An isolated severe thunderstorm in advance of an eastward-moving line of thunderstorms moved east-southeast across Vaca Key and the city of Marathon. Isolated wind damage and measured severe thunderstorm wind gusts were reported.
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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.
The episode as NWS KEY wrote it up.
An isolated severe thunderstorm in advance of an eastward-moving line of thunderstorms moved east-southeast across Vaca Key and the city of Marathon. Isolated wind damage and measured severe thunderstorm wind gusts were reported.
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 Feb 2, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 200 PM EST MON FEB 2 2009 .DISCUSSION... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS DEEPENING IN THE CENTRAL GULF THIS AFTERNOON. STRETCHED OUT AHEAD OF IT IS A WARM FRONT ACROSS SOUTHERN FLORIDA. TRAILING SOUTHWARD INTO THE YUCATAN CHANNEL IS A PREFRONTAL TROF...WITH A COLD FRONT STRETCHED WESTWARD BEHIND THE LOW. ALOFT...THE KEYS ARE ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF A 100 KNOT E-W 300MB JET. THIS JET ARRANGEMENT IS NOT FAVORABLE FOR ENHANCING LIFT...AND INDEED IT APPEARS THAT AIRMASS OVER THE KEYS HAS NOT YET BEEN DESTABILIZED BY LIFT AND SURFACE HEATING...GIVEN THE LACK OF THUNDER OVER THE MAINLAND OR CUBA. TONIGHT...THE LOW WILL SHOOT ACROSS CENTRAL FLORIDA...REACHING THE ATLANTIC COAST AROUND 12Z. WOULD EXPECT THE PREFRONTAL TROF TO BE IN THE VICINITY OF KEY WEST AND BEGIN CROSSING THE KEYS BY AROUND SUNSET...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG IT. AFTER THAT PASSES...EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. GIVEN THE LACK OF PROPER PHASING WITH THE UPPER LEVEL JET...WOULD EXPECT THE INCOMING THUNDERSTORMS TO FEATURE GUSTY WINDS...BUT SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE CRITERIA TONIGHT. THE FRONT WILL CLEAR THE KEYS BY LATE TOMORROW MORNING...WITH COOL TEMPS AND CLEARING SKIES BEHIND IT. WEDNESDAY WILL BE COOL AND PARTLY CLOUDY AS THE LOW DEEPENS AND SHOOTS UP THE ATLANTIC TOWARDS NEWFOUNDLAND. A HIGH WILL BUILD OVER THE SOUTHERN MS VALLEY AND THE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE TWO FEATURES WILL PUSH COLD AIR DEEP INTO FLORIDA. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL REACH THE KEYS WEDNESDAY NIGHT...AND THE LOWS THURSDAY MORNING WILL BE VERY COOL. BY THE WEEKEND...THE HIGH WILL BE SETTLING IN ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA...RETURNING THE KEYS WEATHER TO MORE NORMAL CONDITIONS. .MARINE... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA MAY BE BRIEFLY MET AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE TONIGHT...BUT DURATION WILL BE SHORT. WILL GO WITH AN EXERCISE CAUTION OVERNIGHT. A SECONDARY WIND SURGE WILL COME THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT...WHICH MAY REQUIRE AN SCA...THEN THERE IS ANOTHER FRONT COMING DOWN WED NIGHT WITH 20KT WINDS BEHIND IT ON THURSDAY. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THIS AFTERNOON AT THE KEY WEST AND MARATHON TERMINALS. TOWARD EVENING (00Z/7PM) WE EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO BE IN OUR VICINITY...MOVING RAPIDLY FROM NORTHWEST TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST. AFTER THEY MOVE THROUGH -- WITH MVFR CIGS/VSBYS -- WE WILL EXPERIENCE A SHIFT IN WIND DIRECTION AND AN INCREASE IN SPEED THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KEY WEST 64 67 52 66 / 70 20 00 00 MARATHON 65 66 51 66 / 70 30 00 00 && .KEY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GM...NONE. && PUBLIC/MARINE.........STRAHAN AVIATION/NOWCASTS.....DFM DATA COLLECTION.......BC VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/KEYWEST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KEY WEST FL 409 AM EST MON FEB 2 2009 FLZ076>078-GMZ031>033-052>054-072>075-031000- 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- 409 AM EST MON FEB 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT IN THE KEYS AND SURROUNDING WATERS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL BE DROPPING THROUGH THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE PRIMARY HAZARD WILL BE CLOUD TO SURFACE LIGHTNING STRIKES. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH OF THE KEYS AND SURROUNDING WATERS BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. FRESH TO OCCASIONALLY STRONG NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS WILL LIKELY PROMPT A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ALL WATERS SURROUNDING THE FLORIDA KEYS. FRESH TO OCCASIONALLY STRONG NORTHERLY BREEZES WILL PERSIST THROUGH THURSDAY...WHEN A REINFORCING SHOT OF COOL AIR DROPS SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Key West radar (KBYX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:58 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust of 52 knots (60 mph) was observed at the Florida Keys Marathon Airport in association with a severe thunderstorm. One tree was uprooted near the ASOS.
Wind damage due to a severe thunderstorm occurred at a restaurant on the Florida Bay side of the city of Marathon, just east of the causeway to Key Colony Beach. Large outdoor furniture, including restaurant tables, became airborne and overturned. Damage was reported to a tiki bar roof, with tree limbs broken on the property. Widespread pea to marble size hail was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 2009
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: 157018, 157021.