South Florida will experience sporadic tornado warnings this Wednesday in advance of Hurricane Milton. Check out the latest watches and alerts in our live blog here.

In the event of a tornado warning:

• The National Weather Service is urging residents to take cover.
• Go to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.
• Avoid windows.
• If you are outdoors, in an RV or vehicle, find the nearest safe shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.

Broward County

North of I-75 and west of US 27

South Florida will be under a sporadic tornado warning today in advance of Hurricane Milton. This tornado was detected north of I-75 and west of US 27.

Undetermined location

A video posted by the Instagram account Only in Broward shows a tornado in Broward. The exact location of the tornado was unclear.

Why hurricanes increase the risk of tornadoes

Hurricanes are best known for the threats of wind, storms and rain that accompany them. But there is another very common threat that occurs in the outer rainbands: tornadoes.

Tornadoes are typically found on the eastern side of the hurricane, and in fact it is known as the strongest side or “dirty” side of the system.

Waterspouts are commonly seen in South Florida, but tropical tornadoes arise from the increased wind shear that occurs as the outer band, called squall lines, moves onshore.

The outer bands shoot away from the center of the circulation and move quickly. As they move on land, the wind on the surface decreases. But higher up in the atmosphere the wind remains strong.

This contrast is called wind shear – a change in wind speed (or direction) at different heights in the sky. This results in fast but frequent spin-up tornadoes.

The change in direction occurs as the hurricane itself undergoes a natural counterclockwise rotation, but the outer bands move away from the center, resulting in a slightly different direction of these winds.

These are typically very short-lived and weak compared to the large supercell tornadoes that arise from individual rotating thunderstorms.