Florida, 2001

Hail and Waterspout in Florida, March 12, 2001

March 12, 2001 · NWS TAE · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 1 waterspout, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 3:49 AM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 3:49 AM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
315 AM EST MON MAR 12 2001

88-DS ARE A LITTLE MORE ACTIVE THIS MORNING AS A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS MOVES ACROSS THE FL PANHANDLE AND SE AL PORTIONS OF
THE CWA. THIS MARKS THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY HERE TO USE SCAN TO HELP
ANALYZE THE STORMS. THE STORMS APPEAR TO BE AHEAD OF A WEAK WARM
FRONT THAT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTH ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. CURRENT
DEW PTS ARE ONLY IN THE 50S BUT EXPECTED TO RISE INTO THE 60S AS THE
WARM FRONT PROGRESSES. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS
MORNING AS STORMS ARE MOVING INTO A MORE STABLE AMS. LATER TODAY SPC
HAS PLACED THE CWA IN A SLGT RISK.

UPPER FLOW REMAINS SWLY ACROSS THE CWA THRU THE FCST PERIOD AS THE
FIRST CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER NE MOVES NE AND DEEPENS A TROF THAT WILL
EVENTUALLY ROTATE OVER THE CWA TUE WHILE THE 2ND CLOSED UPPER LOW
DROPS TO BAJA BEFORE MOVING EAST AND PRODUCING A RAIN THREAT ON THU.
AT THE SFC THE LOW OVER TX/OK WL MOVE NE INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION
TODAY WITH A TRAILING COLD FRONT MOVING EAST OF THE MS RVR BY 06Z
TUE THE COLD FRONT WL CONT EAST AND PASS OVER TLH TUE AFTN. STRONG
S-SW FLOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONT TODAY. THIS WILL
TAP THE GULF MOISTURE RAISING PWS WELL ABOVE AN INCH AGAIN.
INCREASED LAPSE RATES ALONG WITH ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND WIND SHEAR
THIS AFTN MAY CONTRIBUTE TO A FEW STORMS BECOMING SEVERE. THE CHANCE
FOR RAIN WL CONT ACROSS THE CWA UNTIL TUE NIGHT. NO FIRE WX CONCERNS
THIS PERIOD. LOCAL BUOYS ONLY INDICATING 1-2 FT SEAS BUT WL CONTINUE
SCEC WEST OF AQQ AS GRADIENT IS EXPECTED TO TIGHTEN RAISING WINDS
AND SEAS SWIFTLY TO SCEC CRITERIA.

EXTENDED: WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...SFC HI WILL PROVIDE A DRY WED
WITH THE NEXT FRONT ARRIVING THU PRODUCING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR RAIN
THAT WL LAST INTO FRI. DRY WX RETURNS SAT AND SUN.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS:

TLH 75/63 74/46 7751
PFN 70/65 71/51 7740
DHN 71/60 72/47 8740
ABY 72/60 71/47 7750
VLD 76/62 76/50 6751

.TLH...
AL...NONE.
GA...NONE.
FL...NONE.

MME

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Walton

When
March 12, 4:55 AM EST
Where
Walton County, Northwest Portion
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.800, -86.267

Dime to quarter size hail. Reported by the Florida Emergency Operations Center.

Waterspout, Walton

When
March 12, 4:28 PM EST
Where
Walton County, 6 mi NE of Santa Rosa Beach
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.619, -86.171 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several sightings of a waterspout near the U.S. Highway 331 bridge over the Choctawhatchee Bay. Reported by the Walton County EMA.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5237995, 5237994.