Hi everybody and welcome! I hope everybody had a great Valentines Day! The weather held out very nicely for the most part of the day. In fact, the temperatures were very summer like. This is just a preview of the warmer temperatures that lie ahead as days with cool temperatures will soon be coming to an end. I recorded a high temperature of 86 degrees on February 12th and the low that day only reached 73.7. The high temperature on Valentines Day was 84.6 degrees with a low of 73.9. This is in sharp contrast to much cooler temperatures recorded on February 16th where the temperature struggled to get into the low 70’s. The cold front that is responsible for the cooler temps swept through the area on Valentines night with only .12 inches of precipitation at my weather station. Many areas farther north received more rain, especially near Jacksonville where nearly .5 inches of rain fell.
The Baton Rouge area of Louisiana was not nearly as lucky as us this week. They received almost 5 days of rain where accumulations reached nearly 3.5 inches. Although this does not sound like a lot for us, when you receive that amount of rainfall in a low-lying area, it can cause extensive flooding. The Amite River, which runs through the area reached flood stage for several days and is now just slowly receding. The people in this area are quite used to it, however, as the river reaches flood stage several times every spring. This river is also the major drainage for all the run-off in the area. When the river floods, everything backs up like a clogged sink. A couple of the worst floods in the area occurred in 1977 and 1983.
I recently was in e-mail contact with one of the EMS members near Baton Rouge who was there during the flood of 1983. This was one of the more devastating floods. He was placed on an Air National Guard chopper for patient evacuation and got a bird’s eye view of the devastation. He realized how deep the water was when he could barely make out the tops of the golden arches of a McDonalds restaurant. He said, “Just the sign, the building is not visible.” He also described the floodwaters as “Really soft mud.”
As you can see in some areas of the country, dealing with severe weather and flooding can be a part of your of everyday life. I said it many times before, but we are very fortunate to live where we do. Our main concern here, of course, is hurricane season but we have so far been very fortunate over the past several years. We have to hope our fortune continues over the 2004 season.
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 injuries 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.
Here are some National past weather events…
February 20, 1898 -- Eastern Wisconsin experienced their biggest snowstorm of record. Racine received thirty inches, and drifts around Milwaukee measured fifteen feet high.
February 20, 1998 -- Snow and strong northerly winds ushered arctic air into the Great Lakes Region. The temperature at Sault Ste Marie plunged from 30 degrees at 5 AM to one below zero by 3 PM, with a wind chill reading of 40 degrees below zero. Five cities in Florida reported record high temperatures for the date. The afternoon high of 90 degrees at Lakeland was just a degree shy of their February record.
February 21, 1988 -- A storm tracking across southern Canada produced high winds in the north central U.S., with gusted to 90 mph reported at Boulder Colorado. The high winds snapped trees and power lines, and ripped shingles off roofs. The Kentucky Fried Chicken Bucket was blown off their store in Havre Montana. An eighteen-foot fiberglass bear was blown off its stand along a store front in west Cody Wyoming, and sailed east into downtown Cody before the owners were able to transport their wandering bear back home in a horse trailer.
February 22, 1986 -- A twelve siege of heavy rain and snow, which produced widespread flooding and mudslides across northern and central California, finally came to an end. The storm caused more than 400 million dollars property damage. Bucks Lake, located in the Sierra Nevada Range, received 49.6 inches of rain during the twelve-day period.
February 22, 1990 -- Thunderstorms developing along and ahead of a cold front produced severe weather from southern Mississippi to North Carolina. One thunderstorm spawned a tornado just prior to dawn which touched down near Opp Alabama injuring ten persons and causing half a million dollars damage. Thunderstorm winds injured four persons south of Troy Alabama, and five people at Columbus Georgia. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 76 mph at Dothan Alabama.
February 24, 1987 -- A massive winter storm began to overspread the western U.S. In southern California, Big Bear was blanketed with 17 inches of snow, and Lake Hughes reported four inches of snow in just one hour. Snow pellets whitened coastal areas of Orange County and San Diego County, with three inches at Huntington Beach. The storm also produced thunderstorms with hail and waterspouts.
February 24, 1990 -- Strong northerly winds prevailed from Illinois to the Southern and Central Appalachians. Winds gusted to 68 mph at Sewickley Heights Pennsylvania. High winds caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow across northern and central Indiana through the day. Wind gusts to 47 mph and 6 to 8 inches of snow created whiteout conditions around South Bend Indiana. Traffic accidents resulted in two deaths and 130 injuries. Sixty-five persons were injured in one accident along Interstate 69 in Huntington County. Wind gusts to 60 mph and 4 to 8 inches of snow created blizzard conditions in eastern and northern Ohio.