The airmass was similar to what one would find on a summer day with moist and unstable conditions and weak winds aloft. Storms were pulse in nature with brief gusty winds.
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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 TAE wrote it up.
The airmass was similar to what one would find on a summer day with moist and unstable conditions and weak winds aloft. Storms were pulse in nature with brief gusty winds.
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 May 8, 8:39 AM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 1039 AM EDT Tue May 8 2012 .DISCUSSION...12 UTC surface analysis showed our region in between an area of high pressure across Southern Florida and a frontal boundary moving into the Lower Mississippi River boundary. This has resulted in a weak flow pattern across the region with only light southerly to southeasterly winds. Conditions this morning are more typical of early June with plenty of humidity as dewpoints are in the mid and upper 60s. 12 UTC upper air data and vapor imagery show a large positively tilted trough across the Western Great Lakes moving into the upper Ohio River valley. This trough will be the driving influence to push the frontal system across the Lower Mississippi River Valley into our region on Wednesday. Locally, the 12 UTC KTAE sounding is relatively moist with almost no deep layer flow. As a result, expect any storms that develop today to move little and be driven primarily by sea breeze and outflow boundary interactions, though most storms should have a slow southeastward drift. Convective coverage is a little difficult to figure today. Modified sounding at 92/65 yields around 2400 J/KG of SBCAPE, which is quite typical for early summer. However, the lack of any significant flow will limit sea breeze progression, thus favoring better convective potential along the I-10 corridor and southward. With the hi-res guidance being more uncertain with storm coverage, and the sea breeze pattern looking more like a light and variable day, opted for a redistribution of the pop field showing better chances across the southern part of the forecast area, but still elevated across South Central Georgia where late day interactions from the East Coast sea breeze is possible. No other significant changes were made to the forecast. Have a great day! && .AVIATION...MVFR ceilings at 14z are continuing to lift at VLD/ABY and expect these to rise to VFR levels by midday. Expect good thunderstorm coverage today at all sites, so included afternoon tempos for conditions down to IFR levels at times. Expect localized fog and ceiling restrictions toward daybreak Wednesday. && .MARINE...The light flow regime will keep winds and seas less than 10 knots and 2 feet today. Only a slight increase is expected in the sea breeze zone in the afternoon near the coast. && .TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. GA...None. FL...None. GM...None. && Godsey
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 527 AM EDT TUE MAY 8 2012 ALZ065>069-FLZ007>019-026>029-034-108-112-114-115-118-127-128-134- GAZ120>131-142>148-155>161-GMZ730-750-755-765-770-775-090930- COFFEE-DALE-HENRY-GENEVA-HOUSTON-INLAND WALTON-CENTRAL WALTON- HOLMES-WASHINGTON-JACKSON-INLAND BAY-CALHOUN-INLAND GULF- INLAND FRANKLIN-GADSDEN-LEON-INLAND JEFFERSON-MADISON-LIBERTY- INLAND WAKULLA-INLAND TAYLOR-LAFAYETTE-INLAND DIXIE-SOUTH WALTON- COASTAL BAY-COASTAL GULF-COASTAL FRANKLIN-COASTAL JEFFERSON- COASTAL WAKULLA-COASTAL TAYLOR-COASTAL DIXIE-QUITMAN-CLAY- RANDOLPH-TERRELL-DOUGHERTY-LEE-WORTH-TURNER-TIFT-BEN HILL-IRWIN- EARLY-MILLER-BAKER-MITCHELL-COLQUITT-COOK-BERRIEN-SEMINOLE- DECATUR-GRADY-THOMAS-BROOKS-LOWNDES-LANIER- APALACHEE BAY OR COASTAL WATERS FROM KEATON BEACH TO OCHLOCKONEE RIVER FL OUT TO 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM APALACHICOLA TO DESTIN FL OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM OCHLOCKONEE RIVER TO APALACHICOLA FL OUT TO 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM SUWANNEE RIVER TO KEATON BEACH OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM APALACHICOLA TO DESTIN FL FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM SUWANNEE RIVER TO APALACHICOLA FL FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 527 AM EDT TUE MAY 8 2012 /427 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND THE FLORIDA BIG BEND AND PANHANDLE...AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE SEA BREEZE AGAIN TODAY...AND SHOULD BE MOST NUMEROUS IN THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE FROM TALLAHASSEE WESTWARD...AND IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BE STRONG AND PRODUCE SOME GUSTY WINDS. THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING VERY SLOWLY SO LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL AND LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG OR SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER REPORTS OF WIND GUSTS OR DAMAGE...HAIL...AND RAINFALL TOTALS WOULD BE APPRECIATED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV...THEN CLICK ON YOUR AREA OF INTEREST ON THE NATIONAL MAP. 08-LAMERS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1053 AM EDT TUE MAY 8 2012
...TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
...DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0525 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 ESE APALACHEE REGIONAL30.42N 84.14W
05/07/2012 LEON FL PARK/FOREST SERVI
TWO TREES DOWN ON LOUVINIA DRIVE BETWEEN
APALACHEE PKWY AND OLD ST. AUGUSTINE ROAD.
&&
CAMPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of trees and power lines were blown down near the intersection of County Road 209 and County Road 210. Monetary damage was estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2012
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: 369673.