The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Gadsden and Leon counties at 11:18 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6, putting much of the Tallahassee area on notice for winds as strong as 60 mph and hail as large as 0.75 inches. The warning remained in effect until 12:30 p.m.
By 11:59 p.m. EDT, severe thunderstorms were lined up from near Midway to 10 miles northeast of Woodville and moving south at 25 mph. That path put Tallahassee, Florida State University, Florida A and M, Tallahassee State College, Tallahassee Regional A/P and other nearby locations inside the warned area as the system pushed through the region overnight.
For people searching Tallahassee weather after midnight, the message was immediate: move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. The National Weather Service said storms like this can damage roofs, siding and trees, and it noted that lightning can travel several miles from the storm, which is why thunder itself is a warning sign. Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when winds reach 58 mph or higher, or when hail is at least one inch across, so the 60 mph wind forecast landed just over the line that triggers the alert.
What was not yet clear was whether the storm had already caused damage, outages or injuries in Tallahassee by the time the warning was posted. The update set a clock on the event, but the next real answer would come from what people saw on the ground before the warning expired.
