Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2008

EF0 tornado, Gulf Breeze, Florida, September 1, 2008

Name: EF0 tornado, Gulf Breeze, Florida, September 1, 2008
Start: 2008-09-01T13:55:00.000Z
End: 2008-09-01T13:58:00.000Z
Location: Gulf Breeze, Florida

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Santa Rosa County on September 1, 2008, touching down at 8:55 AM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $12,000 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: September 1, 2008
Touchdown: 8:55 AM CDT (13:55 UTC)
Lifted: 8:58 AM CDT (13:58 UTC)
On the ground: 3 minutes
Path length: 0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width: 30 yards (27 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $12,000
County: Santa Rosa County
Touchdown point: 30.350, -87.150
Lift-off point: 30.350, -87.150
Record number: 0809010755-01

The damage survey

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

Tree damage associated with weak tornado based on Storm Data.
Estimated location of brief weak tornado based on Storm Data. No DI for yard debris tossed around.
No damage based on Storm Data for the 2nd Pensacola NAS tornado.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Outer rainbands from Hurricane Gustav produced several small tornadoes across northwest Florida.

An outer rainband from Hurricane Gustav produced a weak EF0 tornado in Gulf Breeze that caused tree damage.

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

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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Sep 1, 6:59 AM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 1, 6:59 AM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
659 AM CDT MON SEP 1 2008

.UPDATE...HAVE UPDATED THE ZONES TO INCLUDE TORNADO WATCH # 877 IN
EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CDT. NO OTHER CHANGES AT THIS TIME. /10

&&

.......................PREVIOUS DISCUSSION..........................

.SHORT TERM TODAY AND TONIGHT...APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY IN ALL OF
THE PUBLIC PRODUCTS...BUT WANTED TO GET ALL THE LATEST ON GUSTAV
BEFORE TRANSMITTING. HURRICANE GUSTAV WILL BE MAKING LANDFALL BY
MIDDAY OVER THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF LOUISIANA COAST...NOT FAR WEST OF
GRAND ISLE. WELL EAST OF THE CENTER...WILL SEE RAINBANDS AND SQUALLY
WEATHER ROTATING IN OFF THE GULF. WE FORECAST THE HIGHEST
PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF THE AREA TODAY AND
TONIGHT. SOME OF THE RAIN BANDS WILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAINS WITH
OCCASIONAL TROPICAL STORM FORCE WIND GUSTS. EXCESSIVE RAINS COULD
FORM WHERE RAIN BAND DETACHMENT SETS UP AND PERSISTS FOR SEVERAL
HOURS OVER THE SAME AREAS. WILL HAVE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH OUT FOR
THOSE ZONES WHERE WE EXPECT THIS POTENTIAL. GRIDDED WEATHER WILL ALSO
CONTAIN THE POTENTIAL OF TORNADOES OVER THE COASTAL COUNTIES AND
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AS THESE AREAS LOOK TO HAVE THE HIGHEST
PROBABILITY OF IMPACTS FROM THESE AND CLOSEST TO THE FAVORED
EAST/NORTHEAST SIDE OF GUSTAVS CIRCULATION. TIDAL FLOODING
...DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS AND INSTANCES OF BEACH EROSION WILL ALSO
PRESENT HAZARDS TODAY. FOR MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON WHAT IS
EXPECTED...REFER TO THE LOCAL STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE ALABAMA. /10

.LONG TERM TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...SOME FORECAST CHALLENGES IN
THE MEDIUM RANGE WEATHER PICTURE. ALTHOUGH GUSTAV WILL BE WEAKENING
OVER WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA OR EAST TEXAS TUESDAY...WOULD NOT BE
SURPRISED TO SEE A DETACHED RAINBAND THAT BECOMES QUASI-STATIONARY
OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.
IF THIS SETS UP...EXCESSIVE RAINS WOULD BE LIKELY. HEADING INTO THE
MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...STRENGTHENING MID LEVEL HEIGHTS OVER THE MID
ATLANTIC...COUPLED WITH HANNA NEAR THE BAHAMAS...FAVORS A WESTWARD
EXPANSION OF INCREASED SUBSIDENCE OVER THE SOUTHEAST AND A NET
DECREASE IN PRECIPITATION PROBABILITIES BY THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY...
LEFTOVER MOISTURE BY GUSTAV LOOKS TO BE SHEARED EASTWARD WITH
CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COMING BACK UP FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY. WE ANTICIPATE NO PROBLEMS WITH HANNA. SAW NO REASON TO
DEVIATE FROM THE EXTENDED RANGE FORECASTS FOR TEMPERATURES WHICH ARE
NOT THAT FAR FROM SEASONAL NORMALS. /10

&&

.AVIATION...TAF SITES WILL SEE MVFR CONDITIONS PREVAILING
OCCASIONALLY LOWERING TO IFR IN SQUALLS. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
WILL BE HAZARDOUS FOR ASCENT AND DESCENT.

&&

.MARINE...MAJOR HURRICANE GUSTAV WILL MAKE LANDFALL AROUND MIDDAY
TODAY ON THE SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA COAST. MARINERS ARE URGED TO REMAIN
IN PORT AND CLOSELY MONITOR THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER FORECASTS
AND ADVISORIES CONCERNING THIS DANGEROUS HURRICANE. GUSTAV WEAKENS AS
IT CONTINUES MOVING INLAND ACROSS LOUISIANA AND INTO EASTERN TEXAS
TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. THE STRONG SOUTHEAST WINDS OVER THE MARINE
AREA WILL SUBSIDE BELOW 20 KNOTS ON TUESDAY WITH SEAS SUBSIDING BELOW
7 FEET BY TUESDAY EVENING...WITH WINDS AND SEAS CONTINUING TO SUBSIDE
THROUGH FRIDAY.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...NO HEADLINES. /10

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MOBILE      83  76  83  75 / 100  90  80  60
PENSACOLA   85  77  84  73 / 100  70  70  50
DESTIN      84  77  86  74 /  80  50  70  40
EVERGREEN   85  72  84  70 /  70  50  60  40
WAYNESBORO  85  73  84  71 /  90  80  80  70
CAMDEN      86  72  85  70 /  70  50  70  40

&&

.MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...TROPICAL STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 PM MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: LOWER BALDWIN...LOWER MOBILE...UPPER BALDWIN...AND
     UPPER MOBILE.

     FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
     LOWER BALDWIN...LOWER MOBILE...UPPER BALDWIN...UPPER
     MOBILE...AND WASHINGTON.

     TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING UNTIL 1 AM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: AND WASHINGTON.

FL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
     COASTAL ESCAMBIA...COASTAL OKALOOSA...COASTAL SANTA ROSA...
     INLAND ESCAMBIA...INLAND OKALOOSA...AND INLAND SANTA ROSA.

     TROPICAL STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 PM MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: COASTAL ESCAMBIA...COASTAL OKALOOSA...COASTAL SANTA
     ROSA...COASTAL WALTON...INLAND ESCAMBIA...INLAND OKALOOSA...
     AND INLAND SANTA ROSA.

MS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
     GEORGE...GREENE...PERRY...STONE...AND WAYNE.

     TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING UNTIL 1 AM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: GEORGE...GREENE...PERRY...STONE...AND WAYNE.

GM...TROPICAL STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 PM MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: COASTAL WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL OUT 20
     NM...COASTAL WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS OUT
     20 NM...MOBILE BAY...WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL
     FROM 20 TO 60 NM...AND WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO
     PASCAGOULA MS FROM 20 TO 60 NM.

&&

The surface observations

Pensacola Regional (PNS), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:55 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2008 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 1, 2008

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 1	9:15 AM CDT	EF0	Okaloosa, FL	0.1	20
September 1	9:45 AM CDT	EF0	Okaloosa, FL	0.2	30	$20,000
September 1	10:00 AM CDT	EF0	Santa Rosa, FL	0.1	20
September 1	1:05 PM CDT	EF0	Baldwin, AL	0.1	30	$20,000
September 1	1:18 PM CDT	EF0	Forrest, MS	0.5	25	$2,000
September 1	1:34 PM CDT	EF0	Lamar, MS	2.0	30	$2,000
September 1	1:45 PM CDT	EF0	Lamar, MS	3.1	50	$10,000
September 1	2:00 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson Davis, MS	1.3	50	$2,000
September 1	2:31 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper, MS	0.7	25
September 1	2:40 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper, MS	0.6	25
September 1	3:08 PM CDT	EF0	Escambia, FL	0.2	30	$5,000
September 1	3:31 PM CDT	EF0	Clarke, MS	2.0	50	$10,000
September 1	3:45 PM CDT	EF0	Escambia, FL	0.1	20
September 1	4:35 PM CDT	EF1	Scott, MS	6.0	100	$20,000
September 1	4:40 PM CDT	EF0	Rankin, MS	0.8	25
September 1	4:24 PM MDT	EF0	Campbell, WY	0.1	20
September 1	8:07 PM CDT	EF0	Avoyelles Parish, LA	0.1	25

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.