FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Beach plans took a sudden turn for the worst Saturday when a waterspout came ashore.
Aside from some darkening skies, all seemed normal around noon on Fort Myers Beach, according to WINK-TV. Just minutes later, the waterspout was seen in the distance.
It was associated with a potent line of showers and thunderstorms that moved through earlier in the day across the Tampa Bay region. Wind damage was reported in Highlands County and, farther north, an EF-1 tornado with 90 mph winds moved into Weeki Wachee.
Back on the beach, the waterspout made landfall as a likely low-end, EF-0 tornado and was seen throwing about beach gear and debris.
"...It came all of a sudden, like what’s going on, there’s a water spout, here we go, where's it going?" Cheryl Sackaris told WINK.
The TV station reports the tornado left behind minor damage.
The Tampa Bay region is under a marginal risk — a level one out of five — of severe weather Tuesday and Wednesday. Storms are forecast to form along and ahead of the area's next cold front, and some could turn strong enough to bring down some damaging winds.