SUMMARY

SUMMARY

This meteorite fall was a rare daytime fireball that occurred at 10:25 AM local time on 16 January 2016, or 17 Jan 2016 0108 UTC. The fireball was dramatic even against the bright daytime sky, and 134 eyewitnesses reported it to the American Meteor Society across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Three eyewitnesses near Jacksonville, FL reported hearing sonic booms from the falling meteorites.

Meteorites have been recovered from this event.

This event is recorded as American Meteor Society event number 266 for 2016. Signatures of falling meteorites can be found in imagery from two nearby weather radars. In the NEXRAD weather radar network operated by NOAA, the KAMA (Amarillo, TX) and KLBB (Lubbock, TX) radars record signatures of falling meteorites.

The first appearance of falling meteorites on radar occurs at 15:27:06 UTC and 4,380 m above sea level (ASL) in the 1520 UTC data set for the KVAX radar in the 3.5 degree elevation radar sweep. Signatures consistent with falling meteorites appear in a total of eleven radar sweeps from the two radars, with a final signature appearing at 15:34:29 UTC.

Calculations of mass and total number of meteorites based on weather radar data indicate that this meteorite fall is approximately 0.2x the total mass of the Park Forest, IL meteorite fall in 2003. The fragmentation behavior of the Osceola fall is typical for an average meteorite, based on comparison with other meteorite falls seen in weather radar data.

Meteorites recovered from this event have been classified by the Meteoritical Society as an L6 chondrite.