A waterspout over Lower Sugarloaf Channel moved west and made landfall at a residential property in Bay Point.
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The episode as NWS KEY wrote it up.
A waterspout over Lower Sugarloaf Channel moved west and made landfall at a residential property in Bay Point.
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 Key West, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 17, 9:44 AM EST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 1044 AM EDT WED SEP 17 2008 .DISCUSSION... THE MORNING BALLOON ASCENT OUT OF KEY WEST REVEALED A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE LOWER TROPOSPHERE WITH ZERO CONVECTIVE INHIBITION. IN ADDITION...WEAKLY SHEARED EASTERLY FLOW WAS OBSERVED UP TO ABOUT 16000FT WITH WEAK WESTERLIES ABOVE. THIS CONFIGURATION IS VERY FAVORABLE FOR ISLAND-FORCED CUMULUS CONVECTION...ESPECIALLY OVER THE LOWER KEYS. ALSO...THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND LACK OF CONVECTIVE INHIBITION WILL ALLOW CONVECTION TO INITIATE READILY ANYWHERE WHERE BOUNDARIES ARE AVAILABLE. AFTERNOON SEA-BREEZE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAINLAND SOUTH FLORIDA...ANDROS ISLAND...AND CUBA WILL LIKELY SUPPLY PLENTY OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON...ALONG WITH THOSE ALREADY PRESENT NEAR THE KEYS. THE UPSHOT IS THAT ALTHOUGH NO LARGE-SCALE DISTURBANCES ARE PRESENT TO ENHANCE RAINFALL COVERAGE...FAVORABLE THERMODYNAMICS AND LOCAL MESOSCALE FLOW PATTERNS SHOULD ALLOW FOR A NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE CHANCE FOR MEASURABLE RAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE CURRENT FORECASTS HANDLE THIS SCENARIO WELL...SO ANY UPDATES WILL BE MINOR. && .MARINE... LIGHT NORTHEAST TO EAST BREEZES WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC...FLORIDA BAY...AND GULF OF MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL BECOME SCATTERED. A FEW WATERSPOUTS ARE POSSIBLE BENEATH BUILDING CUMULUS CONGESTUS LINES NEAR THE ISLANDS THIS AFTERNOON. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TODAY AT THE KEY WEST AND MARATHON TERMINALS. A CLOUD LINE WILL LIKELY CREATE SHOWERS IN THE VICINITY OF THE TERMINALS THIS AFTERNOON. WE WILL REFERENCE THIS IN OUR 18Z ISSUANCES. MEANWHILE IF THUNDER THREATENS WE WILL ISSUE A TIMELY UPDATE. && .KEY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GM...NONE. && PUBLIC/MARINE.........KASPER AVIATION/NOWCASTS.....DFM DATA COLLECTION.......WAH VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/KEYWEST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 600 AM WED SEP 17 2008 FLZ076-077-078-GMZ031-032-033-052-053-054-072-073-074-075-181000- MONROE UPPER KEYS-MONROE MIDDLE KEYS-MONROE LOWER KEYS- FLORIDA BAY-GULF SIDE OF THE LOWER KEYS OUT 20 NM- GULF WATERS FROM EAST CAPE SABLE TO CHOKOLOSKEE 20 TO 60 NM OUT- OCEAN REEF TO CRAIG KEY OUT 20 NM- CRAIG KEY TO THE WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE OUT 20 NM- WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE TO KEY WEST OUT 20 NM- OCEAN REEF TO CRAIG KEY 20 TO 60 NM OUT- CRAIG KEY TO THE WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE 20 TO 60 NM OUT- WEST END OF THE 7 MILE BRIDGE TO KEY WEST 20 TO 60 NM OUT- KEY WEST TO 20 NM WEST OF DRY TORTUGAS OUT 60 NM- 600 AM WED SEP 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ...SLIGHT RISK OF WATERSPOUTS TODAY... A MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALLOW CUMULUS CLOUD LINES TO DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF THE KEYS TODAY. AS THESE CLOUD LINES BUILD...CONDITIONS WILL BECOME SLIGHTLY FAVORABLE FOR WATERSPOUT FORMATION...ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ON THE NEARSHORE WATERS SOUTH OF THE LOWER AND MIDDLE KEYS. ANY WATERSPOUT THAT DOES FORM WILL GENERALLY MOVE TO THE SOUTHWEST AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS. WATERSPOUTS ARE MOST LIKELY TO FORM UNDER A LARGE CLOUD BUILDUP...WITH A DARK...FLAT BASE. IN ADDITION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE PRIMARY THUNDERSTORM HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS CLOUD TO SURFACE LIGHTNING STRIKES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE PRIMARY THUNDERSTORM HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS CLOUD TO SURFACE LIGHTNING STRIKES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. DAF
The Key West radar (KBYX), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:39 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A waterspout moved ashore along Bay Drive in Bay Point, overturning potted plants and trash cans.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2008Warnings in Florida, September 2008
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: 136957.