Funnel cloud, hail, 70MPH+ wind gusts just passed through!

[Zackiedawg]

Wow. That was some kind of severe storm that just passed through Coral Springs, where I work. South Florida has been in a bit of a drought as of late, and since Hurricane Wilma smacked us around last October, we haven't really had any significant storm.

It's been cloudy and light rain most of the day throughout South Florida. Around 3PM, the local NOAA radar was showing a very severe cell approaching us from the WNW. Severe T-storm warnings went up...it was unbelievably dark outside at the approach (we are quite used to strong storms, especially in the summer, but this was a pretty ominous dark).

At 3:06pm, it started to rain torrentially...very heavy white-out downpour. At 3:10pm, a Tornado Warning popped up on the NOAA loop, which I was refreshing every minute or so. The winds began to get very severe...rain went to full horizontal, and there was a sustained 20-30MPH wind. Lightning was moderate...3-4 strikes per minute. Gusts began to get quite severe - no official readings here at my office, but it looked by eye to be in the 60-70MPH range. Trees bent over nearly flat, roof tiles which are stacked on our office roof awaiting repair from Wilma damage were tossed through the air and landed 40 feet away. The steel dumpster in our parking lot flipped open the lid, then rolled onto it's side. Pea-sized hail began to flick against the office windows and gather in the window boxes. I went outside to a covered hall to get a closer look. I was unable to see anything to the west - heavy rain and winds prevented visibility of the sky without getting soaked. But the east side of the building was lee, and I was able to track the cloud movement. We had a clear rotational cloud, and just north of us along Sample Road was a distinct funnel protruding from the cloud...it didn't reach to the ground, and I noticed no ground circulation or disturbance at its base.

The gusty wind began to recede around 3:25pm, the heavy downpour began to fade around 3:30pm. Rain continued steady until just a minute or two ago, as I write this. It is currently spotty, and we are in a still pocket at the moment. A brief survey around the neighborhood behind my office shows some small branches down in the road. Unfortunately, for many of the people of South Florida who have yet to secure roofers to repair their roofs, this rainfall and the accompanying wind likely tested a few blue tarps and loose tiles...and I'm sure there were lots of leaks springing up again today. We haven't had anything quite like that since Wilma. The summer will likely bring the afternoon boomer pattern back from the Everglades and radiational heating...but this was an early bird!

[artist]

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=82571

check this thread out about the reports of the funnel clouds - glad it didn't appear to touch down at lest from info so far reported.

[Zackiedawg]

I just posted over there...I was so excited that I posted without reading around first!

[JonathanBelles]

do know where exactly in coral springs that funnel cloud was

[weatherlover427]

I had something like that happen to me in the summer of 1998 when I lived in Orlando, only someone told me they actually saw a tornado make contact with the ground. The scary part is that I almost got wacked with it.

If you know the layout of Orlando - I am referring to the Sam's Club at 9498 S. Orange Blossom Trail, east side of Orlando.

[Extremeweatherguy]

yeah 1998 was a scary year for Tornadoes in Orlando. I can still remember that big February 1998 outbreak. There was an F4 tornado with that one down in Kissimmee and many F2 and F3 tornadoes (which are rare for Florida). 47 people, I believe, died in one night with that system. Scary for sure.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Wow. That was some kind of severe storm that just passed through Coral Springs, where I work. South Florida has been in a bit of a drought as of late, and since Hurricane Wilma smacked us around last October, we haven't really had any significant storm.

It's been cloudy and light rain most of the day throughout South Florida. Around 3PM, the local NOAA radar was showing a very severe cell approaching us from the WNW. Severe T-storm warnings went up...it was unbelievably dark outside at the approach (we are quite used to strong storms, especially in the summer, but this was a pretty ominous dark).

At 3:06pm, it started to rain torrentially...very heavy white-out downpour. At 3:10pm, a Tornado Warning popped up on the NOAA loop, which I was refreshing every minute or so. The winds began to get very severe...rain went to full horizontal, and there was a sustained 20-30MPH wind. Lightning was moderate...3-4 strikes per minute. Gusts began to get quite severe - no official readings here at my office, but it looked by eye to be in the 60-70MPH range. Trees bent over nearly flat, roof tiles which are stacked on our office roof awaiting repair from Wilma damage were tossed through the air and landed 40 feet away. The steel dumpster in our parking lot flipped open the lid, then rolled onto it's side. Pea-sized hail began to flick against the office windows and gather in the window boxes. I went outside to a covered hall to get a closer look. I was unable to see anything to the west - heavy rain and winds prevented visibility of the sky without getting soaked. But the east side of the building was lee, and I was able to track the cloud movement. We had a clear rotational cloud, and just north of us along Sample Road was a distinct funnel protruding from the cloud...it didn't reach to the ground, and I noticed no ground circulation or disturbance at its base.

The gusty wind began to recede around 3:25pm, the heavy downpour began to fade around 3:30pm. Rain continued steady until just a minute or two ago, as I write this. It is currently spotty, and we are in a still pocket at the moment. A brief survey around the neighborhood behind my office shows some small branches down in the road. Unfortunately, for many of the people of South Florida who have yet to secure roofers to repair their roofs, this rainfall and the accompanying wind likely tested a few blue tarps and loose tiles...and I'm sure there were lots of leaks springing up again today. We haven't had anything quite like that since Wilma. The summer will likely bring the afternoon boomer pattern back from the Everglades and radiational heating...but this was an early bird!

I went through a similar situation in Oviedo, FL in 2002. A large severe supercell moved in from the north. The sky turned dark black and we had thunder every few seconds. The next thing I know we are getting vertical rain and 60mph winds. A for sale sign in the yard was easily toppled. Soon after; pea to dime sized hail began to fall. After the hail, the winds switched direction (just like after going trough the eye of a hurricane). My guess is that they switched due to a funnel cloud passing above me. Later that day I learned that an F0/F1 tornado had touched down a mile to my south. I got lucky..

[Aslkahuna]

The windshift was most likely due to the mesocyclone passing overhead. I have video of a similar occurrence here in Sierra Vista in July 1992.

Steve

[Zackiedawg]

That's the big regret for me...not having my videocam with me. I have been gathering some good footage of severe thunderstorms at home, as well as from the past 3 hurricanes that hit here. My weather video collection has hours of footage, without ever having to leave my neighborhood! I would have loved to have captured the winds and hail, and the funnel cloud passing over.

For those who know the area...
It seems that the most reports for funnel clouds down here - estimates from the police and spotter reports seem to be that there were at least 4 funnel clouds - were around Atlantic Avenue and University Drive. I can vouch for one passing north of there, around Sample and University. Hail was reported up to nickel-size in north Margate, south of Atlantic on 441/State Road 7. Heavy street flooding was reported off Wiles Road west of University. There was an unconfirmed report of a tornado touchdown to the southeast of Coral Springs, in Lauderdale By The Sea...that was the general motion of the storm, to the east-southeast.

[Zackiedawg]

yeah 1998 was a scary year for Tornadoes in Orlando. I can still remember that big February 1998 outbreak. There was an F4 tornado with that one down in Kissimmee and many F2 and F3 tornadoes (which are rare for Florida). 47 people, I believe, died in one night with that system. Scary for sure.

I know that time well - I was taking a weekend at Disney, and staying in the Grosvenor high-rise hotel the night the F4 tornado hit. We left the parks earlier in the day because the rain was relentless much of the day. We ate dinner across the street at Disney Marketplace in Lake Buena Vista, and then dodged the lightning and rain back to the hotel. We were in our room when the EBS started beeping away on the TV. The rain was heavy, lightning was amazing, and the winds kept buffeting the windows of our room (we were fairly high...maybe the 15th or 16th floor). The EBS broke in with tornado warnings...not something we aren't used to down in South Florida. But they referenced a 'large' tornado on the ground in Kissimmee - I've never heard reference to a large tornado in all the time I've lived in Florida. We never did see any tornado near us, but the spotty reports of the damage later that night, and especially the next morning when you saw the path of desruction and the reports of deaths started coming in, were simply stunning. I had never imagined an F4 or F5 storm could appear in Florida.

[SouthFloridawx]

Wow zack that's an amazing story thanks for sharing it with us.

[HurricaneHunter914]

Wow I would have loved to have been there! That is truely amazing.