Hi everybody and welcome! I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather as much as I have been. So far this month, the mean temperature has been a very pleasant 67.5 degrees, with relatively low humidity levels. The rainfall so far this month has been 0.00 inches of precipitation. With the low humidity and no rain, the danger for wildfires is on the increase.
Speaking of wildfires, remember the fire that devastated the western part of Port St. Lucie? The event occurred on April 16, 1999. The fire started as a normal brush fire on behind a Mobil gas station on Gatlin Blvd. The fire was put out but on April 15th, a chain of events occurred that many Port St. Lucie residents will never forget. The air was extremely dry that day. You could feel it; the air had a very strange feel to it. The winds were strong and gusty. There were gusting at around 30 mph at times. All the ingredients were there, low dew point, low humidity, crystal clear blue skies and strong winds out of the west. All it took was an ember that had reignited and the wind to carry it. The small brush fire that was put out the day before had restarted as a blazing inferno. The fire was quickly out of control. It had very easily jumped even the largest firebreaks. I watched in fear and disbelief as the flames were about 1\4 mile away and getting closer. I was one of the luck ones; the fire stayed on a parallel course and missed our immediate area. It was like a scene from a movie. The helicopters flying overhead with huge buckets of water to try to stop the fires progress. The only thing that really stopped the flames was when the fire reached an area where the fuel supply finally ran out. The firefighters had to make some very important judgment calls on how to try to minimize the damage. They all did a very heroic and admirable job of trying to save as many homes as humanly possible.
All in all, the fire consumed 2,000 acres, destroyed 43 homes and damaged at least 32 others. The monetary loss was $4.5 million dollars. For several months after the fire, the entire area around California and Del Rio blvd. looked more like a scene from an atomic blast then a quiet residential neighborhood. Since the fire, water lines and fire hydrants have been installed in most areas and a repeat of 1999 is a lot less likely to happen.
Now on to the Time Capsule…
March 21, 1929 -- Calhoun and Liberty Counties -- All time record flood crest (28.6') on the Apalachicola River at Blountstown.
March 21, 1950 -- Bay Co. -- Hail up to 2 1/2 inches in diameter struck the Panama City area. At Tyndall AFB hailstones ripped through airplane wings, smashed windows and heavily damaged cars. Several people suffered minor injuries. Damage was estimated at two million dollars.
March 21, l993 -- Indian River Co., Vero Beach -- Flash flooding damaged about 50 homes and many roads around Hwy 60 were washed out.
March 22, l957 -- Polk Co., near Waverly -- Hailstones of golf-ball size hit citrus groves in 2- square-mile area, stripping trees of foliage and knocking large amounts of fruit from trees. Many oranges split open, some grapefruit completely penetrated by hail but left hanging on trees.
March 22, l968 -- Okaloosa Co., Destin -- A tornado damaged a museum, motel, and three cars. Minor damage at Destin Airport.
March 23, l984 -- Hendry Co., Labelle -- Lightning struck two men under a piece of equipment, killing one.
March 24, l983 -- Central-South Florida -- Severe Weather Outbreak -- A strong squall line moved across peninsular Florida, producing tornadoes in Winter Haven, Polk Co., Kenansville, Osceola Co., Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, and Melbourne in Brevard Co. Severe thunderstorm winds and hail struck Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Broward, and Dade Counties. Two injuries were reported.
March 25, l909 -- Polk Co., Kathleen -- Tornado killed a person in one of 8 homes destroyed.
March 25, 1955 -- central Florida -- Large Hail caused heavy roof damage to homes and barns in Sumter County. Large hail also fell in Pasco, Hernando, Polk, and Indian River Counties. Hail of lesser size was reported in Lake and Brevard counties.
March 25, l973 -- Sarasota Co., Casey Key -- Lighting killed a l9 year old surfer standing near the water's edge.
March 25, l992 -- Central Florida -- Hailstorm -- The worst hailstorm in Florida history struck the Orlando area just three weeks after one of the worst hailstorms in Central Florida history (see 3/6/92). Hail up to baseball size hit the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the vast greenhouse areas in western Orange County, crippling the nursery industry in the area. Damage was estimated at 60 - l00 million dollars. Smaller hail also fell in North Florida and as far South as Miami. Thunderstorm winds destroyed a citrus packing plant near Groveland in Lake County, injuring eight. The largest official hailstone recorded was 3.00" at the UCF - the third largest Florida hailstone on record, but residents reported larger hail that melted. While it will remain debatable whether the largest hail of all time fell in this storm (that distinction - 4 1/2"- belongs with the 3/30/95 Polk Co. hailstorm), it was clearly the costliest hailstorm in Florida history.
March 26, l964 -- Duval Co., Jacksonville -- Wind and lightning caused a limb to fall, killing a man working in the yard. Lightning struck a jetliner on the ground at airport and injured three employees.
March 27, l946 -- Suwannee Co., Houston -- Tornado destroyed some barns and unroofed a school.
March 28, 1955 -- One inch of snow fell in northwest Florida. This is the latest date of measurable snow on record.
March 28 - 3l, l972 -- Statewide -- Extended Severe Weather -- A series of squall lines starting on the 28th preceded a cold frontal passage on the 3lst. Thunderstorms with high winds, hail, heavy rains, and tornadoes were reported. Damage totals were in the millions. Rainfall averaged 2" to 4" during this time, with many individual stations reporting over 5". Details are reported below.
Here are some national past weather events….
March 21, 1932 -- A tornado swarm occurred in the Deep
South. Between late afternoon and early the next morning severe thunderstorms
spawned 31 tornadoes in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. The
tornadoes killed 334 persons and injured 1784 others. Northern Alabama was
hardest hit. Tornadoes in Alabama killed 286 persons and caused five million
dollars damage.
March 21, 1952 -- Severe thunderstorms spawned
thirty-one tornadoes across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama
and Kentucky. The tornadoes killed 343 persons and caused 15 million dollars
damage. Arkansas and Tennessee each reported thirteen tornadoes. The towns of
Judsonia Arizona and Henderson Tennessee were nearly wiped off the map in what
proved to be the worst tornado outbreak of record for Arkansas. A tornado, one
and a half miles wide at times, left a church the only undamaged building at
Judsonia.
March 22, 1920 -- A spectactular display of the Northern
Lights was visible as far south as Bradenton Florida, El Paso Texas, and Fresno
California. At Detroit Michigan, the display was described "so brilliant
as to blot out all stars below first magnitude". (22nd-23rd)
March 23, 1913 -- A vicious tornado hit the city of
Omaha Nebraska. The tornado struck during the late afternoon on Easter Sunday,
and in just twelve minutes cut a swath of total destruction five miles long and
two blocks wide across the city killing 94 persons and causing 3.5 million
dollars property damage.
March 23, 1987 -- A blizzard raged across western
Kansas, and the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma. Pampa Texas received 21 inches
of snow, and winds gusted to 78 mph at Dodge City Kansas . Governor Hayden
declared forty-six counties in western Kansas a disaster area. In southwest
Kansas, the storm was described as the worst in thirty years.
March 25,1843 -- For the second time in less than a
week airplanes were destroyed by a tornado at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma. A March 20th tornado destroyed fifty planes at Tinker AFB causing
more than ten million dollars damage, and the March 25th tornado destroyed
another thirty-five planes causing six million dollars damage. The first
tornado struck without warning, and caused more damage than any previous
tornado in the state of Oklahoma. The second tornado was predicted by Fawbush
and Miller of the United States Air Force, and their accurate tornado forecast
ushered in the modern era of severe weather forecasting.