A strong upper level trough brought numerous showers and thunderstorms to the tri-state area just before Christmas. Thunderstorms trained over the city of Tallahassee, resulting in major flash flooding with water rescues and numerous stranded vehicles.
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 TAE wrote it up.
A strong upper level trough brought numerous showers and thunderstorms to the tri-state area just before Christmas. Thunderstorms trained over the city of Tallahassee, resulting in major flash flooding with water rescues and numerous stranded vehicles. An unseasonably moist environment was in place with TAE reporting its third highest precipitable water value on record for December during this event. The Tallahassee Airport measured 7.44 of rain on the 23rd, which made it Tallahassee's wettest December day on record, and 9th wettest calendar day on record overall.
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 Dec 23, 6:43 PM EST, 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
643 PM EST Tue Dec 23 2014
.Aviation...
[Through 00Z Wednesday] IFR-LIFR ceilings and visibilities will
prevail (with brief occasional improvements to MVFR). Widespread
showers and thunderstorms are expected at all terminals
throughout the period, ending from west to east during the day on
Wednesday.
&&
.Prev Discussion [302 PM EST]...
.Near Term [Through Tonight]...
Both the synoptic and the offshore warm fronts have progressed
northward slowly today, with the offshore warm front now just
offshore of the Florida coastline. Widespread coverage of showers
and thunderstorms has persisted through the day. Event total
rainfall values so far are 1-2" widespread, with a swath of 2.5-5"
from AAF to FZG. As storms continue to drop heavy amounts of
rainfall over the area, flash flooding will continue to be a
concern. Local hi-res guidance indicates another 3-4" is likely
across the area, with isolated higher totals in excess of 6"
possible.
Lower CAPE and higher CIN is in place over the area than initially
expected, suppressing some of the severe potential over land today.
However, with 0-1km shear around 20 kt and 0-6km shear around 50 kt,
we've still managed to get a few severe thunderstorms. As the
secondary warm front near the coast moves inland, the potential for
isolated tornadoes will increase in supercells that develop. As the
main squall line heads eastward into our area overnight, the chance
for wind damage will increase.
.Short Term [Wednesday Through Thursday Night]...
The squall line should be somewhere over our FL Panhandle and far
southwest GA zones at the start of the period (12Z) and progress
steadily eastward during the day. The main band of thunderstorms
will not clear the southeast FL Big Bend zones until the afternoon
hours with the front itself not crossing the Suwannee River until
close to 00Z Thursday. The primary threat for severe will be
damaging winds in the main convective pre-frontal band. Much drier
and cooler air will arrive behind the cold front. Daytime highs on
Christmas Day will be in the upper 50s to lower 60s. We still do
not expect any freezing temperatures Christmas night, but most
inland areas will dip into the mid 30s and some spots will see
some frost.
.Long Term [Friday Through Tuesday]...
The unsettled pattern will continue, typical of what we see during
El Nino years with a dominant subtropical jet. After one more dry
day on Friday, the next frontal system will be crossing the
Mississippi Valley. There is still a fair amount of disagreement
among the mid-range models in terms of how this system will evolve
as it moves east, although the new 12Z Euro is a bit closer to the
GFS than its predecessor. Rain chances will increase over the
weekend with a cold frontal passage expected on Monday or Monday
night. A moderating trend in temperatures is also forecast from
Friday through the weekend.
.Marine...
Low pressure off the Texas coast will move northeast along a cold
front, tightening the gradient between this feature and retreating
high pressure. Cautionary winds will increase to advisory levels
overnight. Strong to severe storms will remain possible across the
waters, especially in a convective band that is forecast to
develop ahead of the approaching cold front. Winds will then shift
to the west behind the cold front on Wednesday, eventually veering
to the northwest and dropping below headline criteria by Thursday
morning. Seas will steadily increase through Wednesday morning,
peaking at 11 feet well offshore before a diminishing trend
commences. Offshore winds will veer to the east from Thursday
night through Saturday, finally becoming onshore ahead of our
next frontal system on Sunday.
.Fire Weather...
Hazardous fire weather conditions are not expected for the next
several days.
.Hydrology...
Combination of radar estimates and several gage reports indicate
that through 2 pm ET today between 2 to 4 inches of rain had fallen
across South Central Georgia and into western portions of the
Florida Big Bend with some spots in South Central Georgia receiving
over 5 inches of rain. Soils are progressively becoming saturated
from today's rainfall across Southern Georgia and the Florida Big
Bend and additional rains will only increase the already growing
flood threat for tonight and Wednesday.
Radar trends suggest that rainfall rates will gradually lessen over
the next couple of hours, limiting any immediate flash flood threat.
However, later tonight as the squall line across Southern Louisiana
approaches the region, widespread heavy rainfall is expected again.
As a result, flash flooding will be likely even with the progressive
nature of the squall line given near saturated conditions.
Rivers across the area continue to rise, with some sharp increases
already noted across the upper portions of the Ochlockonee and
Little River (GA) basins. At least minor flooding in these basins
is expected, with the potential for moderate flooding from
Thomasville through Concord. Some increase is anticipated within the
Flint River system, though the bulk of the heaviest rain today has
occurred just east of the basin and overnight rain shouldn't be
enough to push any of the points below Albany to flood stage.
Further west, with the bulk of the heaviest rainfall so far
occurring either in the lower portions or outside the Chipola and
Choctawhatchee River basins, respectively, only rises to action
stage are likely with a chance of reaching minor flood stage in the
lower Choctawhatchee and in the Chipola at Altha.
&&
.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
Tallahassee 66 71 42 61 36 / 100 90 30 10 10
Panama City 67 69 44 60 43 / 100 80 20 10 10
Dothan 65 68 39 59 38 / 100 80 20 0 10
Albany 66 70 41 60 35 / 100 90 20 10 10
Valdosta 66 72 46 61 36 / 100 90 30 10 10
Cross City 68 74 49 64 35 / 80 90 40 10 10
Apalachicola 68 71 44 59 42 / 100 90 30 10 10
&&
.TAE Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
FL...Flash Flood Watch through Wednesday evening for Calhoun-Central
Walton-Coastal Bay-Coastal Dixie-Coastal Franklin-Coastal
Gulf-Coastal Jefferson-Coastal Taylor-Coastal Wakulla-
Gadsden-Holmes-Inland Bay-Inland Dixie-Inland Franklin-
Inland Gulf-Inland Jefferson-Inland Taylor-Inland Wakulla-
Inland Walton-Jackson-Lafayette-Leon-Liberty-Madison-South
Walton-Washington.
RIP CURRENT RISK until 4 AM EST /3 AM CST/ Wednesday for Coastal
Bay-Coastal Franklin-Coastal Gulf-South Walton.
GA...Flash Flood Watch through Wednesday 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 Wednesday afternoon for Coffee-Dale-
Geneva-Henry-Houston.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 1 PM EST Thursday for Apalachee Bay-
Coastal waters From Ochlockonee River to Apalachicola FL
out to 20 NM-Coastal waters from Suwannee River to Keaton
Beach FL out 20 NM-Coastal waters from Apalachicola to
Destin FL out 20 NM-Waters from Suwannee River to
Apalachicola FL from 20 to 60 NM-Waters from Apalachicola
to Destin FL from 20 to 60 NM.
&&
NEAR TERM...MOORE
SHORT TERM...WOOL
LONG TERM...WOOL
AVIATION...WOOL
MARINE...WOOL
FIRE WEATHER...MOORE
HYDROLOGY...GODSEYPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
206 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0158 PM TORNADO 3 SSW I-75 AT EXIT 16 30.77N 83.33W
12/23/2014 LOWNDES GA FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN. TREES DOWN.
&&
MOOREPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
325 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0325 PM FLOOD SYLVESTER 31.53N 83.84W
12/23/2014 WORTH GA 911 CALL CENTER
SEVERAL ROADS FLOODED IN SYLVESTER AS WELL AS ACROSS THE
COUNTY
&&
DVDPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
614 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0605 PM FLASH FLOOD 3 S FOWLSTOWN 30.75N 84.55W
12/23/2014 DECATUR GA 911 CALL CENTER
PRIEST ROAD CLOSED DUE TO WASHOUT.
&&
WOOLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
630 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0628 PM FLASH FLOOD TALLAHASSEE 30.44N 84.28W
12/23/2014 LEON FL EMERGENCY MNGR
WATER OVER SEVERAL ROADWAYS ACROSS LEON
COUNTY...INCLUDING JOHN HANCOCK DR...OLD WOODVILLE
RD...WW KELLY RD...LONNIE RD...ROUNDABOUT MICCOSUKEE
RD...HOMEWOOD RD...COTTAGE GROVE RD...MICCOSUKEE
RD...TRAM RD...MERIDIAN RD...ELGIN RD.
&&
DVDThe Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:00 UTC.
13 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A large oak tree was blown down and covered the entire road at Lothian Dr and Waverly Rd.
A tree fell through a roof of a house on Riggins Road. Monetary damage was estimated.
At the intersection of Ocala Road and West Tennessee Street, the road was flooded and impassible. Cars at the intersection were stuck and could not move.
The road was flooded and not passable at the intersection of Old Bainbridge and 4th Ave.
Bob Miller road was impassible due to flooding.
Vehicles were stuck in water and blocking traffic at the intersection of S Blairstone Road and St Augustine Road. Monetary damage was estimated.
A car was underwater at the intersection of N Bronough Street and W 10th Ave. Monetary damage was estimated.
Vehicles were flooded at 3713 Thomasville Road. Monetary damage was estimated.
Stadium Drive from Tennessee Street to Pensacola had 8-10 inches of water running across it.
The intersection of Blountstown Highway and Tennessee Street is flooded and closed.
Jefferson Street was flooded and closed with one vehicle stuck. Monetary damage was estimated.
Ben Bostok Road was impassible due to flooding.
The underpass at Pat Thomas Blvd at West Tennessee Street was flooded.
A 10 foot swath of water was completely covering the southbound lane of US Highway 83 South near De Funiak Springs.
A few roads were closed due to flooding, including Sandy Ramp Road, Eight Mile Bridge, and Bruce Creek Bridge.
The City of Tallahassee Twitter account reported that a tree fell on a transmission line, causing a power outage to 4549 customers in northern Tallahassee. Monetary damage was estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, December 2014
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: 547883, 547884, 548959, 548960, 548924, 548961, 548962, 548963, 548964, 548965, 548966, 548923, 548967, 548936, 548946, 547885.