Cold front clears South Florida as area is spared from severe weather

4 tornadoes ripped through Florida Panhandle Tuesday, leading to state of emergency for 49 counties

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A cold front cleared South Florida overnight as we were spared from the severe weather, but unfortunately, much of northern Florida and the southern states were not.

State officials say at least four tornadoes touched down in the Florida Panhandle Tuesday.

The storm propelled the twisters, smashing and blasting through some neighborhoods.

Boats were flipped over and some structures were left obliterated.

The bad weather also hit the state Capitol with more tornado warnings.

As Gov. Ron DeSantis prepared for his State of the State address, he declared a state of emergency for 49 counties.

“There are about 40 structures that are destroyed,” he said. “There’ve been five individuals taken to local hospitals with various injuries.”

The same system is moving east towards South Florida, which saw its own tornadic activity over the weekend in Broward County.

Emergency officials in Broward and Miami Dade counties warned of the possibility of tornadoes and downed power lines.

Folks in Hollywood prepared for the worst Tuesday.

“You remember in November when nobody thought anything and all the sudden the storm came and it flooded everything?” resident Robert Walsh said. “So it’s better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”

“Couldn’t even walk on the Broadwalk -- it was really, really bad,” Diane Walsh added.

Local 10 meteorologist Julie Durda said South Florida can expect improvements in our weather as cooler weather Wednesday morning has settled in, dropping temperatures behind the front to the 60s for lows, with highs reaching the mid-70s Wednesday afternoon.

Winds will relax and shift to the northwest, which will bring in drier, less humid conditions.

So enjoy your day before more changes arrive Thursday!

CLICK HERE for the latest forecast updates from Local 10′s Weather Authority.


About the Authors
Julie Durda headshot

A native of Sacramento, California, Julie Durda joined Local 10 with extensive knowledge and experience in meteorology from various parts of the United States.

Annaliese Garcia headshot

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

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