JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two school districts in Southeast Georgia have canceled school Friday because severe weather is anticipated.
Due to the chance of high winds, tornadic activity, downed trees and power outages as a strong cold front passes Friday, the Ware County School District has closed all schools and its central office for the day.
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Staff will not be required to report to school.
"Safety remains our top priority. Please like and share this message to help us get the word out," Ware County Schools posted Thursday on its Facebook page.
Charlton County School System has also canceled school Friday. Superintendent Dr. John Lairsey said that since students are currently in the middle of state-mandated testing with the Georgia Milestones Assessment System and the anticipated severe weather could possibly disrupt testing, the decision was made to cancel school Friday for both students and staff.
"Charlton County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service (NWS) is communicating for residents to prepare for anticipated severe weather which may affect Charlton County around noon tomorrow and continuing throughout the early afternoon. In addition to substantial rainfall caused by these weather conditions, significant winds are also expected in the area. Increased winds bring with them the potential for isolated tornadoes, downed trees, power lines, and power outages in the affected areas," the superintendent said in a message Thursday.
Glynn County Public Schools has rescheduled all athletic and extracurricular activities Friday.
"Depending on the timing and severity of the storm, there’s a potential for a delay of dismissal for tomorrow afternoon to ensure our students, families, and employees are off the road when this storm could likely be at its strongest," according to Glynn County Public Schools' Facebook page.
The Brantley County School System said it plans to have school Friday.
"School officials will continue to collaborate with the Brantley County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service in case there are any changes in the forecast that would require our schools to close. Right now, the worst is forecasted to be west of us. If there are any changes that would require us to close, you will be notified via Facebook and the text out system," according to Brantley County School System's Facebook page.
So far, there's no indication that other Southeast Georgia districts plan to close Friday.
News4Jax chief meteorologist John Gaughan has called Friday a Weather Authority Alert Day as a round of disruptive storms will sweep across WJXT's viewing area.
The primary concern is the leading edge of the squall line, which has the potential to produce damaging wind gusts between 50-70 mph.
The system will be felt first in midmorning in South Central Georgia and the Suwannee Valley. Expect the storms to be in Glynn, Camden, Nassau, western Duval, Bradford, northwestern Clay and Alachua counties between 1-2 p.m. The storms will be in Duval, Clay, St Johns, Putnam and Flagler counties between 2-3 p.m. The storms will be pushing offshore between 4-5 p.m.
More details; not everyone to see severe storms
Not everyone is going to see severe weather. Storms will be scattered and a number of people who will see just a brief shower and maybe hear a rumble of thunder.
Yet it is highly likely we will be under a severe thunderstorm watch. Remember, watches mean watch for the possibility of severe weather. A warning means that we are tracking severe weather.
Expect the Storm Prediction Center to issue a severe thunderstorm watch and possibly a tornado watch around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
The Storm Prediction Center has already announced that the greater Jacksonville area will be under an enhanced area of severe weather potential Friday. Their scale is five color-coded possibilities. Enhanced is in the middle of how confident they are that there will be severe thunderstorms and/or tornadoes.
"I have found a great indicator of the type of severe weather we are likely to see is on the Storm Prediction website. Their archived reports. Yesterday (Thursday) they showed mostly large hail across the Southern Plains. Yes, there were a few tornadoes, but mainly hail and high wind reports," Gaughan said.
Timing is always a challenge, especially in the afternoon and evening hours, with an approaching squall line of storms. Often these will begin to break up just as they reach I-75 (typically, they travel west to east.) As they break up, a sea breeze storm develops along I-95 and quickly explodes into severe thunderstorms. This has the effect of bringing in the rain and storms sooner than just tracking the line of storms. Forecast models have this type of timing for now, subject to change.