Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2022

Unrated tornado, Greenwood, Florida, March 9, 2022

This Unrated tornado ran 0.1 miles across Jackson County on March 9, 2022, touching down at 5:55 AM CST and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 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. Unratedthis tornado

    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
Unrated
Date
March 9, 2022
Touchdown
5:55 AM CST (11:55 UTC)
Lifted
5:57 AM CST (11:57 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
30.870, -85.180
Lift-off point
30.872, -85.179
Record number
2203090555-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front crossed the area during the early morning hours of March 9th. Sufficient instability and wind shear resulted in a few tornadoes and wind damage across the Florida panhandle.

A tornado briefly touched down in a field according to video posted on social media. No damage was reported.

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

The warnings

31 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 11:24 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 12:17 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:36 UTC and running to 13:58 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:36 UTC13:58 UTCTornado WatchTAE
10:53 UTC11:39 UTCTornado WarningTAE
11:24 UTC12:17 UTCTornado 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 05:55 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

0.1 hours after it, 99 km from the path. March 9, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2022-03-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 935 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 474 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2022-03-09The 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 51 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
935 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
969 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
474 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mariana (MAI), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
09:55 UTC180° 8 kt1009.8BR
10:00 UTC180° 10 kt1010.2BR
10:05 UTC190° 9 kt1010.2BR
10:10 UTC180° 10 kt1010.2BR
10:11 UTC7169180° 10 kt1010.2BR
10:15 UTC180° 10 kt1010.2BR
10:20 UTC180° 11 kt1010.2BR
10:25 UTC190° 9 kt1009.8BR
10:30 UTC190° 10 kt1009.8BR
10:35 UTC180° 10 kt1009.8BR
10:36 UTC7169180° 10 kt1009.8BR
10:40 UTC180° 10 kt1009.8BR
10:45 UTC180° 10 kt1010.2BR
10:50 UTC180° 11 kt1010.2-RA BR
10:53 UTC7169170° 13 kt1009.8-RA BR
10:55 UTC160° 11 kt1009.8-RA BR
11:00 UTC150° 11 kt1009.1RA BR
11:05 UTC160° 11 kt1009.1RA BR
11:05 UTC7169160° 11 kt1009.1VCTS RA BR
11:10 UTC180° 9 kt1009.8-RA BR
11:15 UTC210° 9 kt1010.5-RA BR
11:16 UTC7069220° 10 kt1010.8-TSRA BR
11:20 UTC200° 8 kt1010.8RA BR
11:25 UTC200° 9 kt1010.8RA BR
11:30 UTC200° 8 kt1010.8-RA BR
11:35 UTC210° 7 kt1011.2-RA BR
11:40 UTC180° 5 kt1010.8-RA BR
11:45 UTC100° 5 kt1010.5-RA BR
11:50 UTC110° 8 kt1010.5-RA BR
11:53 UTC7169150° 8 kt1010.5-TSRA BR
11:55 UTC170° 11 kt1010.8-RA BR
12:00 UTC180° 11 kt1010.8-RA BR
12:01 UTC7170180° 11 kt161010.8VCTS -RA BR
12:05 UTC190° 11 kt1011.2-RA BR
12:09 UTC7170190° 10 kt1010.8-TSRA BR
12:10 UTC200° 10 kt1011.2-RA BR
12:15 UTC210° 10 kt1011.5-RA BR
12:20 UTC190° 8 kt1010.8-RA BR
12:23 UTC7170200° 8 kt1011.2-RA BR
12:25 UTC200° 9 kt1011.2RA BR
12:30 UTC210° 8 kt1011.2RA BR
12:31 UTC7170200° 8 kt1011.2RA BR
12:35 UTC200° 9 kt1011.2-RA BR
12:38 UTC7170180° 10 kt1010.8-RA BR
12:40 UTC180° 11 kt1010.5-RA BR
12:45 UTC170° 13 kt1010.2-RA BR
12:50 UTC180° 14 kt1010.5-RA BR
12:53 UTC7170180° 13 kt1010.5BR
12:55 UTC180° 15 kt1010.5BR
13:00 UTC180° 13 kt1010.5BR
13:05 UTC180° 13 kt211010.5BR
13:10 UTC180° 14 kt1010.8BR
13:15 UTC200° 13 kt1011.9BR
13:20 UTC210° 13 kt1011.5-RA BR
13:25 UTC190° 16 kt1011.5-RA BR
13:26 UTC7069190° 15 kt201011.5-RA BR
13:30 UTC190° 15 kt1011.5-RA BR
13:35 UTC200° 13 kt1011.5BR
13:40 UTC200° 11 kt1011.5BR
13:45 UTC190° 13 kt1011.5BR
13:50 UTC190° 13 kt1011.5
13:53 UTC7069200° 13 kt1011.5-RA

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

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:55 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
11:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W BahomaWashington, FLDAMAGE TO MOBILE HOMES, BARNS, AND SHEDS. POWER LINES AND TREES ALSO DAMAGED. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
11:06 UTCTORNADO3 Nnw ChipleyWashington, FLEF0 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY STORM SURVEY.
11:12 UTCTORNADO1 Ene BahomaWashington, FLEF1 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY STORM SURVEY.
11:55 UTCTORNADO1 W GreenwoodJackson, FLPUBLIC POSTED VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA OF A BRIEF TORNADO NEAR GREENWOOD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 9, 2022

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 912:42 AM CSTEF1Mobile, AL1.850
March 92:11 AM CSTEF1Conecuh, AL0.2150
March 94:50 AM CSTEF1Barbour, AL9.1280
March 95:06 AM CSTEF0Washington, FL1.4200$75,000
March 95:12 AM CSTEF1Washington, FL0.2100$100,000
March 96:48 AM ESTEF0Stewart, GA1.175
March 96:15 AM CSTEF1Bay, FL0.425$100,000

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.