Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes in Florida: Is that unusual?

Several tornadoes have been reported Wednesday afternoon across southern Florida as Hurricane Milton roars toward the state.

While tornadoes don’t typically get the same attention as hurricanes' ferocious winds or perilous storm surges, twisters are always among the clear and present dangers even before storms make landfall and trek inland.

That’s especially true because tornadoes can occur more than 1,000 miles away from where a hurricane makes landfall and far from the path of the hurricane's center, said Roger Edwards, a lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center, who specializes in tornadoes.

Tornadoes not uncommon during hurricanes

Tornadoes aren't uncommon during hurricanes: In fact, almost all hurricanes and tropical storms that make landfall in the United States spawn at least one tornado, provided enough of the storm's circulation moves over land, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA reports that these tornadoes most often occur in thunderstorms embedded in rain bands well away from the center of the hurricane. However, they can also occur near the eyewall.

Usually, tornadoes produced by tropical cyclones are relatively weak and short-lived, but they still pose a significant threat, NOAA said.

How hurricanes spawn tornadoes

Hurricanes and tropical storms offer all the necessary weather elements to spawn tornadoes: They carry small, spinning supercells inside their outer bands, which are thunderstorms that can form twisters, Live Science reported.

Fueled by warm, moist ocean air, hurricanes – with their strong wind shear near the ground – can create an unstable atmosphere when they make landfall, and their swirling vortices can flip vertically into funnels.

Hard to see

Tornadoes with tropical origins may pop up quickly and be wrapped in rain making them harder to see, Edwards said.

"If a tornado warning is issued, people need to take action immediately,” he said. “They can’t wait. They can’t look outside and say, ‘Hey, where is it?' because by the time they try that, their house might be getting blown apart."

Edwards hopes that people in housing that may not be able to withstand a tornado pay attention to tornado alerts and make plans to relocate to a safer place, such as with a friend or relative.

Historic hurricanes

Although hurricanes can spawn tornadoes up to about three days after landfall, statistics show that most tornadoes occur on the day of landfall or the next day, NOAA said.

One of the worst tornado outbreaks occurred during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which caused a multi-day outbreak of 127 tornadoes. The deadliest hurricane-spawned tornado was in October 1964, when 22 people died in Larose, Louisiana, during a twister from Hurricane Hilda.

(This story was updated to add a photo.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes in Florida