A surface cold front pushed slowly southward across north Florida during the late evening hours. The most unstable CAPE was in the hail growth zone, and combined with weak upper level energy these convective ingredients yielded a cluster of storms that moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico near the surface front before midnight.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 JAX wrote it up.
A surface cold front pushed slowly southward across north Florida during the late evening hours. The most unstable CAPE was in the hail growth zone, and combined with weak upper level energy these convective ingredients yielded a cluster of storms that moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico near the surface front before midnight.
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 Jacksonville, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 9:40 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 940 PM EST WED FEB 2 2011 .UPDATE...MSAS ANALYSIS SHOWING COLD FRONT STRETCHES FROM JUST SOUTH OF JAX TO CROSS CITY (CTY) AND MOVING SLOWLY SE. THE FRONT WILL STALL JUST SOUTH OF THE REGION LATER TONIGHT. THERE HAVE BEEN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY EARLY THIS EVE. ONE BAND IS MOVING OFFSHORE ST AUGUSTINE. ANOTHER IS MOVING IN FROM THE GULF NEAR CROSS CITY AND MOVING NE WHICH WILL LIKELY SPREAD INTO NE FL TONIGHT. WILL KEEP 30-40% POPS GOING THE REST OF THE NIGHT WITH HIGHEST POPS TO THE SOUTH. RAINFALL AMOUNTS MAINLY LIGHT BUT MAY BE LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ACROSS THE SOUTH AND NEAR GULF. && .AVIATION...SCATTERED SHOWERS MOVING IN FROM THE GULF WILL RESULT IN VCSH AT ALL NE FL TERMINALS TONIGHT. HAVE TEMPO MVFR CIGSAT ALL TERMINALS AND PREVAILING MVFR CIGS AT GNV BEGINNING AT 09Z. AT SSI...HAVE PREVAILING VFR WITH CIGS AT 8000 FT. && .MARINE...COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TO JUST SOUTH OF THE COASTAL AND OFFSHORE WATERS LATER TONIGHT AND WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH AND INCREASE. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS APPEAR LIKELY FOR THE OFFSHORE LEGS THURSDAY WITH WINDS BECOMING NE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS FOR THE NE FL WATERS TONIGHT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 41 47 41 52 / 20 40 80 70 SSI 46 50 48 55 / 20 50 80 70 JAX 47 52 51 61 / 30 50 60 50 SGJ 51 55 55 64 / 40 40 50 40 GNV 48 54 51 69 / 40 40 50 40 OCF 51 59 54 74 / 40 40 40 30 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GA...NONE. AM...NONE. && PP/ARS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 1050 PM EST WED FEB 2 2011 FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-031000- ALACHUA-APPLING-ATKINSON-BACON-BAKER-BRADFORD-BRANTLEY- CAMDEN (COASTAL)-CAMDEN (INLAND)-CHARLTON-CLAY-CLINCH-COFFEE- COLUMBIA-DUVAL-ECHOLS-FLAGLER-GILCHRIST-GLYNN (COASTAL)- GLYNN (INLAND)-HAMILTON-JEFF DAVIS-MARION-NASSAU-PIERCE-PUTNAM- ST JOHNS-SUWANNEE-UNION-WARE-WAYNE- 1050 PM EST WED FEB 2 2011 THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... ...ISOLATED STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE... A WEAKENING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE AREA TONIGHT. ISOLATED STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHEAST FLORIDA. STORMS MAY BE STRONG ACROSS THE LOWER SUWANNEE VALLEY AND PRODUCE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN IS FORECAST THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT WITH SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS FORECAST. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES OVER THE AREA...TRAILED BY A COLD FRONT. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 INCHES OR MORE WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/JAX. ECZ/ABE/PP
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1056 PM EST WED FEB 2 2011
FLZ035-036-030445-
ALACHUA-GILCHRIST-
1056 PM EST WED FEB 2 2011
...A SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTHWESTERN
ALACHUA AND SOUTHERN GILCHRIST COUNTIES FOR STRONG WINDS AND SMALL
HAIL VALID UNTIL 1145 PM EST...
AT 1055 PM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM CENTERED 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TRENTON...OR 7
MILES NORTHWEST OF CHIEFLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS
STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS AROUND TRENTON...NEWBERRY...
HIGH SPRINGS AND ALACHUA THROUGH 1145 PM EST. HAIL UP TO THREE
QUARTER INCH IN DIAMETER AND GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH CAN BE
EXPECTED ALONG WITH POSSIBLE MINOR DAMAGE. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL
PRODUCE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.
REPORT DAMAGE TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR YOUR COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
LAT...LON 2993 8248 2972 8233 2955 8268 2956 8275
2958 8278 2958 8286 2959 8287 2959 8294
2961 8296 2963 8297
TIME...MOT...LOC 0355Z 238DEG 31KT 2956 8290
SHASHYThe Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:16 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A spotter reported heavy penny size hail for 2 minutes on State Road 26 at the Alachua and Gilchrist county line.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 2011
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: 276298.