Hi everybody and welcome! Well for the second week in a row, we are looking at the damage from a tropical system. Both systems hit the Gulf Coast area just a couple of states apart. This week’s tropical system followed a far southerly path which actually kept it below most of the Caribbean islands. Claudette then skirted the Yucatan Peninsula before making a beeline to Texas. Claudette became a minimal hurricane just before making landfall with 81-mph winds. She hit in an area that is right between Brownsville and Galveston in a town called Port Lavaca. Fortunately for this and other neighboring seaside towns, Claudette moved in and out rather quickly which actually helped to keep matters from getting worse. When tropical systems hit land and then stall or break apart and stop moving, devastating floods can be the result. Even with the fast moving pace of the storm, many roofs were damaged along with billboards, street signs and power lines. There was also some major damage to businesses and homes in the area where the eye came ashore.
Just when I thought I could take a break from hurricane tracking, my pager went off and it said tropical depression 5 had formed. The storm soon became hurricane Danny. This storm will not affect any land areas in the U.S.
So what’s in store for next week? One area to watch is a wave that just came off of the African coast. This area will need to be watched. Right now the rest of the tropics are relatively quiet and tropical storm formation is not expected in the near future. Keep in mind conditions can change rapidly so stay informed daily.
One area of the country that is being hit really hard with thunderstorms, hail and tornados is the Chicago area. In fact, I just received several e-mail reports from Kimberly and Steve Deprey who live in Lincoln Park area of the city. They reported, as of 8:00 pm on July 17th, very high wind gusts with very vivid cloud to ground lightning. They also reported many clouds coming off Lake Michigan that had a distinct rotation. Many roads were flooded and underwater. A tornado was also reported by law enforcement officials near the city. Hail up to one inch in diameter along with thunderstorm winds of 65 mph was also observed. The reason for all the bad weather is the location of the jet stream. The jet stream has been locked in the same location for so long that the storm systems keep moving over the same area over and over again like a commuter train on its daily run.
With all the storms in Chicago, many people are wondering why we have had such a lack of storms. Part of the reason is a condition called upwelling. Upwelling is caused when winds and ocean currents tend to bring the colder water from the depths of the ocean to the surface. This makes the surf much colder then it should be for this time of year. Some water temperatures have been as low as 68 degrees. This colder then normal water temperature has actually helped to suppress some of the afternoon storms we normally would receive almost daily this time of year. This is the first time in 10 years that this condition has existed. Since the area affected is only from around Juno Beach to Sabastian, if a tropical system were to head our way the colder water would probably not have any impact on the intensity of the storm. The currents have also been responsible for some fish kills along the coast as it causes the fish to surface much too rapidly and causes them to die.
Now, on to the Time Capsule….
July 25, l953 -- Orange Co., Orlando, Taft -- Tornado ripped side and roof from barn, pushed a 2- car shed over, knocked over trees, and stripped grapefruit from trees.
July 25, l965 -- Pinellas Co., Dunedin -- Lightning killed two persons and injured two persons as they were leaving a church parking lot.
July 25, l984 -- Franklin Co., Eastpoint -- Thunderstorm winds capsized a shrimp boat and one man drowned.
July 26, l99l -- Indian River Co., Vero Beach -- Severe thunderstorm winds struck the Vero Beach Airport, damaging three parked airplanes and two hangars. One plane was flipped over.
July 26, 1996 -- Walton Co., Inlet Beach -- A man was caught and drowned in a severe rip current, while trying to retrieve two children who had floated out in the Gulf on a raft.
July 27-28, 1926 -- east central -- northeast Florida -- A hurricane made landfall near Jupiter with winds of 90 mph on the morning of the 27th and moved inland, weakened to a tropical storm and reached the Florida/Georgia border west of Jacksonville late on the 28th.
July 27, 1956 -- evening -- Leon Co., Tallahassee -- A fire started by lightning destroyed an asphalt factory.
July 27, l99l -- Gulf Co., Apalachicola -- Lightning killed a man and injured his wife while they were on a small boat in St. Joe Bay.
July 27, 1995 -- Palm Beach Co., Lake Worth Beach -- A 47-year-old male tourist from Ohio drowned in a rip current. Strong easterly winds associated with the approach of tropical storm Erin caused the rip current.
July 27, 1996 -- Walton Co., Sandestin -- A teenager drowned after being caught in a rip current while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
July 28, l974 -- Highlands Co., Avon Park -- Lightning killed a 6-year old girl outside turning a TV antenna.
July 28, l99l -- Polk Co., Lake Eva -- Lightning killed a fisherman in a boat on the lake.
July 28, 1996 -- Santa Rosa Co., Navarre Beach -- A visitor drowned in a strong rip current while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off Navarre Beach.
July 28, 1996 -- Dade Co., Miami Beach -- Two men drowned in separate rip currents along unguarded sections of Miami Beach. Dozens of other people were rescued by the beach patrol after being caught in rip currents throughout the afternoon.
July 29, l964 -- Polk Co., Haines City -- Lightning killed a worker in a citrus grove.
July 29, 1996 -- Escambia Co., Pensacola Beach -- A 15-year-old male was swimming off Pensacola Beach when he was pulled under the water by a strong rip current and drowned in the rough surf.
July 30, l946 -- Pinellas Co., St. Petersburg -- Tornado unroofed a two-story home and destroyed a garage in a brief touchdown.
July 30, l968 -- Charlotte Co., N. Port Charlotte -- A tornado accompanied by rain and l" hail moved through a trailer park killing two people inside a trailer. The trailer was crumpled and fragmented as if it had exploded.
July 30, l975 -- late evening -- A Tropical Disturbance spawned several weak tornadoes over the Panhandle. No serious injuries.
July 30, l976 -- early morning -- Monroe Co., Key Largo -- Lightning killed a man in his boat.
July 30, l986 -- Volusia Co. -- Lightning killed a l5 year old boy water skiing.
July 30, l989 -- Dade Co., Hialeah -- Lightning killed a woman out walking at the Hialeah Race Track. -- Alachua Co., Gainesville -- Lightning killed a l5 year old boy playing outside.
July 30, 1996 -- Walton Co., Sandestin -- A 48-year-old Louisiana man was drowned after being caught in a rip current.
July 30-31, 1933 -- central Florida -- A hurricane moved in from the Atlantic, making landfall near Ft. Pierce on the morning of the 30th, slowly crossed the peninsula, and exited into the Gulf of Mexico south of Tampa Bay on the afternoon of the 31st.
July 31, 1936 -- Panhandle -- A tropical storm moved in from the Bahamas and crossed extreme south Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. The storm strengthened into a hurricane and made landfall near Ft. Walton Beach, early on the 31st. Winds gusted to 125 mph and storm surge reached 6 feet. Four people died.
July 3l, l967 -- afternoon -- Orange Co., Orlando -- Lightning killed a person and injured four who were taking refuge in a small shed.
July 31, 1995 -- Palm Beach Co., Palm Beach -- A 19-year-old male resident drowned in a rip current near the Breakers Hotel. The rip current was caused by swells from hurricane Erin.
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
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