EF2 Tornado — Leon, Florida

2024-05-10 · near Andrew, Leon, Florida

Event narrative

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.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.4700, -84.4150)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1186538. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.