Hi everybody and welcome! I think the past two weeks has been the calm before the storm as the tropics are certainly heating up. Just as an example of how fast the weather can change, I had my column all finished and ready to go about the potential track of depression number nine, and then it dissipated! The storm was taking dead aim at the south Florida area and was expected to possibly affect the Florida east coast. The storm has now dissipated to a tropical wave that still may bring some rain and thunderstorms to the area during the week. We will still have to watch to be sure regeneration does not occur. There are still several areas of disturbed weather moving across the Atlantic from the African coast that offer potential development at anytime. Many of the storms that develop this time of year come off the coast of Africa as large areas of thunderstorms.
Tropical depression nine is a classic example of how fast the tropics can heat up this time of year. You can have a quiet, peaceful, sunny day and suddenly with hardly any warning you can have a storm bearing down on you! This is unfortunately when most people will remember all the things they have to do and get to be ready for the storm. With the hurricane season starting to get near it’s peak, now is the time to get your batteries, canned foods, shutters, and all the other supplies you will need if that big storm does hit. Remember, it’s not a matter of if the big one is going to hit but rather when it will hit. Angels have guarded our coast for a long time; I sincerely hope that applies for many years to come.
Now, on to the Time Capsule…….
August 29, l880 -- A hurricane hit East Central Florida -- Cocoa Beach was the area most effected with severe damage also at Palm Beach and Lake Okeechobee.
August 29, l968 -- Okaloosa Co., Eglin AFB -- Lightning killed 2 Army Rangers and injured seven. Two weak tornadoes spawned by a tropical disturbance struck Volusia County in the morning, no injuries.
August 29, l983 -- Santa Rosa Co., Milton -- Lightning killed a man working under a tractor.
August 30-31, l950 -- Panhandle/Northwest Florida --Hurricane Baker made landfall at Santa Rosa Island between Mobile and Pensacola with winds of l00 mph the night of the 30th. At Pensacola lowest sea-level pressure was 29.27 inches at 2200 on the 30th and maximum wind speed was 42 mph from the southeast. August 30, l950 - - Franklin Co., Apalachicola -- A waterspout/tornado spawned by Hurricane Baker came ashore and unroofed a home and store. Twenty-three homes were damaged. One other tornado reported in Jackson County.
August 30, l975 -- Lake Co., Paisley -- Lightning killed a New Smyrna Beach woman at a campsite.
August 30, l980 -- Dade Co. Miami Park -- Lightning killed a l5 year old boy in the park. It was reported that the youth's shirt and pants were partially burned off by the lightning that struck him in the hip.
August 30, 1985 -- Statewide -- Hurricane Elena -- was named on August 28 while moving northwest over central Cuba. She stalled off the north-central Florida Gulf Coast for 24 hours before strengthening and moving northwest toward landfall in Mississippi. Highest winds were in the western panhandle, with 80 knots reported at Pensacola. A tree blown down onto a car killed a 37-year-old man at Daytona Beach. The tree broke the man’s neck. Storm surge of l0 ft was reported at Apalachicola. Rainfall ranged from 2 inches at Key West to 11 inches at Apalachicola. Elena spawned five tornadoes in Pasco, Marion, Lake (2) and Glades Counties on the 3lst. The strongest tornado struck Leesburg (Lake Co.) in the morning destroying 70 trailers and damaged 52. No serious injuries.
August 30, l992 -- Dade Co., Homestead -- Lightning killed a man who was unloading relief supplies for Hurricane Andrew.
August 31, 1955 -- evening -- Polk, Co., Lakeland -- Lightning killed one person and caused minor property damage.
September 2, l935 -- Keys -- The Great Labor Day Hurricane - This famous Labor Day Storm was only 40 miles in diameter, but it remains the most intense U. S. land falling hurricane on record. It killed 408 people in Florida, mostly by drowning, making it the 5th deadliest U. S. hurricane on record. Winds reached 200 mph, and the barometer dropped to 26.35 inches at Long Key. A rescue train sent to remove World War I veterans and residents from the Florida Keys was swept from the tracks. The tracks of the Flagler Railroad were washed from the Long Key viaduct at an elevation of 30 feet above mean low water. A survey by the U. S. Corp. of Engineers sometime after the storm found that the tide level never reached the rails there, but the hurricane surge and wind driven waves superimposed on the tide probably helped in carrying the tracks away.
September 2, l959 -- afternoon -- Broward Co., Ft. Lauderdale -- A sign blown down by the wind struck a man on the street and killed him.
September 2, 1996 -- Coastal Palm Beach Co., Jupiter Inlet -- Large swells from Hurricane Fran knocked five people out of an 18-foot fishing boat in Jupiter Inlet. The Coast Guard rescued all five people.
September 3-4, l933 -- Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach Cos. -- Hurricane -- There was much property damage on the east coast from Vero Beach to West Palm Beach. A few houses were destroyed and a number blown off their blocks. More than four million boxes of citrus were blown from the trees statewide. The property loss ran into the millions. Two Deaths attributed to storm.
September 3, l962 -- afternoon -- Alachua Co., Newberry -- Lightning killed one person and injured another while they were taking refuge under a tree on a lakeshore.
September 3, l976 -- Palm Beach Co., Belle Glade -- Lightning killed a prisoner at Glades Correctional Institution while he was riding a horse on a fence repair detail. The horse was also killed.
September 3-4, l979 -- Florida Peninsula -- Hurricane David -- David moved through the Dominican Republic with winds to l65 mph, killing 1,200, but weakened drastically before hitting Florida. David made landfall about 20 miles south of Melbourne with 90-mph winds. It was the first hurricane to strike the Cape Canaveral area since the hurricane of l926, but there was debate among longtime residents whether David was really at hurricane strength in Brevard Co. Residents had braced for a major hurricane, but David was officially only a minimal hurricane at landfall with the strongest winds remaining offshore. Tides were three to5 feet above normal near the eye track and l to 2 feet above normal elsewhere on the Florida east coast. Light to moderate beach erosion occurred along most of the coast. Severe erosion was reported in Brevard County and south Volusia County. Agricultural losses were substantial, and probably exceeded 25 million dollars. The principal citrus damage was near the coastline, from Jupiter in Martin County to Oak Hill in Volusia County. Nursery plants sustained considerable damage in the storm track. Storm rainfall was quite variable with totals mostly six to 9 inches near the track of the eye, with a few reports to 11 inches. Elsewhere, rainfall was less than 5 inches. No deaths reported in Florida. Nine tornados were reported along the coast doing mostly minor damage and causing no serious injuries. The strongest of David's tornadoes destroyed or damaged about 50 trailers in Melbourne Beach, severely damaged a condominium, and did $l, 500,000 damage to a shopping center on the afternoon of the 3rd.
September 4, 1915 -- morning -- Panhandle/northwest Florida -- A hurricane made landfall near Apalachicola. Many sponge vessels were wrecked and 21 people died.
September 4, l948 -- afternoon -- Gadsden Co., Havana -- A tornado, spawned on the outer fringes of a Hurricane making landfall west of the Panhandle, killed two children in one of 8 homes that were destroyed - 12 others were injured. Nine tobacco barns were destroyed. In Santa Rosa County a tornado unroofed a house and store at Milton. Another tornado was reported on the beach in Nassau County. The hurricane later made landfall near New Orleans.
September 4, l977 -- afternoon -- Palm Beach Co., South Bay -- Lightning killed a 63-year old man working in a field at the U.S. Sugar Corp.
That’s all for this weeks Time Capsule. I hope you enjoyed it. I love to
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