Hi everybody and welcome! The past couple of days have been very active weather wise. From flooding in Martin County to blizzard conditions in New Jersey there is a lot to talk to talk about.
The weather on Sunday, February 16th started out tame enough. The air had a very murky feel but the skies were only partly cloudy. That all changed rapidly at around 4:00 pm as the clouds began to roll in and thunder could be heard in the distance. We were shopping in Target when the first signs of trouble were apparent. We barely made it out of the store when the deluge hit. Visibility was near zero for the most part as the sheets of rain streaked from the sky. One look to the south toward Stuart really told a story as it looked as though millions of invisible people were pouring thousands of gallons of water from the sky onto the pavement. Not long after, an urban and small stream flood advisory was issued for Martin County. The NWS reported up to 3.65” had fallen from a stationary convection band which developed across Martin County. They also reported some roads such as Cove Road, Bridge Road and Federal Highway were covered with water.
I talked with Betty Keirs who witnessed the storm from the Martin Square Mall area. Betty stated, “Around 4:30 pm, the rain was coming in sheets and gales of wind blowing all within its grasp!” Betty also stated that umbrellas were turning inside out and shopping carts were driving themselves on autopilot throughout the mall parking lot. She also said, “Whereas you could normally wait until it subsided and then run to your car, the rain just never let up for over 45 minutes.”
Here in Port St. Lucie we received only .25 inches at the Joe’s Disco weather station which is substantially less then what they accumulated in Stuart.
Snow and more snow. That is what the northeast has received in the last 24 hours. It all started as a winter storm watch on Saturday and things kept looking progressively worse for the area. Winter storm warnings were soon issued for most of the northeastern states. I talked to Diane Kostenko of South River, New Jersey about the storm. South River is a small community in Middlesex County near New Brunswick. Diane told me that at least 24 inches of snow had fallen as of 1:00 pm Monday, February 17th. She stated “The snow started at 3:00 pm yesterday and is not forecast to stop till midnight tonight.” Diane told me that many roads were either impassible or very difficult to drive on unless you had a 4-wheel drive vehicle. People were trying to clear their own paths with snow blowers or pickups with snowplows attached. On some highways, snow was almost up to the top of the concrete road dividers. The storm is definitely the worst this season and is in the top 5 for all time.
I also received an e-mail from Virginia where it was reported to me that travel was either extremely difficult if not impossible. All in all, it will be a storm that will be long remembered.
Here are some final snowfall amounts that fell in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware area:
Now on to the Time capsule!!
February 21, l937 -- Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties - Tornado skipped through Tampa and unroofed three homes. A home destroyed between Odessa and Lutz, other homes in San Antonio damaged.
February 21, 1989 -- Okaloosa Co., Dorcas -- A family of four narrowly escaped injury when a tornado destroyed their mobile home, uprooted trees, blew a small boat across Mirror Lake.
February 22, l990 -- Brevard Co., Barefoot Bay -- Thunderstorm winds
damaged carports and awnings in a mobile home park.
February 22-23, 1998 -- Central Florida -- During the late night
and early morning hours of 22-23 February 1998 (Sunday - Monday), the most
devastating tornado outbreak ever to occur in the state of Florida, in terms of
both loss of life and property damage, occurred within the county warning area
of the Melbourne (MLB) National Weather Service Office (NWSO). Forty-two
people died as a result of the tornadoes and more than 260 others were injured.
Over 3,000 structures were damaged, and more than 700 were completely
destroyed. Damage was estimated in excess of $100 million. A total of
seven confirmed tornadoes occurred that night. Four of the tornadoes were
unusually long-lived and produced damage tracks of between 8 and 38
miles, resulting in the majority of damage and all fatalities.
Uncommon among Florida tornadoes, the estimated wind speed for three of these
twisters reached 200 mph which is on the high end of F3 intensity on the Fujita
scale. Although this event was of historical proportion the number of
fatalities could have been significantly higher if these killer tornadoes were
not accurately forecast, detected, and then warned for in a timely and
professional manner.
February 23, l965 -- South Florida -- Severe Weather Outbreak. Four tornadoes from Ft Myers to Fort Lauderdale injured eight. A tornado in the Ft. Lauderdale and Oakland Park area tore apart a house and seven trailers - three cars, and two trucks were also badly damaged.
February 23 – 26, l989 -- Peninsular Florida -- Cold Spell - A prolonged late-season Arctic outbreak broke many daily minimum temperature records throughout Florida. A hard freeze occurred in the north and central peninsula with a freeze and frost in interior south. Extensive damage, primarily to produce crops. At least three people died of hypothermia and one person died in a fire possibly caused by a heating device. Near Tallahassee, a woman was found frozen to death in her home. Two people died of exposure in Dade County.
February 24, l954 -- central Florida -- Severe thunderstorm winds blew down trees and damaged property in Ocala, Orlando, Palatka, Crescent City, Tampa, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and Moore Haven. Winds estimated at 70 to 75 mph in Tampa Bay area.
February 24, l979 -- Walton Co. -- Heavy Rain exceeded 4" in two hours, damaging roads, drainage ditches, culverts and bridges. Four bridges were washed out along the Gulf of Mexico.
February 25, l960 -- Columbia Co., Lake City -- Tornado destroyed l0 trailers, eight homes, and a factory. -- Duval Co., Jacksonville -- Tornado unroofed small homes and tore off the walls.
February 26, l934 -- Alachua Co. -- A Tornado destroyed three farmhouses near La Crosse. -- Putnam Co., Tornado unroofed and tore apart houses in Palatka. -- Orange Co., A Tornado destroyed a church and small home at Taft.
February 26, l939 -- Gulf Co. -- Tornado moved SW of Port St. Joe north of Apalachicola destroying crops and small buildings. -- Baker Co. - Tornado destroyed five homes in a settlement south of Moniac.
February 26, l957 -- All Day -- Dade/Broward Counties -- Heavy rains caused local flooding in agricultural areas, disrupting harvest operations and causing considerable damage to crops in harvest stage, particularly to tomatoes and potatoes.
February 26, l994 -- Dade Co., Miami Beach -- Lightning killed a 20-year old student playing Frisbee on the beach. Six of his friends were shocked, but not injured. This is the earliest annual lightning death on record.
February 27, l947 -- Hillsborough -- Tornado destroyed a home in Tampa and unroofed another injuring three. -- Polk Co. -- Tornado unroofed a large home and damaged others southeast of Lakeland.
February 27, 1983 -- All Day -- Most of Florida -- Windstorm - Gale force winds pounded the state as a strong low-pressure system moved east from the Gulf of Mexico and across the Peninsula into the Atlantic. The storm's other effects included beach erosion, coastal flooding, and high tides. Thunderstorms associated with this system also dropped heavy rains and caused periods of local flooding.
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!