Scattered afternoon thunderstorms developed across the area on May 19th. With marginally favorable instability and deep layer shear, one storm briefly became severe in Jefferson county with impacts to trees and power lines.
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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.
Scattered afternoon thunderstorms developed across the area on May 19th. With marginally favorable instability and deep layer shear, one storm briefly became severe in Jefferson county with impacts to trees and power lines. Then during the early to mid morning hours of May 20th, a large squall line crossed the Florida panhandle and big bend with several reports of trees and power lines blown down and two measured wind gusts of 50 knots or higher.
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 19, 1:12 PM EST, 56 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tallahassee FL 212 PM EDT THU MAY 19 2016 .AVIATION [Through 18Z Friday]... With scattered convection across the area, cigs will bounce between MVFR and VFR with gusty winds during thunderstorms. Storms are expected to dissipate between 23-01Z, but the return to VFR will be brief once again as IFR-MVFR cigs and vsbys settle in overnight. Another system will approach us from the west tomorrow, which may cause some light rain at ECP and scattered thunderstorms near DHN by the end of the period. && .PREV DISCUSSION [1053 AM EDT]... .NEAR TERM [Through Today]... Forecast for today remains on track, with no major changes. Morning surface analysis shows dewpoints across the entire forecast area in the lower 70s. With afternoon heating and interactions between the stationary front and sea breeze, expecting another afternoon with numerous showers and thunderstorms. Highest chances for storms in the eastern zones and north of I-10. High temperatures in the mid to upper 80s with inland spots touching 90 along and south of I-10. .SHORT TERM [Tonight Through Saturday]... The upper level short wave ridge over the Southeast tonight will give way to a trough approaching from the northwest on Friday. The trough axis and associated surface cold front will pass southeastward through our forecast area on Saturday. Q-G forcing and deep layer moisture will increase from west to east on Friday, with the highest PoP occurring Friday afternoon through Friday night. With moderate MLCAPE, abundant deep layer moisture, and deep-layer bulk shear values around 35 KT, there is a slight risk of severe storms. Moderate 500 mb winds would be supportive of multicell organization and damaging winds, but mid-layer lapse rates may be steep enough for marginally severe hail in isolated pulse severe storms as well. Rain chances will diminish from northwest to southeast on Saturday. .LONG TERM [Saturday Night Through Thursday]... Our forecast area will be under the influence of dry NW flow aloft, with large scale sinking motion for much of the period. This translates into fair weather. Initially it will turn a little cooler, with highs in the mid 80s and lows in the lower 60s through Monday. Temperatures will then gradually warm back to near average levels by mid week. .MARINE... Light to occasionally moderate S-SW winds will continue through Friday night, then veer to the NW Saturday night as a cold front passes through the region. Winds will be NW 10 KT on Sunday behind the front. .FIRE WEATHER... Humid conditions and daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms will preclude red flag conditions through the end of the week. Drier air will return on Sunday, but minimum RH should not drop below around 35 percent. .HYDROLOGY... River levels are running low. Daily rain chances will continue for the rest of the week with a drier pattern returning on Sunday. Five- day rainfall totals are forecast to be around one to two inches with minimal impacts to area rivers. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Tallahassee 71 84 72 87 67 / 30 60 60 40 10 Panama City 74 79 73 81 69 / 20 60 50 30 0 Dothan 68 80 68 84 64 / 20 80 60 20 0 Albany 68 81 69 84 64 / 30 80 70 20 0 Valdosta 69 84 70 85 65 / 40 60 60 50 10 Cross City 71 87 72 86 69 / 20 40 50 50 10 Apalachicola 72 80 73 83 69 / 10 50 40 30 0 && .TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AL...None. GM...None. && NEAR TERM...Moore/Bennett SHORT TERM...Fournier LONG TERM...Fournier AVIATION...Moore MARINE...Fournier FIRE WEATHER...Wool HYDROLOGY...Wool
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:05 UTC.
23 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and large tree limbs were blown down into power lines and resulted in power outages in northeast Jefferson county.
A tree was blown down near the intersection of Stillwater Road and Pinelog Street.
A tree was blown down on Highway 231, blocking the road.
Power lines were blown down near Transmitter Road on Highway 231.
A power line was blown down onto a roof near Round Lake.
A tree was blown down on Old US Road north of Marianna.
A tree was blown down in the Oak Grove area.
Fallen trees or large limbs resulted in power outages in Franklin county north of Apalachicola as reported on the Duke Energy outage website.
A 58 mph wind gust was measured at CWOP site CW8103 on Saint George Island.
A power line was blown down at Highway 65 and Teresa Ave.
A tree was blown down onto P A Sanders Road.
A tree blew down across Old Bainbridge Road near Swatts Road and blocked the road.
A power line was blown down near Highway 319 and 267.
A tree was blown down onto Staten Road.
A 61 mph wind gust was measured at station KTNF1.
A tree was blown down onto Ash Street.
Fallen tree or large limbs resulted in power outages near Helen Street on the northeast side of Perry as reported on the Duke Energy outage website.
A tree was blown down in the Jena area.
A tree was blown down in the Shired area.
Several trees and power lines were blown down in Lafayette county near Mayo.
A downed tree resulted in a broken power pole near the Airline Baptist Church. This was reported on the Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative facebook page.
Two trees and power lines were blown down in the Old Town area.
Fallen trees or large limbs resulted in power outages along Highway 27 east of Mayo as reported on the Duke Energy outage website.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 2016
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: 625454, 625455, 625458, 625459, 625460, 625461, 625462, 625463, 625464, 625465, 625466, 625467, 625468, 625469, 625470, 625471, 625472, 625473, 625474, 625476, 625477, 625479, 625480.