Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2008

EF0 tornado, Taylor, Florida, March 7, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 1.2 miles across Baker County on March 7, 2008, touching down at 10:10 AM EST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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.

  7. 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
EF0
Date
March 7, 2008
Touchdown
10:10 AM EST (15:10 UTC)
Lifted
10:20 AM EST (15:20 UTC)
On the ground
10 minutes
Path length
1.2 miles (1.9 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
1
County
Baker County
Touchdown point
30.422, -82.232
Lift-off point
30.422, -82.213
Record number
0803070910-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A squall line with severe weather and several tornadoes moved across north Florida and southeast Georgia.

A tornado, which was spanned by the same from mesocyclone which moved through Lake City earlier in the day, moved through northeastern Baker County. One brick residence was completely destroyed at 11456 O. C. Horne Road, in Sanderson and a second residence at 20192 Golden Grass Farms Road had tin roof blown. The tornado continued toward the St Marys River but lifted prior to reaching the river. An additional touchdown occurred in Charlton County, Georgia.

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

The warnings

19 minutes of warning. NWS JAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 14:51 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:47 UTC and running to 17:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:00 UTC07:10 UTCFlood WatchJAX
11:47 UTC17:00 UTCTornado WatchJAX
13:48 UTC14:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAX
14:39 UTC15:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAX
14:51 UTC15:30 UTCTornado WarningJAX
15:18 UTC15:31 UTCTornado WarningJAX

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 12:55 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.

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

3.2 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. March 7, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 128 joules per kilogram, CIN -83, lifted condensation level 599 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 357 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
128 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
357 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
436 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), 00:00Z

8.8 hours after it, 51 km from the path. March 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-03-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 7 joules per kilogram, CIN -134, lifted condensation level 784 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2008-03-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -176 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-134 J/kg
Surface CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
13:45 UTCTORNADO 21 Ene Lake CityColumbia, FL*** 2 FATAL *** ONE DIRECT FATALITY WAS DUE TO TREE DOWN ON MOBILE HOME. FEMALE FATALITY WAS IN MOBILE HOME AT 649 NE GIBBS TERRACE. ONE INDIRECT FATALITY WAS DUE TO A POWER SURGE BUT DETAILS OF LOCATION OF EVENT ARE UNK
14:10 UTCTORNADO4 E TaylorBaker, FLONE RESIDENCE WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND ONE RESIDENCE HAD TIN ROOF BLOWN OFF DUE TO POSSIBLE TORNADO. LOCATIONS WERE ALONG O.C HORNE ROAD AND GOLDEN GRASS FARMS LANE RESPECTIVELY.
14:15 UTCTORNADO7 Ese TaylorBaker, FLA SPOTTER REPORTED A SWATH OF TREES SNAPPED ACROSS A FARM ALONG STATE ROAD 185 NEAR EXIT 5. THERE WERE NUMEROUS PINE TREES SNAPPED OFF ABOUT 8-10 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL AND THE TOPS WERE STREWN ABOUT FARMLAND. LARGE CYP
14:18 UTCTORNADOTaylorBaker, FLPOWER POLES TWISTED AND SNAPPED. ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE.
14:20 UTCTORNADON SandersonBaker, FLBRICK HOME DESTROYED AT 11456 O.C. HORNE RD.
14:25 UTCTORNADO 05 Nne St. GeorgeNassau, FLMINOR DAMAGE TO OUTHOUSE AND TREES KNOCKED DOWN ALONG RIVER ROAD.
14:25 UTCTORNADOGlen St. MaryBaker, FLTIN ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE AT 20192 GOLDEN GRASS FARMS LANE.
14:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGLake CityColumbia, FLA SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED TREES DOWN ON POWER LINES CAUSING POWER OUTAGES IN LAKE CITY.
14:45 UTCTORNADO 11 N Lake CityColumbia, FLSTART OF TORNADO TRACK AT NW STADIUM TERRACE IN WEST HILLSBORO WHERE IT WAS RATED AN EF1. TREES AND BLEACHERS BLOWN DOWN WITH STRUCTUAL HOME DAMAGE. A POWER POLE SNAPPED IN HALF. AN ABANDONED METAL WAREHOUSE RIPPED APART
14:45 UTCTORNADO 21 Ene Lake CityColumbia, FL*** 2 FATAL *** ONE DIRECT FATALITY WAS DUE TO TREE DOWN ON MOBILE HOME. FEMALE FATALITY WAS IN MOBILE HOME AT 649 NE GIBBS TERRACE. ONE INDIRECT FATALITY WAS DUE TO A POWER SURGE BUT DETAILS OF LOCATION OF EVENT ARE UNK
14:45 UTCTORNADO 21 Ene Lake CityColumbia, FLA NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM HAS DETERMINED EF2 TORNADO DAMAGE IN LAKE CITY. PRELIMINARY REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE VORTEX WAS A QUARTER MILE WIDE AND TRAVELED AROUND A HALF MILE ON THE GROUND. HOMES WERE UN-ROOFED AND EXTERIO
14:45 UTCTORNADOLake CityColumbia, FLA NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM IS ASSESSING SIGNIFICANT TORNADO DAMAGE IN LAKE CITY. AN ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE MAGNITUDE HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED YET. INITIAL SURVEY REPORTS INCLUDE ABOUT 20 HOMES WITH SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURAL DAMA
14:50 UTCTORNADON Lake CityColumbia, FLWIDESPREAD DAMAGE NORTH SIDE OF LAKE CITY. OVERTURNED VEHICLES AND BUILDING DAMAGE.
15:10 UTCTORNADO4 E TaylorBaker, FLONE RESIDENCE WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND ONE RESIDENCE HAD TIN ROOF BLOWN OFF DUE TO POSSIBLE TORNADO. LOCATIONS WERE ALONG O.C HORNE ROAD AND GOLDEN GRASS FARMS LANE RESPECTIVELY.
15:18 UTCTORNADOTaylorBaker, FLPOWER POLES TWISTED AND SNAPPED. ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE.
15:20 UTCTORNADON SandersonBaker, FLBRICK HOME DESTROYED AT 11456 O.C. HORNE RD.
15:25 UTCTORNADO 05 Nne St. GeorgeNassau, FLMINOR DAMAGE TO OUTHOUSE AND TREES KNOCKED DOWN ALONG RIVER ROAD.
15:25 UTCTORNADOGlen St. MaryBaker, FLTIN ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE AT 20192 GOLDEN GRASS FARMS LANE.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 7, 2008

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 77:25 AM ESTEF1Leon, FL4.61501$750,000
March 78:36 AM ESTEF2Taylor, FL0.42002$500,000
March 79:30 AM ESTEF0Suwannee, FL0.050
March 79:45 AM ESTEF2Columbia, FL1.580015$4.0 million
March 710:20 AM ESTEF1Wayne, GA0.6200$1,000
March 710:20 AM ESTEF1Charlton, GA5.5100
March 710:27 AM ESTEF0Brantley, GA0.050
March 710:30 AM ESTEF0Nassau, FL0.0100
March 710:57 AM ESTEF0McIntosh, GA0.025
March 711:30 AM ESTEF0Camden, GA0.6100
March 77:25 PM ESTEF1Douglas, GA7.01001$2.0 million

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.