Leon County Schools to delay school day as 'potent' severe weather system threatens

Alaijah Brown, Tallahassee Democrat

Leon County Schools will be delaying its school day by an hour for each school tomorrow due to the severe storm system passing through the Big Bend region.

High Schools will start at 8:30 a.m., elementary schools will start at 9:30 a.m. and middle school will start at 10:30 a.m.

According to district spokesperson Chris Petley, buses will still run tomorrow and be delayed by an hour as well. Dismissal times will remain the same and afterschool activities will continue. He said parents should check their emails and parent portals for further details from their school about before school care plans.

Jefferson and Wakulla County Schools will also be closed, and Franklin County Schools will delay the school day to start at 10 a.m. Florida State University’s Tallahassee campuses will delay the start of classes and normal business operations until 11 a.m. Thursday.

Florida A&M University will delay the start of classes and business operations until noon Thursday.

Parts of Alabama, Georgia and Florida, including Tallahassee, are under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. A wind advisory and flood watch has also been issued until Thursday at 2 p.m.

"This one definitely is one of the stronger ones we've seen this year," said National Weather Service - Tallahassee meteorologist Joe Worster of the storm system. "There are some pretty potent dynamics."

Forecasters warn that the system could spawn a "couple strong tornadoes" and generate an isolated barrage of "ping-pong ball sized hail." They say the region could see scattered gusts of up to 75 mph winds.

"Severe storms are pushing east ... and will be knocking on our door within the next couple hour," forecasters wrote on X. "There’s a history of strong winds, rotation, and heavy rain with this activity."

Forecasters expect the brunt of the bad weather to hit the Tallahassee area overnight between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday.

The rain threat for the overnight storms.
The rain threat for the overnight storms.

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: North Florida schools close, delay start as severe weather threatens

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