South Florida Tornadoes Precede Milton's Landfall | Weather.com
The Weather Channel

Tornadoes were confirmed by radar Wednesday morning in South Florida. Here's how normal it is to see twisters spawned ahead of a hurricane's landfall.

By

Sean Breslin

October 9, 2024

Cone of Uncertainty: What It Actually Means

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

Numerous tornadoes were in progress Wednesday in South Florida just hours before Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall.

(​MORE: Hurricane Milton Live Updates)

Weather in your inbox
By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.

N​ear midday, a large tornado appeared to be striking the town of Matlacha, west of Cape Coral.

S​hortly after, damage was seen in the area.

Earlier in the morning, t​raffic cameras captured one of the twisters near Interstate 75 just minutes after 10 a.m. EDT. It was reportedly near the Miccosukee Service Plaza.

462488710_10160506524252810_3116211965483574073_n.jpg

(Facebook/Jill Lorentz)

Another tornado was confirmed on radar to the east, near the town of Weston. Twisters were also confirmed near Clewiston just southwest of Lake Okeechobee and in Lakeport.

A​nd in southwestern Miami-Dade County, damage was seen from a tornado that reportedly struck overnight.

A​ tornado watch was issued for virtually all of South Florida Wednesday morning and was in effect until 9 p.m. EDT.

Twisters aren't uncommon with tropical systems, and meteorologists warned ahead of time that Milton was likely to produce some spinups.

"Tornadoes often occur with hurricanes approaching landfall, especially in rain bands on the right side, or in this case east side, of where the circulation center is tracking," said weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce.