Hi everybody and welcome! Well, we are well into the hurricane season and so far all has been extremely quiet. There are a couple of waves that are lined up along the breeding grounds in the Atlantic. Nothing is showing any signs of development partly due to the westerly wind shear, which has been prevalent, most of the season. The most intense area of convection is off the South American coast. It will be interesting to see if any of these areas develop by the time you read this article. On a scale of 1-10, I give these areas about a 4 for the possibility of any tropical development.
As we pass the ten year anniversary of hurricane Andrew, a very interesting saga is unfolding. Scientists are finally admitting what we all have suspected for years. They have actually upgraded Andrew from the category 4 storms I wrote about last week, to a category 5 storm with 165-mph winds. The scientists have come up with this new discovery after carefully looking at radars, satellite views, and surveying the damage intensity. I think we can all agree that the damage almost looked like a huge tornado ripped through the Homestead area. The winds were so strong it blew the instruments right off the roof of the Hurricane Center. There were only two other storms in U.S history that were categorized as a category 5 storm. They included Camille in 1969, and a no name storm that affected the Florida Keys in 1935. Camille affected Louisiana and Mississippi with 165-mph winds. The no name storm slammed the Florida Keys with 200-mph winds. This storm was dubbed The Great Labor Day Storm.
As we approach the end of August {my, how time flies!} I would like to say Happy Birthday to my lovely wife, Carol. She works in the classified department of The Hometown News. I thought it would be interesting and fun to see some of the historical events that happened in 1950!
· August 1, 1950 – The control of Guam was transferred to the Department of the Interior.
· August 2, 1950 – Amphibious ships land troops at Pusan, Korea to help save the last area of South Korea from being captured.
· August 30, 1950 – Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Brigade General on this date. He was then given operational command of U.S, forces in Europe on December 16, 1950.
· 1950 – The 1950 Oscar for the Best musical Score went to “Annie Get Your Gun”.
· 1950 – The Writers Guild Award for the best written American Western went to “Broken Arrow”.
Now, on to the Time Capsule!
· 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. 30th l950 - l700 - 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, l985 -- 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.
·September 1, 1941 -- Sarasota Co. - Tornado near Sarasota injured one person.
· 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, 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 County -- There was much property damage on the east coast from Vero Beach to West Palm Beach as a strong hurricane affected the area. 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 were attributed to storm.
·September 3-4, l979 -- Florida Peninsula -- Hurricane David -- David moved through the Dominican Republic with winds to l65 mph, killing 1200, but weakened drastically before hitting Florida. David made landfall near Jupiter with 90-mph winds. The hurricane affected the entire Treasure Coast area as it moved up the coast. 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 -- Panhandle/northwest Florida -- A hurricane made landfall near Apalachicola. Many sponge vessels were wrecked and 21 people died.
· September 4, l948 -- 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 5-6, l950 -- Levy Co., Cedar Key -- Hurricane Easy looped twice off the west coast, moving little from the 4th and 6th. This slow movement allowed tremendous rainfall amounts to accumulate in some areas. The 24-hour rainfall of 38.7 inches that fell at Yankeetown on the 5th and 6th is the highest ever in Florida, and the second highest all-time 24 hour amount in North America. Easy had top winds of l25 mph and a barometric pressure of 28.30 inches. The tide in Tampa Bay rose to 6.5 feet. Severe beach erosion was reported from Sarasota to Cedar Key. Cedar Key had reported hurricane force winds from 6am to 6pm on the 5th. The fishing fleet of Cedar Key was destroyed by high wind and waves.
· September 5 – 9, l988 -- West Central Florida -- Heavy rains of up to 20" fell on the west-central part of Florida. Four people drowned: a 44 year old male drowned while driving across a flooded roadway, a 93 year old male fell from a bridge and drowned, a two year old infant drowned in a stream, and a l7 year old male drowned while swimming across a creek. Evacuation of l, 000 homes were required when the floodgates of a storage lake were opened. Extensive urban flooding took place. All time record flood crests were recorded on the Hillsborough River at Middleburg, the Manatee River at Myakka, and the Little Manatee River at Wimauma.
I hope you enjoyed reading this week’s time capsule as much as I did writing it. I will see you next week and as always, for the latest in weather and tropical updates, go to JOESDISCOWEATHERCENTRAL.COM!