2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak

In east central Florida, a warm sector, a region of warm surface air between a cold front and a warm front, was positioned ahead of a progressing cold front. Large scale lift was supported by a very strong jet stream aloft, with strong vertical shear evident, conducive for rotating thunderstorms and tornadoes. Instability increased overnight with temperatures and dew points increasing through the pre-dawn hours. At 3:06 am EST (0806 UTC), the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tornado warning for northern Lake County until 4:00 am EST (0900 UTC). At 3:10 am EST (0810 UTC), the first tornado touched down near The Villages and traveled at into Lake County. Five minutes after the tornado touched down, a severe weather update bulletin was issued by the NWS stating that there was a high likelihood of an extremely dangerous tornado and people in the path were in a life-threatening situation. The tornado received an EF3 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and had a track length of . The mesocyclone that produced the first tornado restrengthened and formed another tornado near Paisley at 3:37 am EST (0837 UTC) in Lake County. It went east northeast toward the Lake Mack area, exceeding . The tornado received an EF3 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and traveled a total of . The supercell produced its last tornado east of I-95 at 4:22 am EST (0922 UTC) and dissipated five minutes later at the Intracoastal Waterway, from where it touched down. The tornado was rated EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and traveled for . == Confirmed tornadoes ==

February 2 event == Aftermath ==

|alt=What was a brick two-story home has had its roof and parts of the second floor torn off. Debris and tree branches are strewn all over the surrounding lawn. The outbreak was the second-deadliest on record for Florida, behind one that killed 42 people in February 1998. Damages from the tornado outbreak totaled $218 million (2007 US$). Christopher Patton, spokesman for the Lake County emergency operations center, described the damage as "unlike even perhaps the hurricanes of 2004 when we had minor roof damage, screen damage, pool damage. This is way far more devastating." The tornadoes were the first to be rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which replaced the original Fujita Scale. U.S. President George W. Bush signed a declaration to designate Sumter, Lake, Volusia and Seminole counties as disaster areas. A state of emergency was declared by Governor Charlie Crist for the same counties. More than 400 American Red Cross volunteers from across several states went to help in central Florida. The Tampa Bay chapter of the American Red Cross sent six volunteers with emergency response vehicles to the main area of damage. The Walt Disney Company donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross to help aid victims and Feed The Children sent two truckloads of relief supplies to the central Florida area. The Salvation Army brought several mobile kitchens to offer relief to victims and Verizon Wireless helped by offering citizens the use of a wireless emergency communication center, in addition to cleaning and repairing cellular phones damaged by the storms. Katie Couric anchored the CBS Evening News from Lady Lake on February 2. The broadcast was slated to be from Miami, where Super Bowl XLI was held two days later as the game was to air on CBS. A moment of silence was held before Super Bowl XLI in Miami to honor the victims of the tornadoes. == See also ==