Hi everybody and welcome! Today, March 16, was a very active weather day. A line of severe thunderstorms that formed in southern Palm Beach County began moving north slamming Martin County with heavy rain and high winds. In the City of Stuart, news media reported trees and power lines down and several windows broken by wind driven debris. The storm then moved north to Port St. Lucie with wind driven rain and heavy lightning. I recorded a total of .98 inches of rain in a 24-minute period. At the peak of the storm the rain rate was 4.06 inches per hour which occurred at 4:16 pm. The highest wind gust that was recorded at my weather station was 11.6-mph. Since I live in a heavily wooded area, the wind speed higher above the trees was somewhat higher. In Port St. Lucie, the sheriffs department reported trees and power lines down along with a few broken windows. Although I never actually lost power, the electric surged on and off at least 15 times and there was a lot of light debris in the roadway by the house.
Just 3 days ago the city of Basinger reported 1 inch hail at 7:20 pm during a severe thunderstorm there. Large hail was also reported in St. Cloud along with some carport damage.
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.
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!