EF1 tornado in Jefferson County, Florida

Tornado March 9, 2024 · Jefferson County, Florida

EF1

Rating

3.4 mi

Whole path

355 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Leon County → Jefferson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 355 yards (0.20 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A severe thunderstorm produced a swath of straight-line wind damage on a plantation just east of Straw Pond north of Moccasin Gap Road. Winds were estimated to be at least 80 mph on this property. The storm then produced a tornado that touched down on a nearby plantation just east of Alberta Lake Road. Numerous softwood and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted, being felled in multiple directions. Damage in this area was consistent with 100 mph winds which warrants an EF-1 rating. After causing minor damage as it crossed Veterans Memorial Drive, the tornado then paralleled T.S. Green Road in Leon County, which becomes Lake Road in Jefferson County, lifting just east of Norias Road in Jefferson County. Damage along this stretch of roads was also consistent with EF-1 damage with wind speeds generally estimated around 90 mph. The worst of the damage occurred just west of the intersection of Lake and Norias Roads, where winds were once again estimated at 100 mph.

The wider storm

A line of thunderstorms moved through the tri-state area ahead of a cold front. Severe weather and flash flooding accompanied this line, mainly across southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia, although a few trees were also blown down in northwest Florida. One tornado was reported in Dale County, AL, and another tornado briefly occurred in northeast Leon County, FL extending into Jefferson county, FL.

Began near Fincher (30.6240, -84.0080).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1167779. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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