Very hot and unstable conditions preceded an approaching short wave trough across NE FL. This trough combined with diurnal heating and west coast sea breeze forcing spawned scattered severe storms that impacted NE FL during late late afternoon into the early evening.
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 JAX wrote it up.
Very hot and unstable conditions preceded an approaching short wave trough across NE FL. This trough combined with diurnal heating and west coast sea breeze forcing spawned scattered severe storms that impacted NE FL during late late afternoon into the early evening.
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 Jacksonville, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 3, 4:15 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 515 PM EDT Sun Jun 3 2018 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE INTERSTATE 75 CORRIDOR THROUGH EARLY EVENING... ...MUCH DRIER AIR MASS FILTERS INTO OUR REGION EARLY THIS WEEK... .Currently... Late afternoon surface analysis depicts persistent low pressure (1006 millibars) centered over the Chesapeake Bay, with a trailing cold front entering the southeastern states. Aloft...deep troughing prevails over the eastern third of the nation, while ridging aloft is centered over the Texas Hill Country. Dry air and subsidence are in place from the Interstate 10 corridor northward, while a subtle shortwave trough is embedded in the deep northwest flow upstream over southeast Alabama. 20Z LAPS analysis depicts a very unstable environment to the south of Interstate 10, where surface based CAPE values are 3500-4500 J/KG. Enough low level moisture exists along the Interstate 75 corridor for convective development, with isolated strong to severe convection developing to the south of Gainesville and along the Suwannee River. Inland temperatures have soared into the low to mid 90s. Dry air has mixed down to the surface over inland southeast Georgia, where dewpoints have fallen into the 60s. Meanwhile, dewpoints mostly remain in the 70s across northeast and north central Florida, resulting in heat index values generally in the 100-105 degree range. .Near Term (This Afternoon through Monday)... Short-term, high resolution guidance suggests that convective coverage may increase to the south of Interstate 10 and west of U.S. Highway 301 through early evening as outflow boundaries propagate eastward from the convection currently along I-75. Any thunderstorms that manage to break through the overall dry and subsident air mass to the east of I-75 could quickly pulse to strong and severe levels, with damaging downburst winds, frequent lightning strikes and hail being the primary threats. Activity across northeast and north central Florida will taper off by the mid-evening hours, but convection associated with the upstream shortwave and approaching cold front could result in isolated convection developing this evening across southeast Georgia. This activity should diminish by midnight, with the cold front crossing inland southeast Georgia during the predawn hours. West- southwesterly flow will strengthen ahead of the front, likely advecting a low stratus deck onshore from the northeast Gulf of Mexico into the Suwannee Valley after midnight, with stratus potentially covering much of northeast and north central Florida towards sunrise. Widely scattered convection may also develop ahead of the front over the Suwannee Valley and north central Florida towards sunrise. Lows tonight will only fall to the low to mid 70s. A much drier air mass will overspread southeast Georgia on Monday in the wake of the front, with mostly sunny skies and northwesterly winds around 10 mph allowing dewpoints to fall to the lower 60s during the afternoon hours. Dry air and plenty of sunshine will result in highs climbing to the lower 90s. Scattered thunderstorms will remain possible along and south of I-10 as the cold front decelerates on its southward push. Outside of thunderstorm activity, westerly winds will become breezy during the afternoon across north central Florida, with highs reaching the low to mid 90s. Plenty of dry and relatively cool air aloft will enhance the potential for damaging downburst winds within convection that develops, mainly across north central Florida. .Short Term (Monday night through Wednesday Night)... An unseasonably dry air mass will overspread our region as the cold front pushes southward into central Florida and stalls by early Tuesday. Any lingering convection over north central and coastal northeast Florida will quickly dissipate towards sunset on Monday, with cool air advection and fair skies allowing lows to fall to the lower 60s for inland southeast Georgia and the northern Suwannee Valley, ranging to the lower 70s at area beaches. A light northwesterly flow will prevail on Tuesday, with dewpoints crashing down into the 50s during the afternoon hours inland. A loose local pressure gradient will allow the Atlantic sea breeze to form, but it will likely remain pinned along or east of I-95 during the afternoon. Highs will climb to the lower 90s at most inland locations, with upper 80s to around 90 at the coast. Some high cirrus may invade our skies on Tuesday night, but otherwise light winds and the persistent dry air mass will again allow inland lows to fall to the low to mid 60s, ranging to around 70 at area beaches. Global models indicate that a shortwave trough will round the base of the stagnant longwave trough over the eastern U.S. on Wednesday, with this feature approaching our region from the west during the afternoon hours. This feature will not have much in the way of moisture to work with, so we added mostly isolated POPs to the forecast grids, mainly for locations south of Waycross. Despite increasing high cloudiness, inland highs should again reach the lower 90s, while the afternoon sea breeze keeps coastal highs in the upper 80s. Some lingering convection will be possible over north central Florida on Wednesday evening, with clearing skies expected overnight in southeast Georgia. Lows will range from the upper 60s inland to the lower 70s at the coast. .Long Term (Thursday through Sunday)... A weak pressure pattern will prevail over our area on Thursday as low level moisture only slowly increases from south to north. Model blends depict widely scattered afternoon convection, mainly over north central Florida that will likely triggered by the remnant frontal boundary returning northward and mesoscale boundaries such as sea breezes. Only isolated POPs were indicated elsewhere, with inland highs again reaching the lower 90s, while a stronger Atlantic sea breeze keeps coastal highs in the mid to upper 80s. A pattern change will then commence by Friday as Atlantic ridging builds westward, resulting in prevailing but light onshore flow on Friday and Saturday. Model blends depict widely scattered afternoon convection for locations east of I-75 on Friday and then concentrated over northeast and north central Florida on Saturday. Inland highs will climb to near 90 both days, with the active sea breeze keeping coastal highs generally in the mid 80s. Atlantic ridging will then slide southward by late next weekend, with southwesterly low level flow developing. Model blends depict scattered diurnal convection area-wide on Sunday, likely triggered by mesoscale boundaries such as the inland moving Gulf and Atlantic sea breezes. Inland highs will reach the upper 80s and lower 90s, with mid 80s at the Atlantic beaches. && .Aviation... Restrictions in convection expected this afternoon, but areal coverage of showers and tstorms expected to be less compared to yesterday. Advertised a couple hours of tempo showers early afternoon, with the highest confidence of TS impacting VQQ and GNV where tempo for thunderstorms was advertised after 20Z. Continued with VCTS at other terminals, less SSI where confidence of precip at the terminal is not as high as compared to FL terminals. Precip will push SSE across the area into the evening, with some rainfall activity potentially impacting SSI after sunset with approaching surface front. Mostly dry conditions expected after midnight with again low stratus restrictions across NE FL terminals through early Mon morning as hinted at by the SREF. Advertised FEW-SCT MVFR cloud deck for FL, but recent mornings cigs have dropped to IFR. && .Marine... A cold front will push slowly southward and will approach the Georgia coastal waters overnight. West-southwesterly winds will strengthen this evening as this front approaches, with speeds reaching Small Craft Exercise Caution (SCEC) criteria offshore and remaining around 15 knots near shore outside of any thunderstorm activity. Showers and thunderstorms will remain possible over the northeast Florida waters from this evening through Monday evening, while only isolated activity is expected overnight over the Georgia waters. The front will slowly move across the northeast Florida waters Monday night and will then likely stall just south of our region on Tuesday and Wednesday. A loose local pressure gradient will prevail over our area for much of the upcoming week as broad low pressure persists over the southeastern states. This weather pattern will allow the Atlantic sea breeze to develop each afternoon from Tuesday through Thursday, with offshore flow otherwise prevailing. Atlantic ridging will then build westward into our region late this week, with light onshore winds prevailing by Thursday evening and Friday. Rip Currents: Low risk is expected for much of this week. && .Fire Weather... A much drier air mass will plunge into southeast Georgia on Monday and will then overspread our region on Tuesday and Wednesday. Relative humidity values will fall to near critical thresholds at inland locations on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Wind speeds will remain below 15 mph and fuel moisture levels will not support Red Flag Conditions. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 73 92 63 91 / 30 0 0 0 SSI 76 91 73 88 / 20 10 0 0 JAX 75 94 67 92 / 20 30 10 0 SGJ 76 92 73 90 / 10 50 20 0 GNV 75 93 68 93 / 10 50 10 0 OCF 74 91 68 91 / 20 40 10 0 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AM...None. && Nelson/Enyedi/McGinnis
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
448 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
FLZ035-036-032115-
Alachua FL-Gilchrist FL-
448 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN GILCHRIST AND WEST
CENTRAL ALACHUA COUNTIES UNTIL 515 PM EDT...
At 448 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 7
miles east of Bell, moving southeast at 15 to 20 mph.
Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph can be expected along with possible minor
wind damage.
Locations impacted include...
Newberry.
LAT...LON 2980 8281 2983 8268 2959 8253 2956 8270
2956 8275 2958 8276 2958 8278 2959 8279
2976 8285
TIME...MOT...LOC 2048Z 333DEG 19KT 2975 8274
SHASHYSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
459 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
FLZ021-032145-
Suwannee FL-
459 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN SUWANNEE COUNTY UNTIL
545 PM EDT...
At 458 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms
forming near Luraville, or near Mayo, moving east at 15 mph.
Small hail and wind gusts near 45 to 55 mph can be expected along
with possible minor damage.
Locations impacted include...
Obrien, Luraville, Mcalpin and Branford.
LAT...LON 3013 8279 3001 8280 2989 8291 2989 8292
2990 8291 2992 8293 2996 8293 2996 8295
2999 8296 3001 8298 3001 8300 3003 8301
3008 8307 3009 8311 3011 8312 3010 8314
3011 8316 3009 8319 3012 8323 3020 8324
TIME...MOT...LOC 2058Z 284DEG 11KT 3009 8314
SHASHYSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
514 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
FLZ040-032145-
Marion FL-
514 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN MARION COUNTY UNTIL
545 PM EDT...
At 513 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm
just east of Williston, moving south at 10 mph.
Frequent lightning and wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph can be expected
along with possible minor wind damage.
Locations impacted include...
Romeo and Flemington.
LAT...LON 2922 8248 2922 8240 2941 8240 2942 8230
2921 8223 2920 8248
TIME...MOT...LOC 2113Z 343DEG 10KT 2933 8238
SHASHYPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
534 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM DOWNBURST 6 ESE ANDALUSIA 29.47N 81.38W
06/02/2018 Flagler FL TRAINED SPOTTER
TRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED THAT THE JOHNSON BROTHERS SOD
FARM LOST PART OF THEIR ROOF AS DOWNBURST WINDS OCCURRED
DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. THESE STRONG WINDS ALSO
BLEW DOWN LARGE TREE LIMBS ALONG HIGHWAY 100 BETWEEN
COUNTY ROAD 305 AND COUNTY ROAD 2005.
&&
NELSONSpecial Weather Statement National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 536 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018 FLZ021-032215- Suwannee FL- 536 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL SUWANNEE COUNTY UNTIL 615 PM EDT... At 535 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking gusty outflow winds from a severe storm near Luraville. Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph can be expected over portions of central Suwannee county along with possible minor wind damage. Locations impacted include... Mcalpin. LAT...LON 3020 8322 3028 8318 3021 8290 3011 8293 TIME...MOT...LOC 2135Z 284DEG 8KT 3021 8309 SHASHY
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
546 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
FLZ036-040-032230-
Alachua FL-Marion FL-
546 PM EDT SUN JUN 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN ALACHUA AND NORTHWESTERN
MARION COUNTIES UNTIL 630 PM EDT...
At 545 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms
centered 7 miles northeast of Williston, moving southeast at 15 to
20 mph. Additional storms are developing just east of Gainesville
Frequent lightning and Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph can be expected
along with possible minor wind damage. Small hail is also possible.
Locations impacted include...
Gainesville, Hawthorne, Archer, University Of Florida, Rochelle,
Cross Creek, Orange Heights, Gainesville Airport, Newnans Lake and
Waldo.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm, and may lead
to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
&&
LAT...LON 2922 8240 2948 8241 2948 8255 2954 8256
2954 8264 2957 8266 2959 8266 2981 8218
2971 8206 2957 8206 2924 8226
TIME...MOT...LOC 2145Z 334DEG 17KT 2946 8238
SHASHYThe Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:49 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were blown down east of Luraville near 180th Street and 177th Road.
Multiple large tree limbs were blown down over the intersection of County Roads 320 and 329 in NW Marion County.
Slightly larger than quarter size hail was observed.
Quarter to nickel size hail was observed for up to 15 minutes.
Wind damage of unknown extent was reported near the intersection of County Roads 236 and NW 241. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated so the event could be included in Storm Data.
A male was struck by lightning with only minor injuries. The time of the strike was estimated.
A male was struck by lightning with only minor injuries. The time of the strike was estimated.
Power lines were blown down over Highway 329 in Micanopy.
Power lines were blown down near SW 2nd Ave.
A large oak tree was blown down on the road near NE 20th Ave and NE 8th Street.
Power lines were blown down at 725 NE 5th Terrace.
A tree was blown down onto power lines and onto the roof of a home near SE 7th Ave and SE 10th Street.
Quarter size hail was reported at Cathedral Parish School.
Pea to nickel size hail was observed.
Hen egg to quarter size hail was observed in St. Augustine Beach.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Alachua | 2018-06-03 | Male | Unknown | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, June 2018
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: 766268, 766269, 766263, 766264, 766270, 766281, 784160, 766271, 766272, 766273, 766274, 766275, 766265, 766266, 766267.