Parts of Florida under a tornado watch, as storms could ‘increase significantly’ in March
Parts of Northwest Florida are under a tornado watch — including Escambia, Okalooosa and Santa Rosa counties in the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach areas.
The nasty weather is related to storms that are moving over Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The warning is until 10 a.m. in the Central Standard Time zone.
A flash flood watch is also in effect in Pensacola through Wednesday night, with storm chances at 90%, the National Weather Service said.
South Florida forecast
South Florida is not expecting any rough weather on a day that is expected to be hot in the upper-80s with only a few possible afternoon showers, according to CBS4 meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez.
Near record heat is expected through Thursday before a minor cold front settles in Friday night, bringing temperatures down into the low 60s in Miami-Dade and Broward.
The tornado activity in the U.S. in March could see a significant increase, according to AccuWeather.
“Even before Tuesday morning’s deadly tornado outbreak in Nashville, the 2020 United States tornado season was off to an unusually fast start,” meteorologists with AccuWeather said.
Nashville tornado aftermath
At least 24 people were killed in Nashville after tornadoes packing 165 mph winds tore through several counties, USA Today reported. Dozens are still missing as search-and-rescue operations continue Wednesday morning.
Country stars like Maren Morris, Ryan Hurd and Dierks Bentley had close calls as the tornadoes descended on their central Tennessee neighborhoods.
Bentley posted images of the storm from his airplane seat as he was flying toward a Nashville airport as the tornadoes approached.
Why are there more tornadoes?
According to AccuWeather, there were 141 preliminary reports of tornadoes through the first two months of 2020 — more than double the U.S. average of 68 from 1991-2015.
Last year, there were 44 reported tornadoes in January and February 2019.
If the numbers hold, they would represent the fourth-highest number of tornadoes in the first two months of a year since 1950, AccuWeather said. Only 1999 (at 234), 2008 (231) and 2017 (206) had more activity before March.
Blame it on hotter weather at this time of the year, according to experts.
“With the weather being so warm this March, it may be more like April or May when it comes to tornadoes, all other things being equal,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
The average number of tornadoes in the U.S. peaks in May with 269, according to AccuWeather.
