Thunderstorm Wind — Bradford, Florida

2020-02-06 · near Starke, Bradford, Florida

Event narrative

The Whiskey River Saloon in Starke had lost a portion of its roof and had major water damage inside. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the county including in the Starke City limits. The time of damage was based on radar.

Wider weather episode

A potent pref-frontal squall line crossed the local forecast area during the late afternoon across SE Georgia and continuing eastward exiting the NE Florida Atlantic coast through midnight. There was very strong speed shear over the local area with strong 0-6km shear around 55 knots, 0-1km helicity over 300 m2/s2, and sufficient CAPE for severe weather. The limiting factor was fairly weak mid-level lapse rates. Widespread wind damage occurred with this line with gusts of 40-50 mph and severe strength bowing segments producing wind damage and gusts of 60-76 mph. A isolated tornado briefly touched down in Waycross.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.9500, -82.1100)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 870734. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.