Winds reached 100 MPH in Mexico Beach, NWS confirms

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - NewsChannel 7’s J.T. Lynch spoke with the National Weather Service’s Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Tallahassee.

They have confirmed that on Monday morning, Mexico Beach was hit by an EF1 tornado with winds of up to 100 mph and an EF0 tornado with winds of up to 70 mph.

The EF1 tornado damaged the El Governor Beach Resort and RV Park with a peeled back roof and overturned mobile homes.

Officials with the National Weather Service also said the timing of the storm was unusual.

“It is rare to get one in October,” said Mark Wool, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Very rare actually to have an October tornado. You are going to go back a decade or more since the last one hit the Panhandle.”

The EF0 tornado, according to the NWS report, also happened across US-98 in Mexico Beach but only damaged fencing and signs in a new construction neighborhood.

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