ORLANDO, Fla. — A tornado warning for two counties was in effect for a short period as severe weather passed over Central Florida.

Severe weather conditions

9:58 p.m.: According to SunRail, all of its trains are back on schedule.

8:12 p.m.: FDOT says SunRail trains are "on the move" after a downed tree was removed from railroad tracks in Kissimmee.

7:23 p.m.: Chainsaws and a front-end loader have helped removed the large tree near East Magnolia Street in Kissimmee that fell of the train tracks, according to FDOT's Steve Olson. Trains are "resuming north-south trips on the 49-mile corridor," he said. 

Service delays are expected through the night. 

6:08 p.m.: SunRail has provided more information on the two incidents in Longwood and the Kissimmee areas.

In Longwood, the Florida Department of Transportation says a vehicle went around the gate and was struck. No injuries were reported to the 26 passengers and two crew members. No word on the status of the occupants of the vehicle.

In the Kissimmee area, several SunRail trains are stuck after a large tree fell over onto the railroad tracks, FDOT says. The tree fell on the tracks between the Tupperware and Kissimmee stations. For now, that means three trains can't go any farther south than the Tupperware station, and two trains can't go any farther north than the Kissimmee/Amtrak station.

FDOT officials say to expect delays for the rest of the night on SunRail.

5:46 p.m.: SunRail is reporting delays with its trains in Longwood and between the Kissimmee and Tupperware stations.

5:41 p.m.: Orange County Fire Rescue says it's working a building fire caused by lightning. The building is on the 4800 block of North Orange Blossom Trail in Tangerine.

5:40 p.m.: Chief Meteorologist Bryan Karrick says the tornado warning has been allowed to expire.

5:22 p.m.: The tornado warnings were issued for southwestern Orange County and northwestern Osceola County and were to last until 5:45 p.m.

UCF Police on Twitter asked its Rosen campus students to seek shelter immediately.

A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was over Bay Lake, moving east at 40 mph.

What you should do if you're in a tornado warning:

  • Move to the lowest floor
  • Get away from windows
  • Vacate mobile homes

Impact in Central Florida

It’s been a long day for some passengers trying to ride Sunrail after two incidents caused delays -- one of them being a downed tree that blocked train tracks in Kissimmee, and the other, being a car that was hit by a train in Longwood.

The tree came down during Wednesday's severe weather, blocking the Kissimmee tracks near East Magnolia and Royal streets.

"As soon as we crossed the bushes, that's when we heard the snap, and you could feel the vibration from the floor of the tree falling," said SunRail passenger Jovany Garcia.

Meanwhile in Longwood, SunRail said a vehicle went around the crossgate and was hit by a train. 

SunRail says the car was removed around 6 p.m. Wednesday, and the tree was removed after 7 p.m.

Elsewhere

We had our eye on StormTracker 13 radar with showers and vigorous storms passing over Central Florida Wednesday afternoon. A few storms are packing damaging wind gusts, very heavy rain, and frequent lightning.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were still in effect earlier in the day for several Central Florida counties.

For most of us, rain wrapped up before 9 p.m., but we’ll keep a few isolated showers around through midnight.

Drier air in the atmosphere will allow us to lower rain chances, but raise temps into the low to mid-90s from tomorrow into the upcoming weekend.

Skies will become partly cloudy as we head into Thursday morning. Temperatures will be warm and muggy, dropping into the mid-70s.

High pressure to our east will shift back west and kick some drier air in our direction for Thursday. This means rain chances will drop quite a bit from what we’ve seen so far this week. Only a few spotty showers and storms during the afternoon.

This will be the case for Friday and into the start of the weekend before rain chances pick back up Sunday. With less rain comes higher temperatures.

We’ll climb into the mid to low 90s for the next several days with the humidity making it feel closer to 100 degrees.

Beach and Surf Conditions

If heading to the beach, ocean conditions look calm, but not great for surfing. As winds pick up, boaters may encounter a bit of a chop out on the water.

Tropical Update

In the tropics, there are no systems to monitor at this time. There are no developing systems in the Gulf, the Caribbean or the open waters of the Atlantic.

No major activity is expected the next five days.

Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.

 

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