Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2008

EF2 tornado, Jack Lee Island, Florida, March 7, 2008

This EF2 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Taylor County on March 7, 2008, touching down at 8:36 AM EST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 2, and did $500,000 of property damage.

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 mph

    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 mphthis tornado

    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
EF2
Date
March 7, 2008
Touchdown
8:36 AM EST (13:36 UTC)
Lifted
8:37 AM EST (13:37 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$500,000
County
Taylor County
Touchdown point
29.828, -83.596
Lift-off point
29.829, -83.589
Record number
0803070736-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A brief, but extensive severe weather episode occurred across the Florida Big Bend during the morning of March 7, 2008. There were widespread reports of straight line wind damage across the area, with two confirmed tornadoes reported by NWS survey teams. There was also some urban street flooding in Tallahassee. Nearly 10,000 Tallahassee customers were without power.

A waterspout came ashore as a tornado at Keaton Beach. Damage began along Keaton Beach Drive, just south of Beach Road, and continued east to Marina Drive where most of the significant damage occurred. Sporadic tree and power line damage was observed near Marina Drive. Fifteen homes between Marina Drive and Keaton Beach Drive sustained minor to moderate roof damage. Several decks on these homes failed. One home was destroyed when it was blown off its foundation and tossed into the road. Two injuries were reported. A few small boats were lofted into the air, with one boat moved over 100 feet. The tornado quickly lifted over an open area east of Marina Drive.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:47 UTC and running to 15:10 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
11:47 UTC15:10 UTCTornado WatchTAE
11:50 UTC13:45 UTCMarine WarningTAE

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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

1.6 hours before the tornado, 93 km from the path. March 7, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, 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 30 joules per kilogram, CIN -162, lifted condensation level 450 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Tallahassee Rgnl, 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 660 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-162 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
450 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
660 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
928 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

10.4 hours after it, 93 km from the path. March 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, 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 2 joules per kilogram, CIN -8, lifted condensation level 603 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Tallahassee Rgnl, 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 88 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 79 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Surface CAPE
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
603 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Perry (FPY), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
11:53 UTC6663150° 8 kt1006.1
12:53 UTC7067180° 8 kt191008.5
13:39 UTC64.462.6240° 22 kt261010.5
13:50 UTC64.462.6200° 7 kt161008.8
13:53 UTC6562170° 6 kt161008.5
14:53 UTC6562160° 13 kt211008.1

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:35 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
13:20 UTCHAIL 0.752 Sse Dowling ParkSuwannee, FLSPOTTER REPORT MADE TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. THE REPORT WAS RELAYED TO THEM AT 923 AM EST AND EVENT WAS ONGOING AT THE TIME.
14:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGCross CityDixie, FLTREES REPORTED DOWN COUNTYWIDE. SEVERAL POWERLINES AND POLES DOWN.
14:10 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMayoLafayette, FLA FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED NEART THE HIGH SCHOOL MOVING EAST.

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 79:30 AM ESTEF0Suwannee, FL0.050
March 79:45 AM ESTEF2Columbia, FL1.580015$4.0 million
March 710:10 AM ESTEF0Baker, FL1.21001
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.