Hi everybody and welcome! The weather this past week turned out to be much drier then I initially expected for the week. In fact, I only recorded around 2.5 inches of rain from July 24 – 31. The coastal areas received even less. The total rain for the month of July was 10.94 inches of precipitation. This compares with 11.38 inches in July of 2002 and 14.69 in July of 2001. The highest wind gust was 15 mph on July 23, 2003. The highest temperature was 95.2 which occurred on July 29th at 2:41 pm. In fact, every day during the month of July, the temperature exceeded 90 degrees. The heat index was 100 degrees or higher every day during the month of July of this year. The highest temperature in July of 2002 was 92 which occurred on July 16th. In fact, the temperature exceeded 90 degrees on only 16 days in July of 2002. So if you have been saying this year seemed hotter then last year, it in fact has.
Now, on to the Time Capsule…
August 8, l928 -- east central Florida -- A Hurricane moved in from the Bahamas and made landfall near Stuart. Damage was heaviest from south Brevard to St. Lucie Counties. Houses were unroofed and citrus trees and large Oaks uprooted. Coastal highways were flooded and many bridges were undermined. Two people died.
August 8, l979 -- afternoon -- Gilchrist Co., Lightning killed a 37 year-old farmer who was using an electric welder on a haymower.
August 9, l950 -- evening -- Citrus Co., Crystal River -- Lightning struck a small boat carrying a fishing party of four persons. One man killed, the boat caught fire, but remaining three persons were able to swim to shore.
August 9, l972 -- afternoon -- Lake Co., Sorento -- Lightning killed an eighteen year old and injured two others while they worked in a grove.
August 9, l983 -- Franklin Co., Offshore -- Lightning killed a fisherman in a boat on St. Vincent Sound.
August 10-11, 1901 -- south Florida -- A hurricane made landfall near Ft. Lauderdale on the 10th and crossed the peninsula, exiting into the Gulf of Mexico near Ft. Myers on the morning of the 11th.
August l0, l968 -- Manatee Co., Parrish -- Lightning killed a man, a horse, and three dogs. Three other people injured. The man was penning cattle on a ranch.
August l0, l97l -- late afternoon -- Polk Co., Lakeland -- Lightning killed a seven year old boy crouched under a truck.
August l0, l987 -- Lee Co., Fort Myers Beach -- Lightning killed two men on the beach. Two women received minor injuries. Heavy rainfall occurred shortly after the lightning.
August 10, 1995 -- Manatee Co., Myakka City -- A 25-year-old male was struck in the neck and killed by lightning while working in a tomato field. Two other male workers were also struck and received minor injuries while trying to flee the tomato field during the thunderstorm.
August 11, 1911 -- Panhandle -- A weak hurricane made landfall near Pensacola.
August 11-13,1939 -- statewide -- A weak hurricane made landfall near Ft. Pierce on the morning of the 11th, crossed into the Gulf of Mexico near Crystal River early on the 12th, regained marginal hurricane strength and made a second landfall near Apalachicola late on the 12th. It weakened to a tropical depression as it moved into Alabama the evening of the 13th.
August 11, l979 -- Osceola Co., Lake Kissimmee -- Lightning killed a fisherman standing on a sandbar pushing his boat into the lake.
August 12, 1952 -- evening -- Tampa -- Lightning struck near two children playing under a tree. A young girl was killed and her sister injured.
August l2, l96l -- evening -- Hillsborough Co., Lutz -- Lightning killed one person.
August 12, l972 -- afternoon -- Panama City, Allentown -- Lightning killed a sixteen year old while standing on a dock.
August l2, l976 -- Lake Co.-- Lightning killed a farm worker as he was working on machinery near a poultry building.
August 12, l976 -- Pinellas Co., Largo -- Tornado struck five trailer parks in a few minutes. One hundred trailers were damaged or destroyed. One woman was killed. Five people were injured.
August l3, l959 -- Escambia Co., Cantonment -- Lightning killed one person.
August l3, l993 -- Brevard Co., Melbourne -- Thunderstorm winds blew an elderly man off a sailboat and he drowned.
August13, 1995 -- Highlands Co., Avon Park -- A 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning near Lake Lillian. He was hospitalized but died two days later.
August l4, l974 -- Lee Co., Lehigh Acres -- Lightning killed a person and injured three others as they were leaving a road construction site.
August l4, l978 -- Duval Co., Jacksonville -- Lightning killed a twelve-year old boy and injured a man while they were installing a fence.
August l4, l983 -- Broward Co., Hollywood -- Lightning killed a man who was taking shelter under a tree.
August l5, l927 -- Franklin Co., Carrabelle -- A tornado damaged a church, l5 homes, and l3 businesses.
August l5, l962 -- Orange Co., Orlando -- Lightning killed a child standing under a tree.
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 copy of The Hometown News at the Stuart K Mart garden center every
Saturday morning!