Fort Pierce - Tuesday June 7, 2022: The National Weather Service in Melbourne reports one confirmed tornado touched down at 6:06 pm in a field west of I-95 and north of Florida’s Turnpike outside Fort Pierce on Monday evening.
"It traveled slowly southeast eventually crossing the Turnpike before it actually lifted," said NWS Meteorologist Cassie Leahy. It has been classified as an EF-0, she said. That is the lowest strength tornado on the Fujita Scale, with wind speeds between 40 and 72 MPH. "Peak winds were estimated between 65 to 70 MPH," said Leahy.
No injuries or major damage in St. Lucie County had been reported from the tornado as of Tuesday morning, however straight line winds from the thunderstorm that produced the tornado reportedly caused relatively minor foliage and roof damage in a number of locations in Fort Pierce.
Ron Guerrero, the Public Safety Director for St. Lucie County, said the worst reported damage was a roof that blew off a barn on West Angle Road between I-95 and the Turnpike. It landed across the street, but caused no further damage.
Leahy also said that another funnel cloud reportedly touched down around 6:30 pm about 5 miles west of the Stuart Airport in Martin County.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the NWS in Melbourne for southeastern St. Lucie County at 6:04 pm Monday, followed by a tornado warning at 6:50 p.m. The tornado warning expired at 7:15 pm.
