Strong Wind in Inland Wakulla, Florida

A fairly widespread outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred on Labor Day across much of the NWS Tallahassee County Warning Area (CWA). This event was forced by unseasonably strong wind fields associated with a potent extra-tropical cyclone that was formerly Tropical Storm Lee. Post-tropical cyclone Lee was moving slowly toward the east-northeast along the north central Gulf Coast during the morning hours of September 5, 2011. By 3:00 pm EDT (1900 UTC), the cyclone was centered near Mobile Bay. It was at this point that the system finally began to accelerate off to the northeast. While tornadoes were initially considered to be the primary threat, examination of a special 1800 UTC KTAE sounding showed that low level winds had veered and that the flow was unidirectional through a deep layer. WFO Tallahassee coordinated with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) to replace the existing tornado watch with a severe thunderstorm watch at 4:00 pm EDT (2000 UTC). WFO Tallahassee issued a total of 35 convective warnings during the event along with several special marine warnings. A total of 52 severe weather reports were received across southeast Alabama, southwest and south central Georgia, and the Florida panhandle and big bend.

Aside from the severe weather, the forecast area experienced other peripheral impacts from post-tropical storm Lee. Widespread storm-total rainfall of 3 to 6 inches was measured across the Florida panhandle and big bend, with 1 to 2 inch totals more common across the Alabama and Georgia portions of the CWA. The Apalachicola and Cedar Key tide gauges showed that tidal departures ran just over 2 feet above normal along the Florida big bend coastline during the high tide cycle of Tuesday morning, September 6. For the most part, flooding was avoided. The water rose up to the top of the sea walls in Dixie County, and there was some minor flooding in Wakulla County where the emergency manager reported about a 2-inch over-wash in St. Marks on Old Fort Rd. The pressure gradient associated with Post-Tropical Storm Lee produced occasional strong wind gusts across Wakulla county for around 10 hours. These strong wind gusts, combined with periods of heavy rain and wet soils, led to numerous trees and power lines falling throughout the day and into the evening hours. The emergency manager reported a total of 16 trees down and 28 power lines down by the end of the day. Of those 28 power lines, 10 of them sparked fires as a result of blowing down.