Hi everybody and welcome! Just when we thought summer was here and winter was a thing of the past, Mother Nature threw us another curve ball. The unseasonably cold temperatures took all of us by surprise. The cold temperatures were actually a welcome relief from the sticky air mass that had been in place for several days. The cold front brought near record temperatures to our area. I recorded a low of 47.3 degrees on Sunday, March 30th. This compares with a low of 67.8 degrees on the same date last year and 63.1 degrees on March 30th, 2001. The low temperature on Monday night was slightly cooler with the low reaching 46.8 degrees here at the weather station. The low recorded for the same date in 2002 was 63.3 and in 2001 was 69.4 degrees.
I also have some low temperatures that were sent in to me by three of my weather spotters. On Monday night, Ross Deprey of WORLDONCAM.NET recorded a low of 48.8 in the Glennwood Apartment area of Stuart. Debbie Eddinger also recorded a low of 48 degrees in the area of highway 76 and Cove Road in Stuart. Betty Keirs of Port St. Lucie reported a low of 45 degrees. Betty lives in the Del Rio Blvd. Area of Port St. Lucie. All the spotter temperatures are the lows for Monday night. I would like to thank all the weather spotters for their reports.
With the spring thunderstorm season upon us, next to tornados and lightning, hailstones can be a real menace. Although large hail is not a common occurrence in our area, it can happen. Hailstones can come in all shapes and sizes from tiny pea-sized stones all the way up to baseball size and beyond. The largest hailstone ever recorded fell at Coffeyville, Kansas in 1970. The stone measured just under seven inches in diameter. Imagine a baseball-sized chunk of ice dropped from 30,000 feet in the air down to the ground reaching speeds of 120 mph in a freefall. Wow, I don’t think I would want my car in its path. A hailstorm can keep the local body shops busy for months.
Often times, you will find hail go hand in hand with tornadic thunderstorms. If you are caught in a hailstorm, a tornado may not be far away. You should try to find a safe place to ride out the storm preferably in a strong building. Hail is one severe weather entity that we often overlook but should be included in your overall disaster planning.
Now on to the Time capsule….
April 11, 1955 -- Lake Co., Leesburg -- Lightning killed one person in a boat on Lake Griffin.
April 11, l975 -- north and central Florida -- Flash Floods and Tornadoes - Heavy rain of four to 6" in a few hours caused local flash flooding in Jacksonville and Marion and Lake Counties. Tornadoes were reported in Putnam, Marion, Volusia (2), Lake, Brevard, Escambia, Walton, and Polk Counties between 1030 and 1830 causing primarily roof, tree and car damage. The only one minor injury occurred from a tornado at Merritt Island, Brevard Co.
April 12, l96l - Night - Escambia Co., Pensacola -- Strong thunderstorm winds greatly damaged a pile driver, barge, fishing boats, and many homes on Santa Rosa Island.
April 13, l9l7 -- Dade Co., Miami -- Tornado blew a school apart; it was not in session. Homes and businesses lost roofs and walls. The grandstand at the ballpark was unroofed.
April 13, l978 -- Escambia Co., Pensacola -- Thunderstorms accompanied by 56-mph winds and 4" rain blew off the roof of four townhouses and a racquet club.
April 14, l975 -- afternoon -- Escambia Co., Pensacola -- A Tornado moved into the western portion of Pensacola collapsing a 200-foot section of a furniture store wall, tearing the roof off a house, and damaging several other homes. Several small tornadoes were also reported in Walton, Polk, and Volusia Counties causing only minor damage.
April 15, l958 -- Early Afternoon -- Central Florida -- Severe weather Outbreak -- Violent squall with winds near 80mph hit Mullet Key and moved across Tampa Bay to Sun City, Ruskin, and Wimauma leaving destruction and debris not unlike a tornado. A B-47 bomber exploded and crashed into Tampa Bay just before the heaviest part of the storm hit, killing all four crew members. Polk Co., Bereah -- Tornado leveled nine small homes. A 2,500-gallon water tank was found a mile away. Seven injuries. -- St. Johns Co., St. Augustine -- Tornado destroyed six homes injuring 8. -- St. Lucie Co., Ft. Pierce -- Tornado destroyed/damaged 28 homes and about 200 other buildings. Most of the destruction was in downtown business area where more than 50 people were injured by flying glass.
April 15, l987 -- Sumter Co., Bushnell -- Tornado destroyed four homes and damaged 10. -- Lake Co., Mt. Dora -- Tornado killed a 68-year old woman in her trailer home. Forty trailers, l2 houses and l8 businesses were destroyed. Seven injuries.
April 15, 1995 -- St. Johns Co., Crescent Beach -- A 20-year-old male student from Dade County drowned in a rip current.
April 16-17, 1942 -- south Florida -- Extremely heavy rain caused extensive damage to vegetable crops. 19.32" of rain on 16th and 17th at Miami Airport reported as caused by "Tropical Storm" in official documents, but appears to be a result of slow moving frontal system approaching from west and low pressure center developing in the Caribbean on an old front.
April 16, l954 -- Bay Co., Millville -- Tornado destroyed a concrete block cafe and house trailer. Unroofed two houses and damaged l5 others. Three people injured.
April 17, l99l -- Brevard Co., Satellite Beach -- A waterspout was observed by Florida Highway Patrol. It dissipated before moving on shore.
April 18, l945 -- Volusia County -- A tornado was accompanied by hail as large as guinea eggs.
April 18, l978 -- Volusia Co., Ormond Beach -- A tornado rolled a large mobile home 200 ft and destroyed it. Several homes had roof damage.
April 18, 1996 -- Okaloosa Co., Mary Esther -- Eleven military personnel were working on an aircraft when lightning struck either the aircraft or near the aircraft. One of the airmen was killed and ten others were injured. The personnel had been ordered inside due to thunderstorms around the area earlier in the morning. The airmen were allowed back on the field at 8:29 am and lightning hit at 8:38 am. It was likely the strike that hit the airmen was the first strike out of a developing thunderstorm.
Here are some national past weather events…
April 16, 1951 -- The famous "Lighthouse
Storm" raged near Boston Harbor. Whole gales and gigantic waves destroyed
Minot Light with its two keepers still inside. The storm resulted in great
shipping losses and coastal erosion.
April 16, 1990 -- Thunderstorms developing along a
stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds across Oklahoma, with
99 reports of large hail and damaging winds during the evening and early
nighttime hours. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail south of Carney, and
wind gusts to 100 mph in the Oklahoma City area which swept away many Federal
tax returns being transported from a mail cart to a waiting truck about the
time of the midnight deadline. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City reported a
record wind gust of 92 mph.
April 16, 1998 -- A storm in the northeastern U.S.
produced a foot of snow at Pittsburg Vermont. Severe thunderstorms produced
baseball size hail and spawned five tornadoes in the Southern High Plains
Region.
April 17, 1922 -- A family of at least six tornadoes
caused death and destruction along parts of a 210 mile path from north of Ogden
Illinois to Allen County Ohio, killing sixteen persons. A post card, picked up
in Madison County Indiana, was found 124 miles away near Mount Cory Ohio.
April 17, 1965 -- The Mississippi River reached a flood
crest at Saint Paul Minnisoto four feet higher than any previous mark. During
the next two weeks record levels were reached along the Mississippi between
Saint Paul and Hannibal Missouri. Flooding caused more than 100 million dollars
damage, but timely warnings kept the death toll down to just twelve persons.
That’s all for this weeks Time Capsule. I hope you enjoyed it. I love to hear from you! Please e-mail me your ideas and suggestions to JOESDISCOWEATHER@AOL.COM. As always, for the latest in severe weather updates and now winter weather updates from your hometown go to JOESDISCOWEATHERCENTRAL.COM! You can also join me for a free cup of coffee and a free copy of The Hometown News at the Stuart K Mart garden center every Saturday morning!