Florida, 2015

Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Florida, August 11 to 14, 2015

August 11 to 14, 2015 · NWS TAE · 6 events in 2 counties and zones

Scattered afternoon thunderstorms developed in an environment favorable for severe wet microbursts with high Wet Microburst Severity Index values.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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.

Scattered afternoon thunderstorms developed in an environment favorable for severe wet microbursts with high Wet Microburst Severity Index values.

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 11, 2:43 PM EST, 3 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 2:43 PM EST, 3 hours 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
343 PM EDT TUE AUG 11 2015

.Near Term [Through Tonight]...

Regional WV imagery depicts a well defined +PV anomaly moving
through the base of the eastern CONUS trough, into the Mid-Atlantic.
At the surface, an 18z analysis depicted a couple of troughs draped
through northern and central GA and AL, associated with the upper
level feature.

Scattered convection has been forming along, and moving southeast
off of these two troughs. So far, this has only impacted the
northern tier of our GA and AL counties. Elsewhere, isolated storms
have developed across the Panhandle and Big Bend seabreezes. Expect
a continued inland motion wrt seabreeze storms, while storms from
the north continue to drop into the Tri-State region. Eventually,
much of the local area will see at least a brief shower. There
remains a low-end threat for an isolated strong to severe storm,
with the primary threat being damaging winds.

Overnight lows will only fall into the middle 70s area-wide.

.Short Term [Wednesday Through Thursday Night]...

In the upper levels, the trough over the east coast will deepen
sending the surface front through our CWA on Wednesday. This
boundary will interact with the sea breeze resulting in numerous
showers and thunderstorms mainly over the Florida zones by
afternoon. Convection will be more scattered across our AL and GA
zones as a drier airmass will be filtering in from the north. As the
upper trough continues to dig, the surface boundary along with the
deep layer moisture is forecast to slip to our south by Thursday.
However, both the GFS and 00z ECMWF show a weak area of low pressure
developing over or near our easternmost zones Thursday and
retrograding to our western zones by evening. Pops on Thursday will
be tapered silent 10% northwest to good chance (50%) for Dixie
County. Highs will reach the lower to mid 90s inland areas both
days. With a drier airmass moving in, low temps may dip into the
upper 60s in SE AL and SW GA by Thursday morning.

.Long Term [Friday Through Tuesday]...

Weak upper troughing will prevail over the local area for most of
the extended period with an upper low possibly closing off along the
central Gulf coast late in the weekend. Time height cross sections
and forecast soundings show plenty of mid to upper level dry air in
place for Friday and Saturday before the deep layer moisture and
thus better chances for convection return Sunday into early next
week. Temperatures throughout the period should end up being near
or just below seasonal levels.

&&

.Aviation...

[Through 18Z Wednesday] VFR will prevail through the remainder of the
day. Patchy areas of fog are likely in the morning, but confidence
in where the fog will form remains too low to include in the TAF.

&&

.Marine...

Moderate west winds will veer to the northwest by Wednesday night
as a weak front pushes south across the local waters. Winds will
weaken and swing around to the south by Thursday and remain light
and onshore with low seas at least through the upcoming weekend.

&&

.Fire Weather...

Red flag conditions will not occur for the next several days.
Showers and thunderstorms will be fairly numerous across the Florida
zones on Wednesday.

&&

.Hydrology...

With a frontal boundary moving into the region today, some
enhancement to showers and thunderstorms are expected. Model
guidance suggests that areal average rainfall of 0.75 to 1.5
inches with locally heavier amounts is expected over the next 24
hours. Though minor flooding in urban areas can't be completely
ruled out, the overall flood threat with this system remains low.

With the forecast rainfall totals, no river flooding is expected
with this system.

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...

Tallahassee   76  94  72  94  73 /  30  80  30  30  20
Panama City   79  88  75  90  77 /  30  70  30  20  20
Dothan        75  94  69  95  72 /  30  30  20  10  10
Albany        74  94  69  95  72 /  40  20  20  20  10
Valdosta      75  94  72  95  72 /  50  60  30  40  20
Cross City    77  92  73  92  73 /  20  70  40  50  40
Apalachicola  80  88  76  89  77 /  30  60  30  30  30

&&

.TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK until 8 PM EDT this evening FOR Coastal
     Franklin.

GA...NONE.
AL...NONE.
GM...NONE.

&&

NEAR TERM...HARRIGAN
SHORT TERM...BARRY
LONG TERM...BARRY
AVIATION...HARRIGAN
MARINE...BARRY
FIRE WEATHER...DVD
HYDROLOGY...GODSEY

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:05 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Leon

When
August 11, 6:07 PM EST
Where
Leon County, 1.42 mi WSW of Southwood
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
NWS Employee
Coordinates
30.379, -84.230

A tree was blown down along the side of Tram road near the intersection with Capital Circle.

Thunderstorm Wind, Leon

When
August 14, 3:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, Indian Head Acres
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
30.420, -84.250

A power line was blown down on Blairstone Road near Apalachee Parkway as reported by a retired USAF meteorologist.

Thunderstorm Wind, Leon

When
August 14, 3:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, 0.85 mi WNW of Tallahassee Mall
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
30.474, -84.303

A picture was submitted on social media of a tree down on a power line along Redbud Ave.

Lightning, Leon

When
August 14, 3:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, Governors Square Mall
Property damage
$3,000
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
30.430, -84.250

A transformer was blown near the intersection of Apalachee Pkwy and Blairstone.

Thunderstorm Wind, Leon

When
August 14, 3:15 PM EST
Where
Leon County, 0.79 mi NW of Florida State University (Fsu)
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
30.449, -84.298

A tree was blown down onto a power line near the intersection of Woodward Ave and Brevard Street.

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When
August 14, 4:07 PM CST
Where
Washington County, 0.72 mi SSE of Gilberts Mill
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
30.620, -85.485

A power line was blown down on Orange Hill Road just south of Gilberts Mill.

What these are

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.
Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, August 2015

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: 600278, 600279, 600280, 600281, 600282, 600283.