see highs in the upper 80s under sunny skies.
Rain chances return at 40% Thursday.
Highs stay in the mid- to upper 80s from Friday through the weekend, with rain chances at 30-40%.
A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Florida until 3 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/AHrgotPEzp
— NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) April 20, 2020
Watch News 6 for more weather coverage.