Tallahassee, Florida braces for more severe weather following destructive tornadoes

Julia Gomez, USA TODAY
·3 min read

Tallahassee, Florida is assessing damage after the city was bombarded with 100-mph straight-line winds and three tornadoes on Friday.

The twisters destroyed roofs at Florida A&M's University and at Florida State University, the baseball team's stadium was damaged as well as the "Flying High" circus tent.

Downed trees and debris at Florida A&M University are currently being removed by cleanup crews after severe storm on Friday, May 10, 2024. The area outside the Efferson Student Union building was littered with chunks of building debris.
Downed trees and debris at Florida A&M University are currently being removed by cleanup crews after severe storm on Friday, May 10, 2024. The area outside the Efferson Student Union building was littered with chunks of building debris.

But its residents won't see a reprieve from the deadly weather that caused widespread damage as another bout of thunderstorms is expected to hit again tonight and tomorrow.

Folks can expect to see "another round of very intense rainfall, damaging wind gusts and again isolated tornadoes can't be ruled out," Carl Erickson, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, told USA TODAY.

Railroad Square, Tallahassee's art district, was badly damaged by a tornado and severe storms Friday morning.
Railroad Square, Tallahassee's art district, was badly damaged by a tornado and severe storms Friday morning.

No calm after the storm

People are used to things quieting down after a big storm comes through.

"It quiets down and they have calm weather for a few days," said Erickson. "But this is going to be a situation where that's not the case, where a lot of these same areas can expect more severe weather overnight into Tuesday."

Only three days after a 47-year-old woman lost her life after a tree fell on her home Friday and what is reported as the worst tornado outbreak ever, schools are closing early as more severe weather is expected.

"After consultation with weather experts and our school leaders, we have made the decision to close our schools at 1:00pm today," said the Leon County School District in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It adds that parents had the option to pick up their children early due to the "possibility of severe weather this afternoon" and that all afterschool activities were cancelled.

How to prepare for the storm

Erickson said that folks need to make sure their phones are charged, that they can get weather warnings and that they have an evacuation plan in place in case their area sees flash flooding.

"It's not going to take much additional rain to just exasperate those flooding issues," said Erickson.

He said areas that should keep an extra eye out are the following:

  • Central and southern Louisiana

  • Southern portions of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia

  • The Florida Panhandle,

He said the entire Gulf Coast area should be on high alert.

Is the severe weather normal?

According to Erickson, this kind of weather is normal for the time of year.

"This is time of the year when we would likely expect this type of a severe weather," said Erickson. "You still kind of have winters chill hanging on, but then summer's warmth coming north."

He adds that the combo creates the kind of disturbances people are seeing today.

What is causing the severe weather?

"Warm, moist air is moving up from the Gulf of Mexico in advance of a storm moving across the lower Mississippi Valley," said Erickson. "At the same time, a warm front along the Gulf Coast is helping to lift the warm, moist air and produce thunderstorms."

So, these conditions are all coming together to create the weather phenomena we're seeing today and tomorrow.

"That setup is not going to change all that much, which is why some of the same areas which have been hit today will likely get the the the severe threat again overnight into the day Tuesday," he said.

Contributing reporting: Jeff Burlew, William L. Hatfield; Tallahassee Democrat; Cheryl McCloud, Treasure Coast Palm

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tallahassee prepares for more severe weather following 3 tornadoes