Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2020

EF1 tornado, Vereen to Wakulla, Florida, April 23, 2020

Name: EF1 tornado, Vereen to Wakulla, Florida, April 23, 2020
Start: 2020-04-23T22:54:00.000Z
End: 2020-04-23T23:00:00.000Z
Location: Vereen to Wakulla, Florida

From Vereen to Wakulla, this EF1 tornado ran 3.9 miles across Wakulla County on April 23, 2020, touching down at 6:54 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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: EF1
Date: April 23, 2020
Touchdown: 6:54 PM EDT (22:54 UTC)
Lifted: 7:00 PM EDT (23:00 UTC)
On the ground: 6 minutes
Path length: 3.9 miles (6.2 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
County: Wakulla County
Touchdown point: 30.250, -84.260
Lift-off point: 30.239, -84.197
Record number: 2004231654-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Another in a series of strong upper level troughs pushed through the southeast states, resulting in another enhanced risk of severe storms from the Storm Prediction Center. The tri-state area was hit fairly hard again, with numerous reports of wind damage documented along with several tornadoes.

A tornado touched down just north of Wakulla Springs State Park. The tornado crossed CR 363 , Woodville Highway, just south of Savannah Road, before lifting just east of Early Bird Trail. Damage was primarily snapped and uprooted trees, but at least one|tree fell on a home.

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

The warnings

27 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:27 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:47 UTC and running to 23:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
14:53 UTC	19:47 UTC	Tornado Watch	TAE
19:47 UTC	23:43 UTC	Tornado Watch	TAE
21:44 UTC	22:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE
22:24 UTC	23:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE
22:27 UTC	23:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	TAE
22:43 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	TAE
22:54 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	TAE
03:58 UTC	04:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 23, 3:51 PM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 3:51 PM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tallahassee FL
351 PM EDT Thu Apr 23 2020

.NEAR TERM [Through Tonight]...

Widespread showers and strong to severe storms are expected to
continue over much of the forecast area, with some new
intensification already notable on the western portions of the
CWA. This trend is expected to continue as storms continue to push
into relatively unstable air still in place over the Florida
Panhandle. Damaging winds, Tornadoes, Hail, and Flash Flooding
remain a concern this evening into tonight. A small craft advisory
remains in effect into early friday morning and a new Tornado
watch continues for many of our counties until 10 PM EDT.

.SHORT TERM [Friday through Saturday Night]...

The severe weather threat shifts to southeast Big Bend as a cold
front drapes itself and lingers over our area into the evening.
This boundary should serve as focus for showers and thunderstorms
that likely persist through the day. Some of the storms may may be
strong to severe as the airmass will be sufficiently moist and
unstable with strong deep-layer shear. This is reflected in SPC's
Day 2 Outlook (valid starting 12Z Fri) which puts southeast Big
Bend in a marginal-to-slight risk for severe weather. By late
Fri/early Sat, PoPs decrease as a another shortwave dives down
from The Plains and helps lift the cold front to the northeast.
High temperatures are expected to be in the 80s and lows in the
60s.

.LONG TERM [Sunday Through Thursday]...

We should see mostly dry conditions through early Tues as surface
high pressure dominates the southeast CONUS. Temperatures should
also feel more seasonable thanks to the cold front and shortwave
reinforcing a shot of cool/dry air from the northwest. Meanwhile,
a longwave trough digs down from western Canada to trigger
cyclogenesis in The Great Lakes region. This system will drag an
extensive cold front that appears to brush our northern area on
Wed. Chance-to-slight chance PoPs (slight chance of thunder) are
in the forecast to account for this, followed by Thurs being
mostly rain-free. The front should also keep temperatures from
rebounding too much. Highs are forecast to be in the low 80s and
lows in the 50s and 60s.

&&

.AVIATION...
[Through 18Z Friday]

SHRA with Strong to SVR TSRA across much of the forecast area.
Conditions generally range between IFR/LIFR around storms to MVFR
outside of SHRA/TSRA influence. Winds have been strong and
variable, under the influence of TSRA winds and a frontal boundary
drifting across the area. This unsettled trend will continue with
storms restrengthening this evening as activity eventually shifts
south and east.

&&

.MARINE...

A Small Craft Advisory is currently in effect until early Fri
morning as a line of severe storms wanders through our forecast
area. Some restrengthening is expected this evening and
overnight. Wave heights up to 7 ft are anticipated with some
higher values possible near the line. Winds and seas remain
elevated through Sat with a cold front present over the area.
Conditions finally begin improving thereafter ahead of another
system mid next week.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...

Showers and Thunderstorms are expected continue through early Friday
morning. Strong transport winds, both ahead and behind the system,
will lead to high dispersion values.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...

The bulk of the rainfall over the next several days will be from
what falls today and tonight. Estimates so far seem to be on track
with radar showing areas of 2-4 inches and isolated higher
amounts. Given the precipitation from the previous severe event
(particularly in central GA and AL), there are concerns this
evening for potential flash flooding across portions of southwest
GA and southeast AL.

River flooding will also be a concern. Area rivers and creeks
continue to rise across the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint
basins. Increased releases from WF George will keep the
Chattahoochee River near minor flood stage through at least
Wednesday evening before releases begin to decrease. Conditions on
the Middle Flint are not as high as previously expected, thus
releases out of Lake Blackshear may end up being lower later this
week than expected, thus it is possible that Albany and Newton stay
just below minor flood stage. However, all the water moving through
the Chattahoochee and Flint Basins will lead to minor flooding
throughout the Apalachicola River over the coming days. Large
uncertainty exists with this upcoming system so it is important to
note that a couple of inches of rain above Dawson could push the
Kinchafoonee Creek to the moderate flood level. Additionally heavy
rain north of Valdosta could lead to minor flooding on the
Withlacoochee River, given that the upper portions of the
Withlacoochee is still running above normal from last week's
rainfall.

Lastly, there is a low coastal flood threat in Apalachee Bay with
Thurs afternoon's high tide where peak surge looks to to line up
with high tide (water levels of 1.5-2 ft MHHW possible).

&&

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is requested. Spotters should safely report
significant weather conditions and/or damage (while following all
local, state, and CDC guidelines) by calling the office or tweeting
us @NWSTallahassee.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

Tallahassee   65  86  62  89  61 /  90  30  10  10  10
Panama City   68  82  66  82  64 /  80  20   0  10  10
Dothan        62  81  59  85  59 /  60   0   0  10  10
Albany        64  81  60  87  60 /  80  10   0  10  10
Valdosta      65  83  63  87  62 /  90  40   0  10  10
Cross City    68  80  67  85  65 /  90  70  20  30  10
Apalachicola  68  80  67  81  64 /  90  30  10  10  10

&&

.TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...Coastal Flood Advisory until 5 AM EDT Friday for Coastal Dixie-
     Coastal Franklin-Coastal Jefferson-Coastal Taylor-Coastal
     Wakulla.

     High Rip Current Risk until 2 AM EDT /1 AM CDT/ Friday for
     Coastal Bay-Coastal Franklin-Coastal Gulf-South Walton.

GA...None.
AL...None.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 2 AM EDT /1 AM CDT/ Friday for
     Apalachee Bay or Coastal Waters From Keaton Beach to
     Ochlockonee River FL out to 20 Nm-Coastal Waters From
     Ochlockonee River to Apalachicola Fl out to 20 Nm-Coastal
     waters from Suwannee River to Keaton Beach FL out 20 NM-
     Coastal waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola FL out 20
     NM-Coastal waters from Mexico Beach to Okaloosa Walton
     County Line FL out 20 NM-Waters from Suwannee River to
     Apalachicola FL from 20 to 60 NM-Waters from Apalachicola
     to Mexico Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM-Waters from Mexico
     Beach to Okaloosa Walton County Line FL from 20 to 60 NM.

&&

NEAR TERM...Humphreys
SHORT TERM...IG3/Humphreys
LONG TERM...IG3/Humphreys
AVIATION...Humphreys
MARINE...Humphreys
FIRE WEATHER...Humphreys
HYDROLOGY...Godsey/IG3/Humphreys

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 23, 5:48 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
548 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0508 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 NNW SIMSVILLE         30.70N 85.18W
04/23/2020                   JACKSON            FL   PUBLIC

            TREE FELL ON TRUCK.

&&

CM

Local storm report, Apr 23, 5:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
551 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0550 PM     FLASH FLOOD      1 SE COBB CROSSROADS    30.97N 85.54W
04/23/2020                   HOLMES             FL   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            WATER ON ROADWAY.

&&

CM

Local storm report, Apr 23, 5:58 PM EDT, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
558 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0430 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 E SEAGROVE BEACH      30.31N 86.10W
04/23/2020                   WALTON             FL   PUBLIC

            MINOR ROOF DAMAGE, BOAT FLIPPED AND BROKEN
            CAR WINDOWS...POSSIBLE TORNADO.

&&

CM

Local storm report, Apr 23, 6:02 PM EDT, 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
602 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0440 PM     TSTM WND DMG     BONIFAY                 30.79N 85.68W
04/23/2020                   HOLMES             FL   PUBLIC

            SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN THE BONIFAY AREA.

&&

CM

Local storm report, Apr 23, 6:13 PM EDT, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
613 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0515 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 WNW TYNDALL AFB       30.08N 85.60W
04/23/2020  M69 MPH          BAY                FL   ASOS

            MEASURED GUST OF 69 MPH AT KPAM.

&&

CM

Local storm report, Apr 23, 6:19 PM EDT, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
619 PM EDT THU APR 23 2020

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

0510 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 NE PANAMA CITY        30.18N 85.66W
04/23/2020                   BAY                FL   BROADCAST MEDIA

            MULTIPLE MEDIA AND BROADCAST MEDIA REPORTS
            OF TREES DOWN, POTENTIAL DAMAGE TO MARINA
            AND A GYM AND OTHER MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.

&&

LN

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

10.9 hours before the tornado, 19 km from the path. April 23, 2020.

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -82887 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1318 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 455 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 663 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:56 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
21:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Nne Juniper	Gadsden, FL	TREE DOWN.
21:50 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 E Gretna	Gadsden, FL	TREE DOWN.
22:22 UTC	TORNADO	2 Wsw Lake Jackson	Leon, FL	THIS IS THE START POINT FOR AN EF1 TORNADO. A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST SOUTH OF NORTH MONROE STREET AND MOVED EAST INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THERE WAS WIDESPREAD LIMB AND TREE DAMAGE. IT LIKELY THEN CROSSED OVER THE LAK
22:24 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Sw Lake Jackson	Leon, FL	TREE BLOCKING ROADWAY.
22:24 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sse Tallahassee Coml	Leon, FL	TREE LIMBS IN THE ROAD.
22:24 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sse Tallahassee Coml	Leon, FL	TREE ON POWERLINES.
22:25 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Sw Lake Jackson	Leon, FL	TREE BLOCKING ROAD.
22:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Nne Killearn Estates	Leon, FL	TREE IN ROADWAY.
22:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 S Bradfordville	Leon, FL	TREE BLOCKING THE ROAD.
22:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 S Bradfordville	Leon, FL	TREES ON HOUSES.
22:35 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 N Killearn Estates	Leon, FL	TREES DOWN.
22:38 UTC	TORNADO	1 Wsw Pisgah Church	Leon, FL	THIS IS THE END POINT FOR AN EF1 TORNADO. A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST SOUTH OF NORTH MONROE STREET AND MOVED EAST INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THERE WAS WIDESPREAD LIMB AND TREE DAMAGE. IT LIKELY THEN CROSSED OVER THE LAKE
22:40 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sse Bradfordville	Leon, FL	MULTIPLE TREES DOWN WITH POWERLINE ENTANGLEMENT.
22:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Woodville	Leon, FL	TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN.
22:46 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 N Vereen	Leon, FL	TREES AND POWER LINES ON ROAD.
22:46 UTC	TSTM WND GST 68	2 Nw Panacea-Wakulla Ai	Wakulla, FL	MESONET STATION PRWF1 ST. MARKS.
22:50 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ne Crawfordville	Wakulla, FL	TREE ON HOUSE.
22:50 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Crawfordville	Wakulla, FL	SEVERAL TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT COUNTY.
22:54 UTC	MARINE TSTM WIND 48	Shell Point	Wakulla, FL	MESONET STATION SHPF1 SHELL POINT.
22:54 UTC	TORNADO	2 Sw Vereen	Wakulla, FL	EF1 TORNADO BASED ON STORM SURVEY.
22:55 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 N Limestone	Jefferson, FL	TREE DOWN.
23:00 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	4 Sse Apalachee Regiona	Leon, FL	TREE BLEW DOWN IN A NEIGHBORS YARD.
23:00 UTC	MARINE TSTM WIND 45	Shell Point	Wakulla, FL	MESONET STATION 0742W SHELL POINT (WEATHERSTEM).

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2020 tornado in Florida Every tornado in Florida since 1950 Warnings in force in Florida now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2020

29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 23	1:08 AM CDT	EF2	Avoyelles Parish, LA	3.6	100		$1.0 million
April 23	1:20 AM CDT	EF1	Avoyelles Parish, LA	1.1	100		$50,000
April 23	1:51 AM CDT	EF1	Acadia Parish, LA	9.5	150		$50,000
April 23	1:57 AM CDT	EF0	Rankin, MS	11.4	1,230		$30,000
April 23	3:04 AM CDT	EF2	Pike, MS	20.0	700
April 23	3:20 AM CDT	EF2	Pike, MS	6.8	700		$100,000
April 23	3:57 AM CDT	EF0	Marion, MS	6.5	200		$20,000
April 23	4:14 AM CDT	EF2	Jones, MS	16.9	2,640		$300,000
April 23	4:33 AM CDT	EF1	Wayne, MS	1.8	350
April 23	6:17 AM CDT	EF1	George, MS	2.3	200
April 23	6:23 AM CDT	EF1	George, MS	0.4	50
April 23	6:24 AM CDT	EF1	George, MS	1.4	250	1
April 23	6:37 AM CDT	EF1	Mobile, AL	0.6	75
April 23	8:42 AM CDT	EF0	Covington, AL	0.4	50
April 23	8:53 AM CDT	EF0	Covington, AL	0.0	25
April 23	12:05 PM EDT	EF1	Mitchell, GA	2.4	176		$100,000
April 23	12:34 PM EDT	EF1	Colquitt, GA	37.2	650		$200,000
April 23	1:28 PM EDT	EF0	Lanier, GA	2.2	50
April 23	2:05 PM EDT	EF0	Ware, GA	9.0	50
April 23	2:59 PM EDT	EF0	Glynn, GA	0.5	50
April 23	3:37 PM EDT	EF0	Camden, GA	0.3	50
April 23	2:51 PM CDT	EF1	Okaloosa, FL	2.7	50
April 23	3:13 PM CDT	EF1	Walton, FL	9.1	100		$200,000
April 23	3:48 PM CDT	EF2	Washington, FL	17.2	400		$500,000
April 23	4:00 PM CDT	EF0	Bay, FL	13.4	75		$50,000
April 23	4:09 PM CDT	EF0	Bay, FL	0.9	50
April 23	6:22 PM EDT	EF1	Leon, FL	10.6	600		$10,000
April 23	7:56 PM EDT	EF1	Taylor, FL	0.5	100		$50,000
April 23	9:11 PM EDT	EF0	Gilchrist, FL	0.6	50

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.