TAE Significant Weather Events

NWS Tallahassee Significant Weather Events

Event Type	Event Date(s)	Event Description (click links below for event details)
Tropical Storm	June 25-26th 2012	Tropical Storm Debby Debby was the first tropical cyclone to bring tropical storm conditions to the NWS Tallahassee County Warning area since Ida in November 2009. Debby was the earliest 4th storm of the season to develop since records began in the middle of the 19th century. Debby was a very difficult storm to forecast, but ultimately brought torrential rainfall to the Florida Big Bend. This resulted in record rainfall in Wakulla County, record flooding on the Sopchoppy River, and a record discharge from Wakulla Springs.
Svr Wx / Tornado / Flooding	March 3rd 2012	Widespread Severe with EF-3 Tornado in Lowndes/Lanier Counties A rare EF-3 tornado struck Lanier County, GA, on March 3, 2012. An NWS survey team determined that there was primarily EF-1 damage along a nearly continuous path with regular intervals of EF-2 damage and one spot where the damage was rated EF-3. Additional details on other severe weather and flooding that occurred that day is forthcoming.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 1st 2012	Isolated Tornadoes in Geneva County Two isolated tornadoes touched down in Geneva County, AL, just two days before a significant severe weather outbreak impacted the NWS Tallahassee forecast area. EF-1 damage was confirmed by an NWS survey team.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 24th 2012	Severe Thunderstorms & a Tornado Severe weather and flooding occurred across the Southeast U.S. on 24 February 2012 including portions of the NWS Tallahassee County Warning Area (CWA). This was just over five days after another severe weather event had impacted the region. The vast majority of the reports were straight line wind damage, but there was one tornado confirmed. WFO Tallahassee issued a total of 15 convective warnings during the event (12 severe and 3 tornado) and a special marine warning. Of the 15 warnings, 10 were verified. The average lead time was 16-17 minutes.
Svr Wx / Flooding	February 18-19th 2012	Severe Thunderstorms & Flooding Severe weather and flooding occurred along the Gulf Coast on 18-19 February 2012 including northern and western portions of the NWS Tallahassee County Warning Area (CWA). The vast majority of the reports were straight line wind damage. WFO Tallahassee issued a total of 17 convective warnings during the event along with several flood warnings/advisories and a couple of special marine warnings. Of the 17 warnings, 13 were verified and there were no unwarned events. The average lead time for the convective warnings was 19-20 minutes.Wdiespread 2-3 inch rainfall with isolated 5-inch amounts did cause some nuisance flooding, although there was no riverine flooding.
Svr Wx / Tornado	September 5th 2011	Severe Weather - Post-tropical Cyclone Lee A widespread outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred on Labor Day across much of the NWS Tallahassee County Warning Area (CWA). This event was forced by unseasonably strong wind fields associated with a potent extra-tropical cyclone that was formerly Tropical Storm Lee. WFO Tallahassee issued a total of 35 convective warnings during the event along with several special marine warnings. Of those 35 warnings, 28 were verified. A total of 52 reports were received and 49 of those were warned for. Satistically, this resulted in a POD of 0.94, FAR of just 0.20 and a CSI a very impressive 0.76.
Svr Wx / Tornado	April 5th 2011	Squall Line A potent squall line of severe thunderstorms raced eastward across the entire southeastern U.S. from the morning of April 4 through the afternoon of April 5, 2011. In a matter of just 30 hours, this squall line brought widespread damaging winds to the Ozarks, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, all of the Gulf Coast states including Florida, and the Carolinas and Mid Atlantic States. This system was one of the most prolific severe weather producers to ever impact the nation. Locally, the system swept across the WFO Tallahassee forecast area from Coffee County AL to Dixie County FL in just over 6 hours. The office received 65 individual reports of severe weather from 40 of the 48 counties in our service area.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 26-27th 2011	Hail Storms Two outbreaks of large hail-producing super cell thunderstorms occurred over the weekend of March 26-27, 2011. The number of super cells, structure of the storms, and number of reports of large hail received over this two-day event is unprecedented in this forecast area and reminiscent of events that occur out in the plains.
Winter Weather	January 10th 2011	Ice Storm A very rare ice storm occurred across the northern portions of the NWS Tallahassee forecast area. The ice mainly accumulated on trees, power lines and cars. Isolated reports of icy roads were also received, mainly bridges and overpasses. A few locations saw sufficient ice accumulation to bring down power lines.
Svr Wx / Tornado	April 8th 2010	Severe Thunderstorms Numerous thunderstorms resulted in isolated tornadoes and wind damage during the afternoon and evening of April 8th, 2010. Tornadoes were confirmed in Coffee County, AL, and Gadsden County , FL. Straight-line wind damage was seen in portions of southwest Georgia, along with Jefferson and Madison Counties in Florida.
Winter Weather	February 12th 2010	Heavy Snow A rare accumulating snow occurred across the northern half of the Tallahassee County Warning Area. Some areas saw heavy snow accumulations in excess of 4 inches. Accumulating snow occurred as far south as the Florida Panhandle and the southern tier counties in south Georgia. After this storm pulled away, 49 of the 50 states had snow on the ground at the same time, Hawaii being the only exception.
Tropical Storm	November 9-11th 2009	Tropical Storm Ida Ida, which developed in the western Caribbean on November 4th, intensified to a tropical storm on November 4th, and to a Category 2 hurricane on November 8th. Ida moved north-northwest across the central Gulf of Mexico, and came ashore near Mobile Bay as a tropical storm on November 10th. Ida produced a swath of heavy rainfall from the western Florida Panhandle across northern and central Alabama, Georgia, and through the Carolinas. Ida was one of the latest-season tropical cyclones to impact the forecast area. It was the 2nd latest hurricane to develop in the Gulf and eventually make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast. Of course many around here remember the record-holder, Hurricane Kate, which made landfall near Mexico Beach on November 21, 1985.
Tropical Storm	August 16-17th 2009	Tropical Storm Claudette It seemed like Claudette came out of nowhere. When folks went to bed Saturday Night, there was a tropical wave in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. By the time they awoke on the morning of Sunday August 16th, Tropical Depression 4 had formed and there were tropical storm warnings in effect along the Gulf coast. By midday, the system had strengthened into Tropical Storm Claudette and landfall occurred that night in the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach.
Svr Wx / Tornado	July 2nd 2009	Severe Thunderstorms A relatively brief period of significant severe weather occurred during the hours of peak heating on the afternoon of Thursday, July 2, 2009. Numerous reports of hail and damaging winds were received during a 4-hr period that afternoon, with the bulk of the reports coming during a 2.5-hr stretch from 3:30 to 6:00 PM EDT. Most of the severe weather occurred in Florida and extreme southern Georgia with a particularly severe storm racing across Tallahassee, FL during rush hour.
Svr Wx / Tornado	April 13th 2009	Severe Thunderstorms On Monday, April 13, 2009, a series of bowing segments of severe storms produced numerous instances of straight-line wind damage and large hail across the entire forecast area including Southeast Alabama, Southwest & South Central Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend. An EF-1 tornado went through Fitzgerald, GA, and there was also a tornado reported in Slocomb in Geneva County, AL. Many of the storms that occurred on this day resulted in flooding of low lying poor drainage areas, including some urban areas in Panama City and Tallahassee, FL. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from 2.5-3.5 inches across the forecast area and this unfortunately reversed the trend of falling stages at many area rivers that saw significant flooding from extremely heavy rains that fell earlier in the month. In many cases, rivers are predicted to exceed flood stage once again.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 26-28th 2009 April 2nd 2009 April 5th 2009	Multi-Day Severe Weather/Record Flooding A very active weather pattern set up across the U.S. in late March 2009 and continued through the first week of April. During an 11-day stretch, the NWS Tallahassee forecast area experienced six separate severe weather episodes. In addition to the severe weather, excessive rainfall produced widespread areal flooding with many areas receiving in excess of a foot of rain during this period. This eventually translated into a major riverine flooding event, with the Withlacoochee River establishing a new flood of record and the Suwannee predicted to follow suit. If the predicted levels on the Suwannee River are realized, major roads such as U.S. 90 and Interstate 10 may be closed near the river.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 28th 2009	Severe Thunderstorms On Saturday, February 28, 2009, a vigorous upper-air disturbance was approaching the southeast U.S. from the northwest. An east-west surface frontal boundary had been stationary for several days across central GA and AL. A surface low developed on the frontal boundary in GA, which began to push the front southward into southern AL and the Florida Big Bend on Saturday evening. Out ahead of the cold front, moist, unstable air, coupled with increased vertical wind shear, produced several severe thunderstorms across the Tallahassee County Warning Area. Straight-line wind damage was reported in southeast AL, southwest and south central GA, and the eastern Florida Panhandle, with the most significant damage being reported in Tift County, GA. Golfball-sized hail was also reported in Holmes County, FL, north of Interstate 10 near New Hope.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 18-19th 2009	Long-track Supercell with Tornadoes A long-lived supercell thunderstorm developed in southwest Alabama east of Mobile and traversed the Florida Panhandle and much of South Georgia, crossing the entire NWS Tallahassee forecast area. It is estmated that the supercell averaged 60mph as it moved across the region. This storm not only produced baseball-sized hail and 70-80mph wind gusts in Walton and Holmes Counties in the Florida Panhandle, but also spawned an EF-2 tornado that tracked from central Grady County across much of Thomas County, and a short-track EF-3 tornado that touched down near Boston in eastern Thomas County.
Svr Wx / Tornado	October 8th 2008	Tornadoes Several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms formed ahead of the cold front and strong low pressure system over southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle during the morning, then moved into portions of southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia, and the Florida Big Bend in the afternoon. There were eight confirmed tornadoes, six EF0 and two EF1, as well as a few reports of straight line wind damage.
Tropical Storm	August 21st-25th 2008	Tropical Storm Fay Tropical Storm Fay will go down in history as one of the most prolific rain producers in our area. Rainfall totals exceeding 20 inches in some locations created record floods on some area rivers and flooding in Tallahassee and surrounding cities the likes of which have not been seen in many years. The storm also brought minor storm surge flooding to parts of the Big Bend coastline and spawned several tornadoes on the 23rd and 25th.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 7th 2008	Capitola & Keaton Beach Tornadoes A brief, but extensive severe weather episode occurred across the Florida Big Bend during the morning of March 7, 2008. There were widespread reports of straight line wind damage across the region, with three tornadoes reported, two confirmed by NWS survey teams. There was also some urban street flooding in Tallahassee, followed by some riverine flooding in the ensuing days.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 26th 2008	Severe Thunderstorms A quick moving pre-frontal squall line swept across the NWS Tallahassee County Warning Area during the mid morning to early afternoon hours. A total of 16 warnings were issued, including 14 severe thunderstorm warnings, one tornado warning and one special marine warning. There were a couple of hail reports. However, wind damage reports were widespread, mainly in the form of downed trees and power lines that were felled by 35 to 45 mph wind gusts, which is well below severe limits. This is likely due to the flooding heavy rains that fell less than a week earlier that loosened soils, allowing trees and utility poles to tople over much easier than if the ground was more solid. The most significant wind damage occurred in Thomas County, GA, where an NWS survery crew estimated 70 to 75 mph straight line winds.
Heavy Rain / Flooding	February 21st - 22nd 2008	Heavy Rain / Flooding Thunderstorms with heavy rains trained across the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend into Southwest Georgia during the evening and overnight hours of 21-22 February, 2008, north of a stalled warm front. Widepsread 5-10 inch rainfall totals were reported. More heavy rains followed the next day ahead of a cold front with 2-3 more inches of rain falling. Widespread flooding was reported in Bay County and surrounding areas, with riverine flooding to follow in the days to come across the region.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 17th - 18th 2008	Tornado Outbreak Beginning Sunday afternoon, February 17, and continuing into the early morning hours of Monday, February 18, 2008, the NWS Weather ForecastOffice in Tallahassee issued 34 warnings. These included 9 tornado, 17 severe thunderstorm, and 8 special marine warnings. Two tornadoes were confirmed by NWS survey crews. One tracked across northwest Coffee County, AL. A second affected northern Gadsden County, FL , and Decatur and Grady Counties in GA. Fortunately, there were no fatalities associated with this severe weather episode. However, two people were injured in the Tallahassee County Warning Area: one on Interstate 10 in Gadsden County, and another in a trailer home in Grady County. There were 46 other injuries reported across Central AL and northern GA.
Svr Wx / Tornado	December 15th - 16th 2007	Tornado Outbreak Beginning Saturday afternoon, December 15, and continuing into the early morning hours of Sunday, December 16, 2007, the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Tallahassee issued 18 warnings. These included 5 tornado, 7 severe thunderstorm, and 6 special marine warnings. Two tornadoes were confirmed by NWS survey crews, which tracked across Early County, GA, Worth County, GA, and Turner County in GA. Unfortunately, there was 1 fatality in Ashburn, Georgia located in Turner County.
Svr Wx / Tornado	April 14th - 15th 2007	Tornado Outbreak Saturday evening, April 14 through the early morning hours of Sunday, April 15, 2007 saw a significant severe weather outbreak across the forecast area. Warnings included 8 tornado, 21 severe thunderstorm, and 5 special marine warnings. Three tornadoes were confirmed by NWS survey crews, one each in Dale County, AL, and also Lee and Worth Counties in GA.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 1st - 2nd 2007	Tornado Outbreak Thursday, March 1, through the early morning hours of Friday, March 2, 2007, the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Tallahassee issued 57 warnings included 35 tornado, 19 severe thunderstorm, and 4 special marine warnings. During this time, warnings were issued for two deadly tornadoes, which caused the loss of 15 lives, nine in Enterprise, AL, and six just north of Newton, GA
Svr Wx / Tornado	October 27th 2006	Apalachicola Waterspout / Tornado A waterspout came ashore and produced F1 tornado damage in Apalachicola. The tornado cut a path approximately 1 mile long and more than 100 yards wide, damaging dozens of structures. and hundreds of trees.
Svr Wx / Tornado	August 8th 2006	Midland AL Microburst Severe thunderstorms erupted over a large portion of the forecast area during the afternoon and evening hours of August 8th 2006. The most significant storm occurred over southern portions of Dale county Alabama near the midland city area where a destructive thunderstorms microburst produced estimated straight-line winds over 70 mph.
Tropical Storm	June 6th 2006	Tropical Storm Alberto The 2006 Hurricane Season got off to an early start. Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the season, made landfall along the Florida Big Bend coast northwest of Adams Beach in Taylor County at approximately 1230 PM EDT, Tuesday, June 13.
Svr Wx / Tornado	December 5th 2005	Tornadoes Moist, unstable air in advance of a strong cold front produced a couple of damaging F-1 tornadoes across south central Georgia and the Florida Big Bend on Monday, December 5th. The first tornado damaged numerous buildings, including the Worth County Courthouse, in Sylvester, Georgia. The second tornado hopscotched its way across Wakulla County, passing just north of Crawfordville, Florida.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 22nd 2005	Tornado Outbreak A strong upper-level weather system in the lower Mississippi Valley coupled with warm, moist, unstable air across southern Alabama, southern Georgia, and the Florida Big Bend and Panhandle produced numerous reports of severe weather across southern Alabama and Georgia.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 20th 2003	Tornado Outbreak During the early morning hours of Thursday, March 20, 2003, a deadly tornadic thunderstorm pushed northeastward along a squall line that was crossing the Eastern Florida Panhandle and Southwest Georgia. In its wake, the storm left six people dead, hundreds injured, and a path of destruction that extended from the Panhandle coast all the way into central Georgia.
Svr Wx Event	Feb 16th 2003	Severe Weather Event During the early morning hours of Sunday, February 16, 2003, a squall line swept across the NWS WFO Tallahassee County Warning and Forecast Area.
Svr Wx / Tornado	March 15th 2001	Tornado Outbreak Four tornadoes touched down in eastern portions of the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia during the early morning hours of Thursday, March 15, 2001. One person was killed and 33 were injured during this event, which produced two F2 tornadoes, along with an F1 and an F0.
Svr Wx / Tornado	February 14th 2000	Tornado Outbreak Sunday evening, February 13 through the early morning hours of Monday, February 14, 2000, NWS WFO Tallahassee issued 52 warnings. These included 25 tornado, 24 severe thunderstorm, and 3 special marine warnings. During this time, warnings were issued for three deadly tornadoes, which caused the loss of 19 lives in three southwest Georgia counties, an event unequaled for south Georgia in nearly 50 years.
Svr Wx / Tornado	April 8, 1998	Severe Event

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office