Tornadoes

Photo by Brian Baer

A water spout in southern Tampa Bay heads toward Pinellas County on July 12, 1995.

Although tornadoes usually are associated with places like Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, Florida's West Coast is not immune from the killer storms. The clash of cold air from the north and warm, moist tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico has produced two deadly outbreaks of tornadoes in Pinellas County in the last 20 years.

On Oct. 3, 1992, at least five tornadoes dropped from the sky on an unsuspecting mid-Pinellas County area, killing four, injuring dozens and blowing almost 100 homes to bits.

And on May 4, 1978, a tornado demolished part of an elementary school in the same area, killing three kindergarten students and injuring scores of other children. (See related story, "Victims of the wind")

Times photo by
JIM DAMASKE

Times photo by
FRED VICTORIN