About Tallahassee, FL Weather Forecast Office
Getting to Know Us
Basic Overview
The National Weather Service (NWS) is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the United States Department of Commerce (DOC). The Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Tallahassee, Florida is part of the Southern Region of the NWS.
At the Tallahassee Forecast Office, our team of meteorologists analyzes current weather conditions and computer model data to produce specialized weather and water forecasts for the Florida Big Bend and Panhandle, southeast Alabama, as well as southwestern Georgia. When hazardous weather materializes, meteorologists issue watches, warnings, and advisories in an effort to protect life and property. We leverage invaluable partnerships with emergency management, local media, and the public to gather and disseminate critical weather information.
Location:
NWS Tallahassee is responsible for 48 counties in SE Alabama, SW Georgia, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend in addition to 8 marine zones. We cover nearly 25,000 square miles of land area (roughly the size of West Virginia).
The marine zones span from Miramar Beach to the mouth of the Suwannee River up to 60 nautical miles offshore. This covers over 15,000 square miles.
Who We Serve:
Operations:
Weather happens around-the-clock. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) operate on a 24-hour, 7 day a week, rotating schedule. At any time, there are at least 2 meteorologists on staff. When adverse weather is expected or occurring, more staff will be called into the office.
During normal business hours (Monday through Friday), additional meteorologists, technicians/support staff, and managers may be in the office.
Contact:
- Our office is located on the 4th floor of the Love Building on the Florida State University campus.
- Mailing Address: 1017 Academic Way FSU, Love Bldg, 4th Floor Tallahassee, FL 32306-4509
- Telephone: 850-942-8833
Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)
In addition to public forecasts, NWS Tallahassee provides specialized forecasts for the following airports in the Florida Panhandle, SW Georgia, and SE Alabama:
- Tallahassee International Airport (TLH)
- Northwest Florida Beaches Int’l Airport (ECP)
- Dothan Regional Airport (DHN)
- Albany Southwest Georgia Regional Airport (ABY)
- Valdosta Regional Airport (VLD)
The images here are from the Hurricane Awareness Tour in May 2023 at Tallahassee International Airport.
(Drag the SWIPE tool left-and-right to see full images of the aircrafts.)
The left image is a NOAA P3 and the right is an Air Force C130. Both planes fly into tropical systems to collect vital information about the storm and relay that info back to land-based operations for forecast updates.
History
Some notable weather events that occurred in the Tallahassee CWA are listed below:
- May 10, 2024 Tornado Outbreak
- A summary of the event can be found here .
- Hurricane Idalia (2023)
- August 30, 2023
- A summary of Hurricane Idalia can be found here .
- Hurricane Michael (2018)
- October 10, 2018
- A summary of Hurricane Michael is shown to the right ->
- The full storymap of Michael is best viewed in a separate tab
- Hurricane Hermine (2016)
- September 1-2, 2016
- A summary of Hurricane Hermine can be found here .
- Ice Storm (2014)
- January 28-29, 2014
- A summary of this event can be found here .
- Tropical Storm Fay (2008)
- August 21-25, 2008
- A summary of Tropical Storm Fay can be found here .
Who We Are
Organizational chart of the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Tallahassee, FL. (Drag the SWIPE tool left-and-right to reveal names and positions.)
NWS Tallahassee is managed by the Meteorologist-in-Charge (MIC). Management staff includes the Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who leads the local outreach program, and the Science and Operations Officer, who runs the local training program. The Observation Program Leader or "OPL" is in charge of the data acquisition program.
Operational staff includes 14 meteorologists (6 Lead meteorologists, 8 meteorologists) whose responsibilities include issuing hazardous weather watches, warnings and statements, public forecasts and discussions, aviation forecasts (called "terminal aerodrome forecasts"), and fire weather forecasts. The office also has a Senior Service Hydrologist
The Tallahassee office is supported by a talented team including the Electronics Systems Analyst, Information Technology Officer, 2 Electronics Technicians, and an Administrative Support Assistant.
Operations huddle as we go through the current outlook with Hurricane Idalia and coordinate various aspects of operations. It's all hands on deck for our office and we're ready to go.
Fun Facts:
The following maps provide some information about our wonderful/awesome staff.
Map 1:
The points shown are the universities that WFO TAE staff attended. As you can see, although we all work in Florida, we have received knowledge and experience from all over the country.
(Click on the logos to learn more about each academic institution.)
Map 2:
This map shows that our office is full of world travelers. We all enjoy travel in our free time and some of us have gone pretty far as this shows the farthest we've traveled from home.
And here is a chart that shows our favorite comfort foods. We like to bring in treats from time to time and everyone has a favorite.
Interested in joining our team?
Outreach and Activities
Our office gets involved in many activities across our communities
Such as Festivals...
...Office Tours
...And visiting local schools to talk about weather safety
Additional Links
There are multiple local and national programs that our office has to offer. For more information on the COOP or StormReady program, click the links below:
- NWS StormReady Program
- Cooperative Weather Observer (COOP) Program
- For more information on NOAA Weather Radio and past weather events across our area, click the links below:
- NOAA Weather Radio
- Past Weather Events
- For our latest forecast information, please review our Area Forecast Discussion at weather.gov/tae .
Check us out on social media!
Credits
Thank you for your interest in NWS Tallahassee!
For information about this StoryMap, please email jasmine.montgomery@noaa.gov
Additional questions can be sent to the Webmaster at
sr-tae.webmaster@noaa.gov.
Authors:
Jasmine Montgomery, jasmine.montgomery@noaa.gov (Meteorologist)
Cameron Young, cameron.young@noaa.gov (Lead Meteorologist)
Ale Garcia, Student Volunteer
