March 31st Tornadoes in Northeast Florida

Tornadoes:

Tornado - 9 mi SSW Live Oak, FL Suwannee County Date 03/31/2020 Time (Local) 5:26-5:27 PM EDT EF Rating 0 Est. Peak Winds 85 Path Length 0.79 mi Max Width 0.4 mi Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: An EF-0 tornado with 85 mph winds briefly touched down north of CR-252 south of Live Oak, FL. This tornado damaged a chicken coop and trees in the area, one large tree branch fell on a house. Track Map Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL St. Johns County Date 03/31/2020 Time (Local) 7:29-7:30 PM EDT EF Rating 0 Est. Peak Winds 80 Path Length 0.5 mi Max Width 0.4 mi Injuries/Deaths 0 Summary: An EF-0 tornado with 80 mph winds briefly touched down in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL near Guana River State Park. This tornado caused tree damage to nearby houses including a broken window. Track Map Downloadable KMZ File

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos

Suwannee County, FL Tornado Damage

EF-0 Damage South of Live Oak, FL Photo from Suwannee County EM	EF-0 Damage South of Live Oak, FL Photo from Suwannee County EM	EF-0 Damage South of Live Oak, FL Photo from Suwannee County EM	EF-0 Damage South of Live Oak, FL Photo from Suwannee County EM

Columbia County, FL Wind Damage

Wind Damage in Lake City, FL Photo from Columbia County EM	Wind Damage in Lake City, FL Photo from Columbia County EM	Wind Damage in Lake City, FL Photo from Columbia County EM	Wind Damage in Lake City, FL Photo from Columbia County EM

Baker County, FL Wind Damage

Wind Damage in Sanderson, FL Photo from Baker County EM	Wind Damage in Sanderson, FL Photo from Baker County EM	Wind Damage in Sanderson, FL Photo from Kyle Bolton	Wind Damage in Sanderson, FL Photo from Kyle Bolton

St. Johns County, FL Tornado and Wind Damage

EF-0 Damage in Mickler's Landing NWS Storm Survey	EF-0 Damage in Mickler's Landing NWS Storm Survey	Wind Damage at Guana River Wildlife Management Are Photo from Davy Cline	Wind Damage at Guana River Wildlife Management Are Photo from Davy Cline

Radar & Environment

Synoptic Overview

A cut off mid-level low swung from the mid-Mississippi Valley into the Tennessee Valley, with a deepening area of surface low pressure moving across the southeast from central Mississippi/Alabama to the coast of South Carolina through the day. A strong southern stream jet was laid out along the northern Gulf coast, enhancing upper level divergence aloft of the southeastern US as it moved through the evening of Tuesday, March 31.

12Z 3/31/2020 Analysis at the surface (top, left), 850mb (top, right), 500mb (bottom, left), and 300mb (bottom, right)	00Z 4/1/2020 Analysis at the surface (top, left), 850mb (top, right), 500mb (bottom, left), and 300mb (bottom, right)

Mesoanalysis

The strong winds from this deep low also led to increased deep layer shear and persistent west-southwest low level flow from the Gulf fed low level instability values over the local area. As storms approached the region, with SBCAPE of 1000-2000 J/kg gliding along and just south of I-10 between 18-00Z. While the effective bulk shear of 60+ kts was along and north of I-10, there was still a large sector with 40-60 kt bulk shear overlapping with the area of highest instability, with a solid 60 kts of bulk shear coinciding with the storms at 23Z. Likewise, 0-1 km SRH was peaking at 200+ m2/s2 north of I-10, but values of 100-200 m2/s2 could be seen with storms in the most unstable part of the air mass and there was a solid area with 200 m2/s2 0-1 km SRH with those storms right at 23Z. The enhancement in the bulk shear and 0-1 km SRH really seemed to have fed the tornado that spun up over Ponte Vedra Beach, FL as it moved into the warm, moist coastal interface.

Loop of SBCAPE from 3/31 18Z - 4/1 00Z	Loop of Effective Bulk Shear from 3/31 18Z - 4/1 00Z	Loop of 0-1km Storm Relative Helicity from 3/31 18Z - 4/1 00Z

Radar Data From the Two Confirmed Tornadoes

Reflectivity and base velocity loop of Suwannee County, FL tornado.	Reflectivity and base velocity loop of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL tornado.

Storm Reports

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1230 PM EDT THU APR 2 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0526 PM     TSTM WND DMG     9 SSW LIVE OAK          30.17N 83.04W
03/31/2020                   SUWANNEE           FL   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            EMERGENCY MANAGER WAS IN ROUTE TO REPORTS 
            FROM 911 DISPATCH OF DAMAGE TO A CHICKEN 
            HOUSE AND NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG CR252 
            BETWEEN CR129 AND CR349. TIME ESTIMATED BY 
            RADAR. 

0526 PM     TORNADO          9 SSW LIVE OAK          30.17N 83.04W
03/31/2020                   SUWANNEE           FL   NWS STORM SURVEY 

            PRELIMINARY REPORTS FROM AN EMERGENCY 
            MANAGER OF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL CHICKEN HOUSES 
            AND NUMEROUS TREES DOWN INDICATE A POSSIBLE 
            WEAK TORNADO.TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. 

0526 PM     TORNADO          9 SSW LIVE OAK          30.18N 83.05W
03/31/2020                   SUWANNEE           FL   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            NWS CONFIRMED AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH 85 MPH 
            WINDS BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN NORTH OF CR 252 
            SOUTH OF LIVE OAK, FL. THIS TORNADO DAMAGED 
            A CHICKEN COOP AND TREES IN THE AREA, ONE 
            LARGE TREE BRANCH FELL ON A HOUSE. PATH 
            LENGTH WAS 0.79 MILES AND PATH WIDTH WAS 0.4 
            MILES. 

0600 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 SW LAKE CITY          30.15N 82.70W
03/31/2020                   COLUMBIA           FL   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            LARGE TREE DOWN ABOUT 1.5 MILES NORTH OF THE 
            INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS 247 AND 242. 

0601 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 SE CALLAHAN           30.53N 81.80W
03/31/2020                   NASSAU             FL   911 CALL CENTER  

            911 DISPATCH REPORTED A WIRE DOWN AT THE 
            INTERSECTION OF LEE DRIVE AND ANN DRIVE. 
            TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. 

0620 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 NNW RAIFORD           30.13N 82.28W
03/31/2020                   UNION              FL   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            MULTIPLE TREES REPORTED DOWN ALONG CR229 IN 
            NORTHEASTERN UNION COUNTY. 

0620 PM     TSTM WND DMG     6 NW ELLERBEE           30.15N 82.30W
03/31/2020                   BAKER              FL   PUBLIC           

            REPORT FROM MPING: TREES UPROOTED OR 
            SNAPPED; ROOF BLOWN OFF. 

0627 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 WSW MACCLENNY         30.27N 82.16W
03/31/2020                   BAKER              FL   911 CALL CENTER  

            911 DISPATCH REPORTS THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLE 
            DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE,A CHICKEN COUP, AND 
            TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. 

0640 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 SSW MAXVILLE          30.15N 82.03W
03/31/2020                   CLAY               FL   BROADCAST MEDIA  

            MANY TREES REPORTED DOWN NEAR INTERSECTION 
            OF HIGHWAYS 301 AND 218. TIME ESTIMATED BY 
            RADAR. 

0650 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 WNW LAKESIDE          30.15N 81.83W
03/31/2020                   CLAY               FL   BROADCAST MEDIA  

            FENCE DAMAGED AND GARAGE DOOR BLOWN INWARD 
            IN OAKLEAF AREA NEAR MIDDLEBURG. TIME 
            ESTIMATED BY RADAR. 

0700 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 WSW FRUIT COVE        30.07N 81.69W
03/31/2020                   CLAY               FL   BROADCAST MEDIA  

            TREE FELL ON A HOUSE CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE ON 
            FLEMING ISLAND. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. 

0705 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NNE FRUIT COVE        30.14N 81.60W
03/31/2020                   DUVAL              FL   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            TREE ACROSS SOUTH BURNING TREE LANE IN 
            MANDARIN. POWER OUTAGES REPORTED. 

0710 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 NW FRUIT COVE         30.15N 81.67W
03/31/2020                   DUVAL              FL   BROADCAST MEDIA  

            LARGE TREE DOWN IN YARD ON MANDARIN ROAD. 

0729 PM     TORNADO          4 NNW GUANA RIVER STATE 30.14N 81.36W
03/31/2020                   ST. JOHNS          FL   NWS STORM SURVEY 

            NWS DAMAGE ASSESSMENT FOUND AN EF-0 TORNADO 
            WITH 80 MPH WINDS BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN 
            PONTE VEDRA BEACH NEAR GUANA RIVER STATE 
            PARK. THIS TORNADO CAUSED TREE DAMAGE AND 
            SOME DAMAGE TO NEARBY HOUSES INCLUDING 
            ABROKEN WINDOW. 

0845 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NE BUNNELL            29.50N 81.23W
03/31/2020                   FLAGLER            FL   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            TREES DOWN ON ROYAL PALMS AND BELLE TERRE. 


&&

$$