A major severe weather event was expected. There had been severe weather during the day. But no one quite expected what was to come. The night of February 22nd-23rd, 1998, would be the incredible herald to what would be the deadliest tornado season in twenty-four years. At its end, forty-two people would lose their lives across central Florida as seven tornadoes, three of them at F3 intensity, would rip through under cover of darkness.
We here at tornadotony.com dedicate this blog post to the forty-two people that passed away that night, as well as the eighty-eight additional people that would be killed during the horrific 1998 tornado season. Below are links to the NWS service assessment, the NWS damage survey, and the Melbourne, FL, NWS page on the outbreak.