Florida Weather

[sgtsandman]

The tornados and hills thing is a myth. Probably because the vast majority happen in the mid west where its flat as shit. They also used to say they cant cross rivers...which is untrue.

A powerful enough tornado can do anything it damn well pleases

The hilly terrain tends to stifle them but they do happen. I think the last real bad one we had was in the late 70s. F5, I think. Most times, if we get one, it's like a 1 or 2, if they even bother to give us a number.

 

[Ranger850]

1100 yards wide? Holy shit

the big one was 1400 yards wide, and 27 miles long,

 

[Ranger850]

The tornados and hills thing is a myth. Probably because the vast majority happen in the mid west where its flat as shit. They also used to say they cant cross rivers...which is untrue.

A powerful enough tornado can do anything it damn well pleases

The hilly terrain tends to stifle them but they do happen. I think the last real bad one we had was in the late 70s. F5, I think. Most times, if we get one, it's like a 1 or 2, if they even bother to give us a number.

Tallahassee translates to " land of 7 (seven) Hills". It's not flat at all around here. The twisters didn't seem to care what the terrain was like.

 

[sgtsandman]

Tallahassee translates to " land of 7 (seven) Hills". It's not flat at all around here. The twisters didn't seem to care what the terrain was like.

When I say hilly, I'm talking about hills and valleys in the Appalachian Mountain chain. They aren't as extreme here as they are in, say West Virginia and sections of Virginia that I've been through but big enough and deep enough that they very much effect the weather and wind patterns. Not to diminish what you have there. I've been to Florida but most on the east coast and central Florida. So, I've not seen what kind of terrain you have there. Most of Pennsylvania is occupied by the mountain chain.

 

[sgtsandman]

The tornados and hills thing is a myth. Probably because the vast majority happen in the mid west where its flat as shit. They also used to say they cant cross rivers...which is untrue.

A powerful enough tornado can do anything it damn well pleases

If a tornado stays over the water long enough, they are called water spouts instead of tornadoes.

 

[sgtsandman]

1100 yards wide? Holy shit

I've heard that the big ones can be over a mile wide.

 

[bilbo]

It's been very hot and dry in South FL. Saturday was the highest temp our weather station has recorded at 99.5 degF. The humidity added to that made it miserable. It seems every time there's been rain lately it misses us. Monday it was storming a few miles on either side of where I live, but zero rain at the house. At least it means I don't have to mow as often.

 

[superj]

i like that the rain is always about 3 miles away from my house for that same reason. unfortunately, it rained about a week ago so i have to cut the grass again.

grass cutting day is the only day i hate having a half acre yard

 

[Rick W]

Man, How's the weather where you're at? We just had 3 tornadoes rip through Tallahassee. 2 EF-2's and an EF-1. The 2 EF_2's merged paths about 2 miles from my house and devastated the Eastern and Southern sides of town. It ripped through Friday morning about 7:00 EST. by 7:30 we were out of power and scared poopless. We didn't get power until tuesday night around 8pm EST. Only one fatality, a tree fell on a lady in my neighborhood. The Utilty crew found her when they were restoring power to the area. Thanks to any and ALL the Utility crews that came from Alabama, Georgia, S.Carolina and wherever else they came from.
News has been slow, and I'm hearing more from coworkers that there could have been possibly 5 tornadoes total, but they were small and dissipated quick. Definately 3 confirmed though. Huirricanes are strong but slow. We have plenty of prep time for them. These tornadoes wiped out more utilty poles than the last 3 Hurricanes combined, all in about an hour. It changed the way 1/2 the town looks and some places will never be the same.

I got hit in the “Dunwoody” tornado in 1998. It started in Texas and skipped like a stone across a lake all the way to South Carolina. Very unusual that we had a tornado where I live.

On the dark side, that was 25+ years ago, and you never really fully recover. The insurance companies, all of them, were more evil than the tornado. There were 400 homes destroyed, and 4000 damaged. They bring in these outside hired gun appraisers who get a bonus for settling quick and low. If you know anybody who got hit hard, the best thing they could do is pay the thousand or $2000 for a consultant on how to handle the claim. Don’t settle quick, don’t throw anything away till you get a picture of it, and add in every single penny, because they’re going to fight you.

If you’re eligible for a FEMA disaster loan, take it. And I’m not saying pad it, but again add in every penny. When I got hit, interest rates were about 9%, and the FEMA loan was 3%. Contrary to any other loan you’ve ever gone after, it was like your own good-natured grandfather was approving yet. I didn’t think we needed it, but in hindsight, it probably saved our lives, or at least our lifestyle.

On the positive side, the response was amazing and uplifting. It was a Thursday and I was out of town. I got back Friday. There were people from “the church“ who came over and helped anyway they could. About a dozen on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. To this day, I don’t know what church, nor who those people were. I wish I could find everyone and kiss their hand.

The power companies and other types of utilities came from states all around us. It’s truly the power of this great country. Not only where our local house powerlines down, the main line for the whole area runs on the top of the poles on my street. Georgia Power put the system back together, like watching a ballet. A crew came down from one end to the other stripping all of the damaged stuff. Then a crew came down and set new poles, then a crew came down and put the hardware on top of the poles, then, a combination of seven trucks, put the wire up, got it at the right tension, etc. It all happened in four days. It was truly astounding.

Even more astounding, where the boys in blue, the fire departments, the GA National Guard, and others who serve. Remember I’m close in to the city. It was pitch black and it was like a war zone. The Savannah Park Police were on my street in swat gear with M16s watching over our homes. I’m forever in their debt, I’m astounded at their service, and I am proud of that part of America.

Sorry to preach. Equally breaks my heart and warms my heart to this day.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm sorry to hear you had the tornadoes but glad to hear you're alright. The destructive power of tornados is amazing. When I first moved here I thought it was weird that nobody was particularly concerned about hurricanes for the reasons you mentioned. Plenty of warning and relatively predictable. But they're all scared to death of the tornadoes.

Some people are waaay too brave about hurricanes. Yeah. They might be slow. But the winds can be just as powerful. They cover a larger area and linger. Their slow movement adds up a lot of destruction, whereas a tornado just zooms through and finishes its work in mere minutes.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The hilly terrain tends to stifle them but they do happen. I think the last real bad one we had was in the late 70s. F5, I think. Most times, if we get one, it's like a 1 or 2, if they even bother to give us a number.

A lot of times around here they often deny that a tornado happened. I forget exactly when it happened, want to say late 90’s-early 00’s. I was working with dad on a new house somewhere up like Cranberry way. This was back when we lived around Wexford. Storm blew up really fast. Like when we saw it coming, the one guy running the skid loader was about to go grab another scoop of gravel off the pile in what would later be the turn-around (we were getting a basement and garage graded and ready to pour concrete). Before he could get the machine back in the garage, the storm hit. We had to back up against the back wall of the basement and the wind still blew the rain far enough back to mist us. All the way from the garage doors to the back of the basement. It was ridiculous. We were watching trees being snapped off or toppled and sounded like the world might be ending.

When it passed, dad sent everyone home. Took us like an hour and a half to get home because of all the trees down. We had to duck past a cop when he was distracted because they weren’t letting anyone on our road. Couple houses past our driveway a huge oak came down across the road. We had something like 14 trees come down on a 1/4 acre lot. Not a single one hit the house. Mom’s German Shepherd was chained on in the front yard between two huge blue spruce trees. Both snapped off 8-12’ up, moved in towards the house, and laid neatly on top of each other between the dog and the house. Only real damage was the meter socket got ripped off the side of the house when the wires came down.

To this day, the weathermen and all say it was “microburst” or severe straight line winds. I dunno about you all, but I’ve never seen straight line winds twist treetops off in a roughly bowl shape or twist trees apart. Our neighbor hired a tree guy to clean up a damaged tree. I watched him start to climb, he got up about 25’, then I watched him grab his hand saw, gently slide it all the way to the handle into the trunk, pull it back out, give everything a good look, and he made a slow decent and told the people to hire someone else. He said the tree was literally twisted so bad that it split. I say that was tornadoes that may have never fully touched down. Dad used his crew for a couple days and we ran both dump trucks once we got enough of the driveway clear to get the spare out. Can’t remember, but we might have even brought the skid loader home. What a mess.

 

[Rick W]

A lot of times around here they often deny that a tornado happened. I forget exactly when it happened, want to say late 90’s-early 00’s. I was working with dad on a new house somewhere up like Cranberry way. This was back when we lived around Wexford. Storm blew up really fast. Like when we saw it coming, the one guy running the skid loader was about to go grab another scoop of gravel off the pile in what would later be the turn-around (we were getting a basement and garage graded and ready to pour concrete). Before he could get the machine back in the garage, the storm hit. We had to back up against the back wall of the basement and the wind still blew the rain far enough back to mist us. All the way from the garage doors to the back of the basement. It was ridiculous. We were watching trees being snapped off or toppled and sounded like the world might be ending.

When it passed, dad sent everyone home. Took us like an hour and a half to get home because of all the trees down. We had to duck past a cop when he was distracted because they weren’t letting anyone on our road. Couple houses past our driveway a huge oak came down across the road. We had something like 14 trees come down on a 1/4 acre lot. Not a single one hit the house. Mom’s German Shepherd was chained on in the front yard between two huge blue spruce trees. Both snapped off 8-12’ up, moved in towards the house, and laid neatly on top of each other between the dog and the house. Only real damage was the meter socket got ripped off the side of the house when the wires came down.

To this day, the weathermen and all say it was “microburst” or severe straight line winds. I dunno about you all, but I’ve never seen straight line winds twist treetops off in a roughly bowl shape or twist trees apart. Our neighbor hired a tree guy to clean up a damaged tree. I watched him start to climb, he got up about 25’, then I watched him grab his hand saw, gently slide it all the way to the handle into the trunk, pull it back out, give everything a good look, and he made a slow decent and told the people to hire someone else. He said the tree was literally twisted so bad that it split. I say that was tornadoes that may have never fully touched down. Dad used his crew for a couple days and we ran both dump trucks once we got enough of the driveway clear to get the spare out. Can’t remember, but we might have even brought the skid loader home. What a mess.

That reminds me we were actually hit by straight line wind. The main tornado went through about 10 houses down (and a quarter mile wide).

When you looked at the damage we had, it was like a giant golf divot and the lob Lolly pines were the blades of grass. You could see where the pines were sheared off when the wind was coming down and then when it was going back up.

Mother nature is pretty amazing.

 

[sgtsandman]

A lot of times around here they often deny that a tornado happened. I forget exactly when it happened, want to say late 90’s-early 00’s. I was working with dad on a new house somewhere up like Cranberry way. This was back when we lived around Wexford. Storm blew up really fast. Like when we saw it coming, the one guy running the skid loader was about to go grab another scoop of gravel off the pile in what would later be the turn-around (we were getting a basement and garage graded and ready to pour concrete). Before he could get the machine back in the garage, the storm hit. We had to back up against the back wall of the basement and the wind still blew the rain far enough back to mist us. All the way from the garage doors to the back of the basement. It was ridiculous. We were watching trees being snapped off or toppled and sounded like the world might be ending.

When it passed, dad sent everyone home. Took us like an hour and a half to get home because of all the trees down. We had to duck past a cop when he was distracted because they weren’t letting anyone on our road. Couple houses past our driveway a huge oak came down across the road. We had something like 14 trees come down on a 1/4 acre lot. Not a single one hit the house. Mom’s German Shepherd was chained on in the front yard between two huge blue spruce trees. Both snapped off 8-12’ up, moved in towards the house, and laid neatly on top of each other between the dog and the house. Only real damage was the meter socket got ripped off the side of the house when the wires came down.

To this day, the weathermen and all say it was “microburst” or severe straight line winds. I dunno about you all, but I’ve never seen straight line winds twist treetops off in a roughly bowl shape or twist trees apart. Our neighbor hired a tree guy to clean up a damaged tree. I watched him start to climb, he got up about 25’, then I watched him grab his hand saw, gently slide it all the way to the handle into the trunk, pull it back out, give everything a good look, and he made a slow decent and told the people to hire someone else. He said the tree was literally twisted so bad that it split. I say that was tornadoes that may have never fully touched down. Dad used his crew for a couple days and we ran both dump trucks once we got enough of the driveway clear to get the spare out. Can’t remember, but we might have even brought the skid loader home. What a mess.

A straight line wind is a new one to me. I've never heard of those.

Micro bursts, on the other hand, I have. They are basically columns of air that blow straight down with pretty high velocity and just flatten things. One took out a ride at Kennywood a few years back.

A tornado that develops but fails to touch the ground is a thing. They usually break apart as they are forming but I can see them causing damage to things with some height to them, like trees, before they break apart again.

Mother Nature does some pretty weird stuff and as much as certain people want to act like they know everything, especially those in the science fields, there is plenty of evidence to show that they have only scratched the surface.

Look at how weather forecasters can't get the predictions right beyond a day or two but want to say they can predict how the climate is going to be in 5 years or so. And they keep discovering new things and creatures all the time or they find something they thought went extinct.

 

[Rick W]

From on line:

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

“There are several terms that mean the same as straight-line winds and they are convective wind gusts, outflow and downbursts. Straight-line wind is wind that comes out of a thunderstorm. If these winds meet or exceed 58 miles per hours then the storm is classified as severe by the National Weather Service. These winds are produced by the downward momentum in the downdraft region of a thunderstorm. An environment conducive to strong straight-line wind is one in which the updrafts and thus downdrafts are strong, the air is dry in the middle troposphere and the storm has a fast forward motion.

“A storm with a strong updraft will tend to have a strong downdraft. When the CAPE is very high then strong or severe convective wind gusts could occur. Dry air aloft will entrain into the downdraft. This promotes evaporative cooling and this further enhances the negative buoyancy of a parcel. A cold parcel of air surrounded by warm air will sink since the cold air is more dense. The colder the parcel is compared to the surrounding air then the faster it will sink. Dramatically cooler air is often noticed at the surface when the downburst air reaches the observer. When a storm has a fast forward motion the rate that the downdraft is moving is added to the storm motion. This can produce strong to severe winds out ahead of the storm as the storm approaches.

“When the National Weather Service does a storm damage survey they distinguish between straight-line wind and wind produced from a tornado. Straight-line wind damage will push debris in the same direction the wind is blowing (hence the creation of the term straight-line). Tornado damage will scatter the debris in a variety of different directions since the winds of a tornado are rotating violently. This type of survey can be used to determine if straight-line wind occurred instead of a tornado or vice versa. Straight-line wind intensity can be as powerful as a tornado. Because of this some people in the general public will believe a tornado occurred when it reality one did not occur.”

That was our experience. The homes on either side of me had very little damage, the home behind me, and in front of me had moderate damage. We were virtually blown away.

I had 43 trees, and 54 trees fell on the property. When the wind went through, it actually sucked in the trees on either side.

The trees all fell in the same direction. Again, the golf divot. At the beginning, and at the end of the damage, the trees were sheared off as high as 40 feet in the air, and you could see the angle at which this wind came down and went up. It came down, skipped off the ground, and went back up. The problem was the skip point was about 50 feet behind my house. I’ll try to find some pictures, but they’re old-fashioned printed three by fives, I’ll have to dig. I’ve been looking for them anyway for a family history we are compiling.

We didn’t know why only three trees in front of the house fell towards the house. When the arborist came for the insurance assessment, he said they didn’t fall towards the house. They were tops of trees from the property behind me that were carried to the house and then rolled over the house, so the trunk was pointing away from the house.

Let me digress a minute for anyone with an insurance claim. Your insurance covers very little of landscaping damage which includes the trees. But if the tree falls and hits the house or the garage or any structure, it then falls in a different category and you can at least get the cleanup covered. We got an estimate of $21,000 to remove the trees before the government stepped in and gave us disaster assistance, and they did the work. Insurance would’ve covered $550 if I remember right. That’s also why you need the disaster loan.

Absolutely mind-boggling. It really sucked, but now I have a lot of good cocktail party material.

EDIT: Arborist and claims adjuster estimated the wind speed at well over 100 miles an hour, and it barely touched the neighbor on either side.

 

[superj]

Some people are waaay too brave about hurricanes. Yeah. They might be slow. But the winds can be just as powerful. They cover a larger area and linger. Their slow movement adds up a lot of destruction, whereas a tornado just zooms through and finishes its work in mere minutes.

that is our area. we get so many hurricanes, people have hurricane parties and bbq on the back porch while the hurricane hits.

me and my friends used to go surfing if it was only a 1 or small 2 level. now that i am married and have kids, i don't go anymore but we only leave if the hurricane is dead on going to hit our area and its a 4 or higher.

since the base closes down for hurricanes, we usually take a nice little vacation to the hill country and visit my parents for a few days, if hte hurricane is going to hit flour bluff dead on. if its going to rockport and the valley, we stay home and enjoy the day off and nice weather.