Florida, 2013

Flash Flooding and Flooding in Florida, August 16 to 19, 2013

August 16 to 19, 2013 · NWS TAE · 22 events in 5 counties and zones

Another round of major flash flooding occurred across parts of northwest Florida during the middle of August as an upper level trough developed west of the area with a continuous moisture feed off of the Gulf of Mexico streaming northward into the area. This flooding hit many of the same areas impacted by the July flooding.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
$6.0 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
22

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 happened

The episode as NWS TAE wrote it up.

Another round of major flash flooding occurred across parts of northwest Florida during the middle of August as an upper level trough developed west of the area with a continuous moisture feed off of the Gulf of Mexico streaming northward into the area. This flooding hit many of the same areas impacted by the July flooding.

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 Aug 16, 1:55 PM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 1:55 PM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
355 PM EDT Fri Aug 16 2013

.NEAR TERM [Through Tonight]...
Model guidance has been in pretty good agreement about additional
shower and thunderstorm development late this afternoon across
Apalachee Bay and lifting northward into North Florida and South
Georgia and current radar trends seem to confirm this. The
widespread heavy rainfall looks to begin this period and continue
into Saturday. Initially the focus should be along the Florida Big
Bend Coast but then lift northwestward late tonight and into
Saturday. Rain chances have been increased to near 100 percent for
much of the forecast area overnight.

&&

.SHORT TERM [Saturday Through Sunday Night]...
Complex weather situation evolving across the region will lead to
periods of heavy rainfall through the weekend. By Saturday
morning, an anomalous upper low is forecast to be centered over
the bootheel of Missouri with a trough axis extending into the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico. A potent 90kt upper jet will round
the base of the trough during the day placing the area in the
favorable right entrance region. These features combined with a
feed of deep tropical moisture eminating from the southern Gulf
disturbance, and a lingering surface front, will set the stage for
potentially heavy rainfall. Latest guidance places the highest QPF
and highest PoPs over the northwestern half of the forecast area.
With many of these areas already saturated from a very wet summer,
flash flooding will continue to be a possibility. Will have
categorical PoPs for most of the area on Saturday with
temperatures well below normal. See the hydrology section of this
product for more details on the potential flooding impact.

While the corridor of heaviest rain is likely to slide westward on
Sunday, the Florida Panhandle and southeast Alabama will remain in
a favorable position to receive additional heavy rain. However, at
least high end scattered PoPs are anticipated over the remainder
of the forecast area.

&&

.LONG TERM [Monday through Friday]...
Upper trough over the Lower Mississippi Valley is forecast to
linger through the first half of next week keeping a moist and
unstable airmass in place over the tri-state area. This will keep
PoPs relatively high through at least Tuesday. By later in the
week, there is more uncertainty in the guidance as to how much
ridging will build back over the region, with the ECMWF keeping
the upper trough in tact and the GFS indicating a stronger ridge.
Being well into the extended, will keep conditions close to climo
as a compromise.

&&

.AVIATION [Through 18Z Saturday]...
Expect more numerous showers with isolated storms to affect the
TLH/VLD terminals late this evening and then spread toward the
other sites toward daybreak. Mainly MVFR conditions are expected
with IFR conditions likely occuring closer to daybreak Saturday as
the intensity of the rain increases. Should see some break in the
action at VLD and TLH late Saturday morning.

&&

.MARINE...
Winds and seas will be on the increase through the weekend,
especially over the western waters, as a trough of low pressure
lingers to the north and west. Conditions will occasionally reach
exercise caution levels through Sunday, with a brief period of
advisory conditions possible Saturday night. Winds and seas will
diminish early next week.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
No concerns.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
Tonight and Saturday the focus will largely be on the potential
for flash flooding due to already wet ground conditions. Much of
the shower activity today has been featuring rainfall rates of 2
to 3 inches per hour. Fortunately in most places these showers
have been progressive enough and not training which has kept the
flood threat low. This may cease to be the case late this evening
as the intensity and coverage of the showers increases. The
heaviest rains are expected on Saturday with widespread average
rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches still anticipated. Isolated
higher totals are expected, possibly upward of 7 to 10 inches in
some locations.

River flooding will become an increasing concern by late Saturday
and into next week, especially depending on where the heaviest
rainfall ends up occurring. The current thinking is that much of
the heaviest rains will occur in the lower half of the basins.
Thus, if the latest forecast holds, the Choctawhatchee Basin from
Geneva through Bruce would easily return to minor flood stage late
in the weekend with the potential for moderate flooding from
Caryville southward to Bruce early next week. The Chipola has some
capacity for heavy rainfall, but if rainfall amounts trend higher
than expected, minor flooding would be a possibility at Marianna
and Altha early next week.

Into Southeast Alabama, soils are especially saturated and area
creeks and stream will quickly respond to any significant
rainfall. Minor flooding along the Choctawhatchee and Pea Rivers
could occur quickly in this scenario late this weekend.

In Southern Georgia and the Florida Big Bend, current projections
move the Apalachicola, Flint, and Ochlockonee River systems to
near flood stage with anticipated rainfall, though heavier amounts
would easily lead to minor flooding, especially in the lower
portions of these basins where heavier rains were received in
July.

Lighter rainfall amounts are anticipated further east into the
Withlacoochee and Suwannee River basins and the current
anticipation is for these rivers to remain below flood stage into
next week.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Tallahassee   73  84  71  91  74 / 90  80  60  60  50
Panama City   77  83  75  88  77 / 90  90  60  60  50
Dothan        72  81  70  86  72 / 60  90  60  60  50
Albany        73  83  71  89  74 / 70  90  60  60  40
Valdosta      72  85  69  90  73 / 90  70  60  50  40
Cross City    74  86  72  91  73 / 80  60  40  50  50
Apalachicola  78  85  78  87  79 / 90  80  60  60  50

&&

.TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH through Saturday evening for Coastal Dixie-
     Coastal Franklin-Coastal Jefferson-Coastal Taylor-Coastal
     Wakulla-Gadsden-Inland Dixie-Inland Franklin-Inland
     Jefferson-Inland Taylor-Inland Wakulla-Lafayette-Leon-
     Liberty-Madison.
     FLASH FLOOD WATCH through Sunday evening for Calhoun-Central
     Walton-Coastal Bay-Coastal Gulf-Holmes-Inland Bay-Inland
     Gulf-Inland Walton-Jackson-South Walton-Washington.
GA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH through Saturday evening for Baker-Ben Hill-
     Berrien-Brooks-Calhoun-Clay-Colquitt-Cook-Decatur-
     Dougherty-Early-Grady-Irwin-Lanier-Lee-Lowndes-Miller-
     Mitchell-Quitman-Randolph-Seminole-Terrell-Thomas-Tift-
     Turner-Worth.
AL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH through Sunday evening for Coffee-Dale-
     Geneva-Henry-Houston.
GM...None.

&&

NEAR TERM...Godsey
SHORT TERM...Camp
LONG TERM...Camp
AVIATION...Godsey
MARINE...Camp
FIRE WEATHER...Godsey
HYDROLOGY...Godsey

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 16, 5:17 PM CST, 43 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
717 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0709 PM     FLOOD            1 E NORMAN PARK         31.27N 83.67W
08/16/2013                   COLQUITT           GA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SOUTH HORNE STREET FLOODED IN NORMAN PARK. FLOOD WATERS
            APPROACHING SEVERAL HOUSES IN THAT SAME AREA.

&&

BOLDEN

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

19 flash flood, 2 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 16, 6:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, 4.29 mi S of Sills to 4.93 mi S of Sills
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.878, -85.277

Water was flowing over the road at Highway 162 and Bump Nose Road North of Marianna.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 16, 6:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, 1.71 mi E of Jacobs to 1.96 mi WNW of Greenwood
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.893, -85.361

County Road 162 was flooded and impassible in spots.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 16, 6:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, 0.91 mi NE of Sills to 1.11 mi ESE of Sills
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.950, -85.270

State Road 2 was flooded and impassible in spots.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 16, 10:00 PM CST to August 17, 12:00 AM CST
Where
Jackson County, 1.42 mi WNW of Bascom to 1.12 mi SW of Bascom
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
30.931, -85.131

The public reported via social media that Georgia Road near Bascom had a large hole in it covered with water and that cars would likely get stuck if they attempted to go through it.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When
August 16, 11:30 PM CST to August 17, 1:30 AM CST
Where
Jackson County, 3.7 mi E of Kynesville to 3.58 mi S of Marianna
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.732, -85.288

Thompson Road to the east of County Road 167 was flooded.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 11:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 1.63 mi NNW of Vicksburg to 0.72 mi NNE of Vicksburg
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.340, -85.674

Road closed due to high water near the intersection of Highway 388 and 77.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 12:15 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 1.06 mi ENE of Lynn Haven to 0.91 mi ENE of Lynn Haven
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.238, -85.625

The public reported via social media that access into the Derby Woods neighborhood was flooded and passable only by truck.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 12:15 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 1.69 mi N of Lynn Haven to 1.14 mi N of Lynn Haven
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.254, -85.644

The public reported via social media that Minnesota Ave was under a foot of water.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 1:15 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 0.69 mi N of Southport to 0.26 mi SW of Resota Beach
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.290, -85.640

The public reported via social media that the intersection of Highway 77 and Deerpoint was completely underwater in the Southport area. The flooding was reported to be similar to the July 4th flooding at that location.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 2:15 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 1.74 mi ESE of Springfield to 2.99 mi ESE of Springfield
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.152, -85.572

The public reported via social media that Highway 22 East in Callaway was underwater.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 2:15 PM CST to 10:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 0.64 mi E of Bahama Beach to 0.74 mi E of Panama City Beach
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.192, -85.829

The public reported via social media that Alf Coleman Road was underwater and impassible to small cars.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 17, 3:30 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 1.4 mi WSW of Lynn Haven to 1.57 mi SW of Lynn Haven
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.220, -85.660

The public uploaded a picture to social media of approximately 3 feet of standing water near the Lynn Village Apartments as well as a pickup that was flooded out. Monetary damage was estimated.

Flood, Walton

When
August 18, 10:20 AM CST to August 19, 10:20 AM CST
Where
Walton County, 0.6 mi W of Blue Mountain Beach to 0.2 mi W of Blue Mountain Beach
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$500,000
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
30.340, -86.200

Highway 30A partially collapsed on the north side over Big Red Fish Lake due to recent heavy rainfall combined with heavy rainfall in July. Monetary damage was estimated.

Thunderstorm Wind, Walton

When
August 18, 1:03 PM CST
Where
Walton County, 2.56 mi E of Santa Rosa Beach
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
30.382, -86.177

A 62 mph wind gust was measured by a trained spotter near Highway 331 on the southern portion of Choctawhatchee Bay.

Flash Flood, Walton

When
August 18, 2:00 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Walton County, 2.91 mi E of Santa Rosa Beach to 0.56 mi WNW of Point Washington
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.380, -86.171

Water was reported over numerous south Walton county roads per the Walton Alert Facebook page. Some roads were under more than a foot of water in developed areas near the coast with water washing up close to some homes on secondary roads.

Flash Flood, Washington

When
August 18, 2:00 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Washington County, 2.59 mi SSW of Whitehead Crossroads to 1.77 mi SW of Sunny Hills
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$5.0 million
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
30.669, -85.784

Heavy rainfall caused widespread flash flooding with impacts mainly to roads across Washington county. Numerous dirt roads were damaged and some homes may have been affected by water. Monetary damage was estimated.

Flood, Walton

When
August 18, 2:00 PM CST to August 19, 2:00 PM CST
Where
Walton County, 2.38 mi W of Eucheeanna to 2.42 mi W of Eucheeanna
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$500,000
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.640, -86.080

Due to recent heavy rainfall and increased water flow on Bruce Creek, the bridge at Indian Creek Ranch Road has been displaced. Monetary damage was estimated.

Flash Flood, Walton

When
August 18, 3:00 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Walton County, 1.83 mi E of Portland to 2.18 mi NNE of Freeport
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.514, -86.160

Water was reported on or running over about 10 area roads near Freeport per the Walton Alert Facebook page.

Flash Flood, Bay

When
August 18, 3:15 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Bay County, 0.49 mi ENE of Bid-A-Wee to 0.49 mi SSE of Panama City Beach
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
30.202, -85.842

Flooding impacted Beach Elementary School per WJHG-TV.

Flash Flood, Washington

When
August 18, 3:30 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Washington County, 1.22 mi SSW of Crow to 0.99 mi WSW of Crow
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
30.735, -85.560

Water over State Highway 77 just south of I-10 at Blue Lake resulted in the closure of the highway.

Flash Flood, Leon

When
August 19, 10:30 PM EST to 11:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, 0.2 mi SSW of Maclay Gardens to 0.88 mi NW of Bradfordville
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
30.517, -84.251

Flowing water was reported at numerous locations along Thomasville Road. Rainfall amounts ranged bewteen 1.75-2.00 in 1 hour.

Flash Flood, Leon

When
August 19, 10:45 PM EST to 11:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, 0.15 mi N of Lake Ella to 0.24 mi N of Lake Ella
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
30.462, -84.270

Gwen Street was flooded near the intersection of Pine and Thomasville Roads.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2013

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: 475856, 475857, 475858, 475859, 475860, 475881, 475861, 475862, 475863, 475864, 475865, 475866, 475877, 475685, 475869, 475870, 475878, 475871, 475872, 475873, 475874, 475875.