Very heavy rainfall in a short period of time over Tallahassee resulted in flash flooding.
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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.
Very heavy rainfall in a short period of time over Tallahassee resulted in flash flooding.
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 Sep 21, 1:02 PM EST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tallahassee FL 202 PM EDT Tue Sep 21 2021 .AVIATION... [Through 18Z Wednesday] VFR/MVFR conditions are expected through the day with scattered/widespread showers affecting most terminals through the afternoon. The strongest storms could contain TS along with the potential for brief IFR conditions due to low vis. Rain will decrease this evening and IFR conditions potentially developing overnight to due low cigs and vis. The highest potential for these IFR conditions is across inland terminals at DHN, ABY, and VLD, but they can't be ruled out at TLH/ECP. && .PREV DISCUSSION [1133 AM EDT]... .NEAR TERM [Through Tonight]... A broad bubble of high pressure at the surface and aloft will be centered over the eastern Gulf through tonight, and an early autumn cold front will be pushing southeast through Central Alabama late tonight. Between these features, the forecast area will experience weak southwest flow. In addition, satellite-derived PW imagery shows deeper moisture today over the east and southeast half of the forecast area this morning, compared with the west and northwest. So the greatest chance of rain today will be along the I-75 corridor of south Georgia where moisture and deepest, and where lift is maximized in our FL counties at the leading edge of the seabreeze. The weak southwest flow will favor the Tallahassee area by moving convective cells from the typically favored Apalachicola National Forest toward town. A pre-frontal trough could belatedly fire off some convection over southeast Alabama this evening. .SHORT TERM [Wednesday Through Thursday]... Late-night IR/vapor imagery and surface observations depict a seasonably strong and progressive cold front moving across the Midwest. This feature is forecast to sweep through our area on Wednesday -- the 1st day of the Autumnal Equinox -- and serve as a focus for showers with embedded thunderstorms that semi-organizes into a line along/ahead of the boundary. Patchy fog/low clouds are likely in the early-morning hours as well. The front and associated convection is due to arrive at the FL Panhandle and southeast AL Wednesday morning, then the middle two- thirds of the CWA by the afternoon, and finally around the I-75 corridor in the evening. The environment ahead of the front will remain fairly moist, moderately unstable, with weak shear, and more favorable upper support to the north, so not expecting much in the way of robust convective activity. The timing of frontal passage may impact Wednesday's high temperatures (in the 80s) as cool advection and much drier air filters in from the northwest. As such, locations roughly west of the Albany-Apalachicola line could tap out earlier than what diurnal forcing would otherwise dictate. The combination of widespread dewpoints in the 50s, clearing skies, and cooler air is going to allow overnight/early morning temperatures to range from the upper 50s to low 60s (slightly warmer in the southeast Big Bend). Thursday should feel very pleasant thanks to the low humidity and crisp post-frontal airmass. High temperatures are expected to be in the upper 70s to low 80s. .LONG TERM [Thursday Night Through Tuesday]... Fair weather dominates the long-term period as we stay in a cool/dry/stable airmass, with surface high pressure building over the region. Global models and ensemble members suggest that multiple upper troughs rotate around the Great Lakes and OH/TN Valley over the next several days to keep the northerly continental flow and early-Autumn feeling in place. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 80s, while lows drop mostly to the upper 50s/low 60s. Each successive day/night is expected to be slightly warmer than the previous. .MARINE... Generally favorable boating conditions continue into mid-week under light westerly winds and low seas. The only concerns would be near any thunderstorms that may form, for which the greatest chances exist this morning and tomorrow afternoon. The latter will see a cold front accompanied by elevated winds and a line of convection sweep through our waters. Stronger offshore flow filters in after passage, with cold post-frontal air crossing over the warm Gulf waters increasing the likelihood of advisory conditions late Wednesday into early Thursday, followed by cautionary levels until Friday. .FIRE WEATHER... A very moist air mass will remain in place today. Afternoon dispersion index values will remain low today east of the Apalachicola River and east of the Flint River Valley. This will mainly be due to such weak transport winds. An early autumn cold front on Wednesday afternoon will bring a shift to NW-N winds. A much drier air mass will push in on Wednesday night and Thursday. Rain-free weather is expected from Thursday through this weekend. .HYDROLOGY... Riverine flooding is not expected. However, rivers with headwaters in central and north Georgia are rising after heavy rain further north in recent days. This includes the Ichawaynochaway, Muckalee, and Flint Rivers. The Ochlockonee near Thomasville is already falling after cresting below flood stage. The Withlacoochee River near Valdosta will have the closest call with flood stage, with a forecast crest just a few tenths of a foot below flood stage tonight. No large-scale flooding is expected for the remainder of this week. The main concern today will come from torrential instantaneous rainfall rates under single-cell convection. The lack of convective organization will not support the kind of duration needed to bring anything more than short-lived and localized runoff issues. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not requested. However, spotters are always encouraged to safely report significant weather conditions when they occur (while following all local, state, and CDC guidelines) by calling the office or tweeting us @NWSTallahassee. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Tallahassee 73 86 61 82 59 / 20 60 30 0 0 Panama City 76 85 61 80 59 / 10 30 10 0 0 Dothan 71 82 57 78 54 / 20 30 10 0 0 Albany 72 85 58 79 55 / 20 60 10 0 0 Valdosta 72 88 61 81 58 / 20 60 40 0 0 Cross City 74 88 66 85 64 / 30 30 40 10 0 Apalachicola 76 87 64 80 62 / 10 40 30 0 0 && .TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AL...None. GM...None. && NEAR TERM...Haner SHORT TERM...IG3 LONG TERM...IG3 AVIATION...Dobbs MARINE...IG3 FIRE WEATHER...Haner HYDROLOGY...Haner
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1224 PM EDT TUE SEP 21 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1000 AM WATER SPOUT 8 SSW SUNNYSIDE 30.15N 85.99W
09/21/2021 GMZ750 FL PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORTED WATERSPOUT OFFSHORE PANAMA
CITY BEACH.
&&
WDThe Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 4 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:00 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The road was underwater near the intersection of Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street.
Water was reported over the road at the 200 block of S Ocala Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2021
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: 982149, 982150.