SPC Stats
Path length: 6.8 miles
Width: 1000 yards
Fatalities: 1
Injuries: 50
Rating: F2
County: Okaloosa
A total of 7 early AM tornadoes occurred across parts of the south on December 10, 1967. We look at one of those in this summary. It hit in the panhandle of Florida around Fort Walton Beach around 315 am. A total of 35 homes and 9 businesses were destroyed. Another 290 homes had some sort of damage. Club Continental was heavily damaged. There were about 200 people there when the twister hit. One person had minor injuries. There was a fatality. 3-year-old Joann Coker died from a head injury when the tornado hit her home. At the time of the tornado, Joann’s Mom was at the hospital giving birth to her 7th child.
Storm Data Entry
Tornado struck Fort Walton Beach and Ocean City during darkness hours. A three-year-old girl was killed and about 40 persons were treated at local hospitals. Five were still hospitalized two days later. Thirty-five homes and nine business establishments were destroyed. Twenty-three business establishments and 290 homes were damaged to varying degrees. Part of the path was through a heavily wooded pine forest, which suffered extensive damage.
Tornado Path
SPC coordinates: Start: 30.40 / -86.62 End: 30.43 / -86.52
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Videos
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the December 1967 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Path Length:
- SPC/NCDC have a 6.8 mile path length.
- Grazulis and Storm Data have a length at 5 miles.
Sources:
December 1967 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1094.
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