Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2004

F0 tornado, Wellborn, Florida, September 5, 2004

Name: F0 tornado, Wellborn, Florida, September 5, 2004
Start: 2004-09-05T18:30:00.000Z
Location: Wellborn, Florida

This F0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Suwannee County on September 5, 2004, touching down at 2:30 PM EDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating: F0
Date: September 5, 2004
Touchdown: 2:30 PM EDT (18:30 UTC)
Path length: 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width: 75 yards (69 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Suwannee County
Touchdown point: 30.230, -82.820
Lift-off point: 30.230, -82.820
Record number: 437

What the Weather Service recorded

Hurricane "Frances"NWS employee reported F0 tornado damage along interstate 10 near the exit for Wellborn. Trees were snapped on both sides of the road.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

21 minutes of warning. NWS JAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:09 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
18:09 UTC	18:45 UTC	Tornado Warning	JAX

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:17 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Sep 5, 2:06 PM EDT, 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 2:06 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...ADDED WIND ADVISORY FOR INTERIOR SE GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
206 PM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004

...FRANCES OVER CENTRAL PENINSULA...

.SHORT TERM...HURRICANE FRANCES OVER CENTRAL FLORIDA ABOUT 55 MILES
EAST OF TAMPA MOVING WNW.  HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND
POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. TORNADO WATCH
EXTENDED UNTIL 9 PM.  TPC TRACKS FRANCES TO JUST NORTH OF TAMPA THIS
EVENING AND THEN INTO NE GULF OF MEXICO BY MONDAY MORNING...AND INTO
FL PANHANDLE AND ALABAMA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. 12Z GFS MODEL
FAIRLY CLOSE TO THIS SCENARIO SO WILL FOLLOW THIS MODEL. THUS HIGH
POPS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY. WILL CONTINUE INLAND HIGH WIND
WARNING OVER INTERIOR NE FL TONIGHT ALONG WITH FLOOD WATCH...WILL
ALSO EXPAND FLOOD WATCH TO COVER ALL OF GA COUNTIES AS HEAVY RAINFALL
SHIFTS N ALONG WITH STORM CENTER.

.LONG TERM...EXTENDED PERIOD RETURNS TO MORE NORMAL AS UPPER RIDGE
BUILDS OVER S FL WITH BROAD TROUGHING HANGING TO THE WEST.  SW FLOW
OVER AREA WILL MEAN NEAR CLIMO POPS/TEMPS.

 &&

.MARINE...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS OVER WATERS WITH SEAS AROUND 10
FEET OVER SE GA WATERS TO 20 FEET OVER NE FL WATERS.  SEAS UP TO 24
FEET AT CANAVERAL WEST BUOY BUT WIND DATA LOOKS BAD. DETERIORATING
CONDITIONS INTO MONDAY WITH VERY SLOW IMPROVEMENT AFTER.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMG 75 84 74 86 / 70 80 70 70
SSI 80 82 79 83 / 80 80 60 60
JAX 77 82 76 85 / 80 80 60 60
SGJ 81 83 80 85 / 90 80 40 50
GNV 77 84 75 84 / 99 90 70 60
OCF 77 83 75 83 / 99 90 60 50
&&

.JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...TROPICAL STORM WARNING NE FL COAST.
     INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING INTERIOR NE FL.
     FLOOD WATCH NE FL.
GA...TROPICAL STORM WARNING SE GA COAST.
     WIND ADVISORY INTERIOR SE GA.
     FLOOD WATCH SE GA.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 5, 11:00 AM EDT, 3 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1100 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004

GAZ132>136-149>152-162>164-060000-
APPLING-ATKINSON-BACON-BRANTLEY-CHARLTON-CLINCH-COFFEE-ECHOLS-
JEFF DAVIS-PIERCE-WARE-WAYNE-
1100 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM FOR EXTREME SOUTH GEORGIA...
...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH GEORGIA...

THE MAIN IMPACTS FROM FRANCES ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA ARE EXPECTED
TO BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. RAINFALL TOTALS OVER THE
REMAINDER OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND DEPEND ON THE EXACT MOTION OF
FRANCES...BUT AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS...ARE POSSIBLE. LANDFALLING TROPICAL SYSTEMS OFTEN PRODUCE
ISOLATED TORNADOES NEAR AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE PATH OF MOTION. THE
GREATEST CHANCE OF THIS WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN
SOUTHEAST GEORGIA.

NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH
ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH GEORGIA. SEE THE LATEST WIND ADVISORY
PRODUCT FOR MORE INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...

NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH
AT LEAST EARLY TUESDAY IN RESPONSE TO FRANCES. RESIDENTS SHOULD
CONTINUE TO MONITOR RIVER LEVELS THROUGH THE WEEK. RAINFALL WILL
BECOME MORE SCATTERED BY MID-WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED IN THE TORNADO WATCH AND TROPICAL
STORM WARNING AREAS. ADDITIONAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED
LATER TODAY.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAX.

CARROLL/ZIBURA

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 10:01 AM EDT, 4 hours 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1001 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0740 AM     TROPICAL STORM   SAN PABLO               30.30N 81.44W
09/05/2004                   DUVAL              FL   NWS EMPLOYEE

            ESTIMATED WIND GUST TO 50 MPH. LARGE TREE LIMB CAME DOWN.

0817 AM     TROPICAL STORM   ORANGE PARK             30.17N 81.70W
09/05/2004                   CLAY               FL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. TREE LIMBS DOWN AND NO
            POWER.

0929 AM     TROPICAL STORM   JACKSONVILLE BEACH      30.28N 81.39W
09/05/2004                   DUVAL              FL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WIND GUSTS MEASURED AT 45 MPH. BEACH EROSION ONGOING.

&&

PP

Local storm report, Sep 5, 11:18 AM EDT, 3 hours 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1118 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1027 AM     TROPICAL STORM   10 SW PALM COAST        29.47N 81.33W
09/05/2004                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            WIND GUST TO 50 MPH WITH 2.01 INCHES OF RAIN IN KORONA.

1038 AM     TROPICAL STORM   PALM COAST              29.57N 81.21W
09/05/2004                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            WIND GUST TO 65 MPH. SHINGLES BLOWN DOWN. WATER UP TO
            NEAR TOP OF SEA WALL.

1038 AM     TROPICAL STORM   FLAGLER BEACH           29.47N 81.13W
09/05/2004                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SUSTAINED WINDS MEASURED AT 44 MPH. 1.08 INCHES OF RAIN
            SINCE THIS MORNING.

&&

PP

Local storm report, Sep 5, 12:10 PM EDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1210 PM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1208 PM     TROPICAL STORM   PALM COAST              29.57N 81.21W
09/05/2004                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            CANOPY OVER GAS STATION SPLIT...NUMEROUS TREES DOWN WITH
            POWER OUTAGES. 4.00 INCHES OF RAINFALL THROUGH NOON.

&&

MZ

Local storm report, Sep 5, 12:53 PM EDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1253 PM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1100 AM     TROPICAL STORM   HILLIARD                30.69N 81.92W
09/05/2004                   NASSAU             FL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            6 FOOT DIAMETER OAK TREE ON HOUSE ON 6TH AND OXFORD ST.

1240 PM     TROPICAL STORM   FLAGLER BEACH           29.47N 81.13W
09/05/2004                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            I-95 COVERED WITH DEBRIS BUT PASSABLE. WINDS 44G70 KNOTS.
            30 FEET OF FLAGLER BEACH PIER IS GONE.

&&

MZ

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), 12:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 112 km from the path. September 5, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1587 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2428 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), 00:00Z

5.5 hours after it, 112 km from the path. September 6, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 498 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1040 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 529 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2004 tornado in Florida Every tornado in Florida since 1950 Warnings in force in Florida now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 5, 2004

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 5	5:05 AM EDT	F0	Saint Johns, FL	5.0	75	$10,000
September 5	6:05 AM EDT	F0	Marion, FL	1.0	75
September 5	8:10 AM EDT	F0	Clay, FL	1.0	75
September 5	9:20 AM EDT	F0	Flagler, FL	0.5	75
September 5	9:25 AM EDT	F0	Saint Johns, FL	3.0	75	$80,000
September 5	3:13 PM EDT	F0	Putnam, FL	0.5	75
September 5	3:06 PM CDT	F0	Woodbury, IA	12.0	100	$10,000
September 5	4:15 PM EDT	F0	Lowndes, GA	0.2	50	$10,000
September 5	3:20 PM CDT	F2	Otter Tail, MN	4.0	100	$250,000
September 5	5:08 PM CDT	F0	Dickinson, IA	0.1	50
September 5	5:15 PM CDT	F0	Jackson, MN	2.0	50	$2,000
September 5	6:50 PM EDT	F0	Putnam, FL	10.0	75
September 5	7:00 PM EDT	F0	Alachua, FL	5.0	75
September 5	6:04 PM CDT	F1	Greene, IA	2.0	40	$50,000
September 5	6:15 PM CDT	F0	Greene, IA	0.5	25
September 5	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Pierce, WI	1.0	25
September 5	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Hamilton, IA	0.2	20
September 5	8:30 PM EDT	F0	McIntosh, GA	0.3	50
September 5	7:52 PM CDT	F0	Warren, IA	0.2	20
September 5	8:05 PM CDT	F0	Barron, WI	0.3	25
September 5	8:48 PM CDT	F0	Lucas, IA	2.0	50	$70,000
September 5	8:51 PM CDT	F0	Polk, IA	0.5	25	$10,000
September 5	9:06 PM CDT	F1	Story, IA	2.7	40	$30,000
September 5	9:17 PM CDT	F1	Marshall, IA	3.5	30	$10,000
September 5	9:17 PM CDT	F0	Marshall, IA	3.0	25	$20,000
September 5	12:05 AM EDT	F0	Liberty, GA	0.5	40

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.