FLORIDA, USA — Before Hurricane Milton even made landfall, it spawned an outbreak that caused widespread damage throughout Florida.
Numerous tornadoes across the state were caught on camera, including a massive twister that crossed Alligator Alley on Interstate 75. Despite the high-profile nature of the storm, meteorologists won't have an exact tornado touchdown total until after the storm has passed.
The National Weather Service is the only agency that can confirm whether a tornado touchdown took place, let alone multiple. Radars and electronics can only tell NWS meteorologists so much. To figure out whether a tornado actually happened, the service has to head out into the field.
The agency's usual protocol for tornado confirmation is to deploy survey crews to the scene of damage less than 24 hours after storms hit. That becomes a lot more complicated if the site is in the path of a hurricane, has extensive damage, and isn't accessible for days after the storm.
"The pattern of damage determines if it was a tornado. NOT how much damage was caused," the NWS said on its website. "We conduct surveys to find out exactly what happened. This helps us to improve our warnings for the future. This is also important for historical reference."
Tornado damage can often be confused with damage from a microburst, so meteorologists look at the type of damage rather than how much damage occurred.
Damage from a tornado often looks chaotic and leaves large trees uprooted and often crossing each other on the ground, the service said. Smaller snapped branches or trees aren't usually helpful, since those don't convey the true severity of winds.
On top of the complications that come with surveying tornado damage in a post-hurricane area, NWS meteorologists are often busy and exhausted from the overall hurricane forecasting during the lead-up to landfall. Because of that, they may have to rely on local emergency management officials to survey the damage.
