National Weather Service surveyed the damage left behind in Broward County by severe storms over the weekend. NBC6’s Jessica Vallejo reports.
Sunday in South Florida brought rough weather to many areas, featuring intense winds as well as a couple of tornadoes.
As of Monday afternoon, there were several confirmed tornadoes -- in the Florida Keys, SW Miami-Dade and Broward.
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WATCH HEREHowever, with shocking videos circling and significant damage left behind, many are left wondering if they were impacted by strong storm winds or an actual tornado.
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A confirmed tornado moved across Cudjoe Key through the Torch Keys Sunday, according to the National Weather Service Key West.
Another confirmed tornado touched down in SW Miami-Dade, about four miles north of the intersection of SW 8th Street and Krome Avenue around 2:55 p.m, according to NWS Miami.
NWS confirmed to NBC6 on Monday that Broward did have damage consistent with that of several EF0 tornados.
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When severe thunderstorms strike, the wind damage that is generated can be incredibly powerful and even deadly. These powerful winds fall into two main categories -- straight-line winds and tornados.
What are the key differences?
Straight-line winds are winds generated by a strong thunderstorm downdraft, but the key is that they do not show rotation.
You may have heard terms like downdrafts, downbursts, microbursts, gust fronts and derechos. At the end of the day, these all fall under the category of straight-line winds.
Can straight-line winds be as harmful as tornadoes?
It might come as a surprise to many, but yes -- straight-line winds can be just as powerful as tornadoes.
Both can produce winds above 100 mph and both can be deadly.
How can you tell if damage is from a tornado or straight-line winds?
There are a couple of ways to spot differences. Seeing the actual tornado is a slam dunk method, but if you don’t have that visual confirmation in real time -- there are other ways to get your answer.
Tornadoes and straight-line winds leave clues behind. The direction of the storm debris is key.
A straight-line wind event will show things like trees laid out in nearly parallel rows or debris in one direction. Meanwhile, a tornadic event will show debris in various directions due to the rotation of its winds.
Who determines if it's a tornado?
This is where the National Weather Service survey teams come into play. These crews are looking at the data and make these determinations.
If the damage is from a tornado, they will reconstruct its lifecycle, including where it initially touched down and lifted, its path length, width and its magnitude.
A National Weather Service spokesperson told NBC6 on Monday afternoon that they determined that Cooper City had damage consistent with that of an EF0 tornado.
At the end of the day, tornadoes and straight-line winds can be equally powerful -- but now you know the differences between the two.
