EF2 tornado, Bloxham to Kleman Plaza, Florida, May 10, 2024

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.

Rating

EF2

Date

May 10, 2024

Touchdown

6:50 AM EDT (10:50 UTC)

Lifted

7:14 AM EDT (11:14 UTC)

On the ground

24 minutes

Path length

24.8 miles (39.9 km)

Path width

1,400 yards (1280 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

0

Property damage

$92 million

County

Leon County

Touchdown point

30.440, -84.490

Lift-off point

30.411, -84.075

Record number

2405100450-01

333 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Northern side of damage path north of Oak Ridge Rd.
• Portions of lightweight roof deck blown off and into neighboring courtyard.
• Several sift and hardwood snapped trunks and large limbs
• Many trees snapped and uprooted. Some also facing east

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

May was an incredibly busy month defined by heat, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. The main weather event occurred on the 10th when tornadoes and swaths of intense straight-line winds ravaged the Tallahassee area. A severe squall line plowed through parts of SE AL, the FL Panhandle and Big Bend early that morning and produced a total of 7 confirmed tornadoes. Three tornadoes went through Leon County, of which two, each rated EF-2 (max winds of 115 mph), simultaneously converged on Tallahassee. That same storm also was responsible for destructive wind damage in excess of 100 mph with the FAMU Weatherstem site reporting a peak gust of 84 mph, while the Tallahassee Airport gusted to 66 mph. The former surpassed the 83-mph record gust at KTLH from 9/11/1990! The resultant impacts were widespread power outages, downed/snapped/uprooted trees, and 400+ broken utility poles (exceeding Hurricane Hermine/Irma/Michael combined, per the City of TLH). Unfortunately, there were two storm-related fatalities in Tallahassee. Damage costs to the city of Tallahassee were extensive. The city accrued at least $50 million in damages, not even including residential damages. Residential damage was significant. There were a total of 174 structures deemed destroyed, 742 with major damage, 780 with minor damage, and 417 that were deemed affected. The median home price in Tallahassee as of July 2024 is roughly $286,000. Thus, a rough estimate for residential damage is an additional $50 million for the destroyed structures (assuming $286K damage per structure), $74.2 million for the structures with major damage (assuming $100K damage per structure), $7.8 million for the structures with minor damage (assuming $10K damage per structure), and $2.1 million for the structures that were deemed affected (assuming $5,000 damage per structure). This brings the estimated grand total to $184.1 million, which will be divided equally between the two tornadoes since they merged together over the city.

The tornado touched down near Lake Talquin Hwy, just west of Lake Talquin, promptly producing EF-0 tree damage. It then crossed Lake Talquin a few minutes later before moving ashore on the eastern shore of Lake Talquin where it produced EF-1 damage with several snapped and uprooted trees, some of which fell on two cars and a couple of houses. The tornado would then continue heading generally east-southeast with EF-1 damage across Blountstown Hwy and along and just south of Bloxham Cutoff Road before heading more east across Apalachicola National Forest, where downed and snapped trees were noted along some of the National Forest Roads. The tornado then crossed Springhill Road near the Trout Pond GF&A Trailhead, producing high-end EF-1 damage as it did so. The tornado then continued generally east-southeast towards US- 19 near Oak Ridge Road W, continuing to produce high-end EF-1 damage. The tornado continued along Oak Ridge Road, producing EF-1 damage with several downed and snapped trees noted along the road. Another cluster of high-end EF-1 damage was noted on the west side of Woodville Hwy near Oak Ridge Road E. The tornado passed just north of Woodville Middle School, with numerous downed and snapped trees noted between Oak Ridge Rd E and Natural Bridge Road. The tornado crossed over Taff Road, where it continued to produce high-end EF-1 damage before moving over forest and farmland that was inaccessible to the survey team. Another cluster of snapped trees were noted along Old Plank Road, where the tornado was likely ongoing before lifting just east of Old Plank Road. The maximum width was around 1100 yards along Celia Road, west of Woodville.

The tornado touched down in Lake Talquin State Park at Williams Landing, promptly producing EF-1 damage snapping numerous softwood and hardwood trees. The tornado would then continue trekking east-southeast before making a hard right and traveling due east as it passed the intersection of Blountstown Highway and Ft. Braden Trail Road, producing damage consistent with an EF-1 rating by snapping numerous hardwood and softwood trees along the way. The tornado would then continue east, paralleling Blountstown Highway as it then impacted Lake Talquin State Recreational Area where it would continue producing EF-1 damage by snapping trees. The tornado would then shift its trajectory to east-southeast once again, impacting many subdivisions in the Norfleet neighborhood south of Blountstown Highway snapping numerous trees across the area. It would then continue on its east- southeast path before traveling east once again as it reached just north of the intersection of Capital Circle SW and Orange Ave W in Tallahassee. It would then go on to impact the neighborhoods of Seminole Manor and Mabry Manor snapping many trees along the way and causing damage to Sabal Palm Elementary School. The tornado would then continue its eastern track impacting Florida A&M University (FAMU) producing EF-1 damage by snapping numerous trees along the way. This included roof damage to at least two university buildings. EF-0 damage was observed a handful of times to eve's on homes and businesses as well as occasional shingle damage. The tornado would continue moving east toward Capital City Country Club Golf Course producing EF-1 damage by snapping numerous trees along the way and across the golf course. The tracks of both tornadoes moving through Tallahassee at this time converged at Capital City Country Club, with this tornado seemingly becoming the dominant circulation moving forward. As the tornado exited the golf course, very intense tree damage consistent with an EF-2 rating was observed as numerous trees were snapped at a height of around 75 feet. This most intense tree damage occurred from Country Club Dr. through the Indian Head Acres subdivisions. This is where the maximum estimated winds of 115mph most likely occurred. EF-1 damage would be observed through the remainder of its eastern trajectory as the tornado impacted Old St. Augustine Rd. It would go on producing EF-1 tree damage within the subdivision of Paradise Village East, Old Friends Rd, and areas along Southwood Plantation Rd before moving on to mostly forested areas north of Old St. Augustine Rd. The last concentrated area of EF-1 damage would be observed in neighborhoods along Louvinia Drive and WW Lee Road. The tornado would then continue east before uprooting a few trees along U.S. 27 as it moved to the Leon-Jefferson county line before dissipating. The tornado reached its maximum width of 1400yds as it crossed Monroe St. in downtown Tallahassee and entered into the Capital City Country Club Golf Course. Unfortunately, two fatalities occurred in association with this tornado, both due to trees falling. In one case, trees fell through a mobile home, and in the other case, a tree fell on a person who was outdoors.

This is a continuation of the Gadsden county tornado. The Leon county portion of this tornado is rated EF2. Extensive tree damage was noted at a mobile home park on Emily Loop where several homes were damaged by falling trees. The tornado caused roof and siding damage to a hotel and shopping center near the intersection of Capital Circle Northwest and U.S. 90. The tornado appears to have intensified as it moved southeast after crossing Capital Circle and approaching Blountstown Highway. EF-2 damage was noted to an automotive repair building along Blountstown Highway, along with intense tree damage, with a swath of nearly every pine tree snapped at approximately 75 feet above the ground. This level of damage continues across Pat Thomas Boulevard. Significant tree damage was noted on the campuses of Lively Technical College and Tallahassee Community College before the tornado crossed Appleyard Drive. Another area of intense tree damage was noted along Cactus Drive, consistent with an EF-2 rating. Numerous homes were damaged by falling trees. The tornado then moved through a densely populated area of single family and multi-family homes, causing widespread EF-1 tree damage. Numerous homes and businesses were damaged by falling trees as the tornado crossed Pensacola Street and approached the Florida State University Campus. Numerous trees were downed on the southwestern part of the campus. In addition, the tent housing the Florida State University Flying High Circus was destroyed and the outfield fence at Dick Howser Stadium was severely damaged. The tornado moved along Gaines Street, causing damage to a few businesses, and causing a construction crane to collapse. At Railroad Square, several warehouse buildings were severely damaged, along with the roof of the railroad depot. Snapped and uprooted trees were also noted in the downtown area, just south of the State Capital Building near the state Department of Education Building. At this point, the tornado began to turn more southeastward as it began to interact with the nearby tornado to its south. The tornado caused damage at Cascades Park, and significant tree damage in Myers Park. The tornado then moved through Country Club Estates and onto the Capital City Country Club. At this time, the track converged with that of the tornado to the south, with the tornado to the south appearing to become the dominant feature moving forward. The peak intensity EF-2 intensity of 115mph is estimated to have occurred in a couple of spots between Blountstown Highway and Cactus Street. The maximum width was approximately 900 yards.

The deaths

2 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

11 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:39 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 08:05 UTC and running to 15:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:57 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 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 Regional (TLH), 8 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 5 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:48 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.