In Search of Spring On This Last Day of February

I’m jumping for joy this morning as it’s the last day of February! For anyone who is new to reading my updates, I truly can not stand cold weather, and not a big fan of Winter either. I can smell spring on the horizon, and March gives us Storm Chasers hope that the storms will be returning soon enough. I’m not only looking for severe weather to chase, but even just the late afternoon thunderstorms and showers of spring that will eventually lead us into summer, which is my favorite season. It has been a extremely cool Winter here in Florida, with several hard freezes and well below normal daily temps off and on since December. I’m over the dry low humidity levels and want my soupy 70F dew point air mass back.

Nice Today, Hoping For Storms and Rain Tomorrow -

It’s shaping up to be a outstanding Saturday with expected temperatures to reach the lower 80’s this afternoon. Deep southerly flow ahead of yet another strong cold front to move through late tomorrow. Ugh! Hopefully soon these fronts will start having a hard time penetrating too deep into the Sunshine State, but this next one will clear through bringing some 30’s overnight back into the forecast for the start of March. There is a chance of isolated possible strong storms late tonight into early Sunday associated with the passage of the front, but that’s looking dismal too with the lack of decent moisture levels and weak instability.

Severe Weather In The South This Morning-

This morning there are some active Tornado Watches in Alabama and Georgia, with a few ongoing Tornado Warnings in Marion County, GA. Most of this energy will lift northeastward later today leaving Florida in a more unidirectional wind field and not the best for forcing. Did I express that I hate the Florida dry season? Oh yeah I did…

Well, for those of you that love Winter, enjoy hanging on to it the next few weeks, and those like me rooting for a full invasion of Spring…..it’s coming, it’s coming!

Working On Video Project, Awaiting Real Weather

The last week I have been extremely tied up in working on a video, and it has taken a large amount of my time. This has left little motivation to blog, especially since the weather around here has been so non-Storm Chaser friendly. I finally have gotten through the tough parts of the video, and now putting the closing touches on it. Don’t worry, your going to get to see some of it here real soon. The weather here in Florida has been very boring and cool. I can’t wait to get into March and warmer weather, and the hopes of some rain and storms. It’s been a long winter here with well below normal temperature lows and highs and very dry conditions. It’s time for a change!!!

One thing I’m not hoping for is a active wildfire season, but let me tell you, it’s extremely dry here, and with all the past hard freezes that produced freeze damage to vegetation, it’s primed for fires that’s for sure. Please be careful out there if visiting us here. I’m pretty sure eventually I’ll be dashing off to some wildfire to film until the rainy season kicks in. Let’s hope for the rains to come early.

Well, it’s late in the day and I’m going to finish up here and move on and relax the rest of the day with Kersten. When you don’t see updates here, also check my Twitter page for small snippets. Search “Weatherzine”.

Valentine’s Day Weekend 2009 Video Highlights

We enjoyed a nice Valentine’s Day weekend with great weather and family fun. We started it off by surprising Kersten at work on Saturday and putting her on the spot a little. J.J. and I went to Kersten’s work and surprised her with red roses and Dove Chocolates, which she hates to be in the spotlight like that. It worked out well! LOL!

Later that afternoon we decided to attend the Martin County Fair since it was beautiful out and it was $5 day for admission. So we packed up and headed for the coast for a afternoon and evening filled with greasy food, scary rides, and a day together on Valentine’s. The above video is a mix down of the days events. It’s about 9 minutes and in web high definition, so be sure to have good high speed internet, or allow it to buffer download some before playing. Enjoy!

Enough Instability Kicked Off Needed Convective Showers

It’s Really Raining -

It was nice to see rain showers in the area today, and the smell of the fresh rain in the air. We received enough heating instability, along with a little upper-level energy support to allow actual convective rain showers to form. Some of these showers trained over the same locations producing some decent rain totals in very isolated area’s. Most of the rains were confined from Tampa Bay on the west coast, to Melbourne on the east coast, and southward to Lake Okeechobee. It’s very dry out there, so these rains were extremely welcomed. Although I would of liked to see and hear some lightning and thunder, it would of only started wildfires with all the very dry ground conditions out there this weekend. As I type this, the last of the heavier convective cells now moving through Okeechobee, as the weak boundary slowly moves southward.

Turning Cooler and Back To Normal Levels -

Later tonight through Tuesday, a weak cold front will move through cooling the temps back to near normal levels. A few chilly nights coming up Monday and Tuesdays with 40’s overnight and highs in the 70s. Not bad compared to a few weeks ago when we experienced several freezing events that did produce widespread damage. This past weekend was outstanding with afternoon temperatures reaching the mid 80’s in February. Area beaches were packed for Valentine’s Day, with full sun and spring-like weather for much of Florida. I know I was loving every minute of the warm and humid weather for this time of year, and so were the northern visitors escaping the cold from up north.

Future Rain Chance This Upcoming Week -

Our next decent shot a precipitation looks to be about mid week coming up. Another weak low pressure system will form along the northern Gulf states and track eastward helping to swing a boundary into Florida in the warm sector. This will set off more showers and possible isolated thunderstorms if there is enough moisture and instability.

Edmond Oklahoma Tornadic Supercell, Storms Continue

Tornadoes In Oklahoma -

Early February tornado event underway now in Central Oklahoma, with several confirmed tornadoes now on the ground and that have produced damage. A tornado near Edmond, Oklahoma not only was seen and filmed by Storm Chasers on the ground, but also broadcast live on TV from local Oklahoma City TV news helicopters. Confirmed damage with this cell in coming in from local news and Chasers in the area. Another active tornadic Supercell is just southwest of Yukon, OK with a confirmed tornado on the ground by storm spotters. This very dangerous storm is racing northeastward near 45mph. This storm recent just crossed interstate I-40. This broken line of rotating storms continues to intensify and more tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds are possible well into the evening hours.

Texas Storms Up Next? -

I’m continuing to monitor radar, and incoming reports from the field and online. A new Tornado Watch #10 was recently issued for Northern Texas, including all of the greater Dallas metro region. Possibly even more violent storms could be developing in this region in the coming hours. Stay tuned to this post for updates on both Oklahoma and Texas severe weather.

 Update – 5:45pm ET -

Update 9:00pm ET -

Storms now evolving into a broken squall line in Central Oklahoma and extending south-southwestward into north and central Texas. Right now some of the strongest cells are moving into the greater Dallas Ft Worth region, extending from the Red River I-35 corridor southward through DFW to Waco. The severe weather with embedded Supercells and isolated tornadoes will continue well into the overnight hours.

Some very impressive helicopter tornado footage from the tornado near Edmond, OK earlier today. These HeliChasers are becoming better and better every season, getting really close to these tornadoes. In this video you have a great view of the tornado debris field at ground level. All while other helicopters are flying around in the background of the shot shooting their angle of the tornado. Pretty wild stuff. Watch the Edmond Tornado Video Here.

Monitoring First Storm Outbreak Of 2009 Texas Oklahoma

Severe Storms Looking Likely -

The atmosphere over Northern Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma is becoming more unstable as we move into the early afternoon hours. Everything is coming together to produce the first severe weather outbreak of 2009. February normally hosts severe storm and tornado outbreaks further east and south, and this is more like a late March early April setup for the Southern Plains and Arklatex region. Higher dew points in the lower to middle 60’s are now beginning to filter into the North Texas region under cloudy skies. Latest visible satellite trends over the area show the higher upper-level clouds inhibiting any good heating right now, and should be moving off to the east in the next few hours. The warm sector is extending slowly further north into Southern Oklahoma as seen on surface observations and satellite imagery. It’s going to be a interesting afternoon and evening for some in the Southern Plains and Mississippi Valley later today.

…A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK — INCLUDING SUPERCELLS WITH STRONG TORNADOES — IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT FOR ERN OK/NE TX…INTO WRN/CENTRAL AR AND NW LA…

Arm-Chasing From Florida, But Wish I Was There -

I’m here in South Florida early this afternoon monitoring from home using WeatherTap‘s RadarLab HD. I’ll be arm-chasing this event, but I’m monitoring several Storm Chasers that plan on chasing today’s possible tornadoes. It’s going to be tough for those chasing, as these Supercells will be racing 40-60mph. I will post a new Nowcast post once things get going later this afternoon, and update it throughout the remainder of the day.

For those of you living in the outlined area’s for today’s severe weather, be sure to keep up with the latest watches and warnings and have that NOAA Weather Radio activated. It could get pretty rough after dark in the Arklatex region. More to come….

 

New tornado watch issued for Northwest Texas and Central / Southwest Oklahoma. Isolated severe storms about to develop. Discussion from the Storm Prediction Center.

DISCUSSION…CU FIELD CONTINUES TO INCREASE OVER NORTHWEST TX AND SOUTHWEST OK…IN REGION OF RELATIVELY STRONG HEATING AND INCREASING MOISTURE. FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THIS REGION IS NEAR CONVECTIVE INITIATION. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SUPERCELLULAR WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE. THREAT FOR STRONG TORNADOES WILL INCREASE BY EARLY EVENING AS LOW LEVEL VERTICAL WIND PROFILES STRENGTHEN.

Update – 4:14pm ET -

First possible tornado observed outside of Edmond, Oklahoma within the last half hour. Severe storms continue to organized in Central and Southwest Oklahoma, and extend into Northwest Texas southwest of Wichita Falls. Back in Oklahoma, there is a active tornado warning in Canadian and Oklahoma Counties. And now a newly issued one for Logan and Payne Counties in central OK. This is the same possible tornadic cell near Edmond earlier now just south of Guthrie.

First Severe Weather Event of 2009 Tuesday-Wednesday?

First Severe Storms Event 2009? -

It’s beginning to look like the first real significant severe weather outbreak of 2009 could be setting up. Starting on Tuesday, things could be coming together over the eastern Texas and Oklahoma, the Deep South and Southern Mississippi Valley for severe storms, including tornadoes. A potent low pressure system with strong upper level support will be organizing on Tuesday in the lower Plains where the first round of possible severe storms and tornados could become a reality. This will all organizes more into the overnight hours on Tuesday and into Wednesday. Timing of moisture return and upper-level support are still being find tuned, but it’s beginning to look more likely of a more widespread sever weather event on Tuesday and Wednesday.

GUIDANCE IS STILL SUGGESTIVE THAT DISCRETE STORMS ARE A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY ACROSS PARTS OF NORTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO WESTERN ARKANSAS BY THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. A LOW-LEVEL CONFLUENCE ZONE/ZONE OF ENHANCED WARM ADVECTION NEAR THE INTENSIFYING /50-70 KT/ 850 JET CORE…BENEATH DIFLUENT UPPER FLOW…COULD PROVIDE THE FORCING FOR THIS ACTIVITY. AND…IF THIS OCCURS…LARGE CLOCKWISE CURVED LOW LEVEL HODOGRAPHS BENEATH STRONG WEST SOUTHWESTERLY MID/UPPER FLOW …AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING 90-100 KT 500 MB JET STREAK…WILL BE QUITE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. -SPC DAY2

Severe Weather Shifts East On Wednesday -

Wednesday will shift the severe weather further east into the Tennessee Valley and the Southeast states, possibly where there might even be better moisture and heating. Even the Storm Chaser community chatter is up on this system, and it being the first real significant event to forecast and track, there could be a few early season Chasers out there searching in the hills and tree’s for the first catch of 2009.

Tuesday morning will paint a much better picture on how this could setup moisture-wise and coverage of storms. I’ll be monitoring the forecast computer model trends throughout today and into Wednesday, and have more later today and on Tuesday. What ever the case, the Southern United States could see a few stormy days ahead, so keep tabs on the weather the next 72 hours. More to come…

Warm Weather Returned For A Great Birthday Weekend

Kersten’s Birthday Weekend -

It turned out to be a fantastic weekend weather-wise after a long 10 days of well below normal cold temperatures here in Florida. After several sub-freezing mornings in the upper 20’s to lower 30s, and daytime highs in the 50’s and lower 60’s, were getting back to normal. Starting the weekend off on Friday, we celebrated Kersten’s 31^st birthday with dinner at my mothers. It was a nice evening and she had a nice birthday afternoon relaxing at home before heading over to my mothers house. I teased Kersten that she’s defiantly now into her 30’s, and she reminded me that I’m only 2 ½ months away from being 35. Hmmm. Speaking of birthdays, were getting into that birthday time of year in my family, like Dee Dee’s coming up this week, my brothers and grandfathers next month in March, and my mothers and mine in April. June and July are just as busy! A lot to keep track of…

Taking In Some of The Great Weekend Weather -

Sunday it was in the lower to mid 70’s with isolated flat little leftover stratocumulus clouds and sun. It was just plain beautiful out, and I did get some outside time in under the warm sun. It was truly a nice change from the last week of cold. I did spend some of the day working on a older computer I had laying around and reinstalling XP on it. I plan to use this system for a upcoming webcast project, and it has plenty of power for what I need. Watch for further details on that coming up next month here on Weatherzine.

All in all, a nice weekend from start to end, and now it’s Monday and time to get back to the grind. I hope yours was just as fun and relaxing. Have a great week ahead!

Record Cold Weather Freezes Out Florida Again

January 2010 Florida Freeze Coverage Can Be Found Here

Arctic Blast Over Take Florida-

Here is the latest Weatherzine video update for today concerning the very cold weather here in Florida. It was a crazy 28 degrees here at my home this morning, and we were below the freezing mark for about 6 hours. It was ridiculously cold! It was got down into the upper 30s as far south as Miami along the coast and into the mid to upper 20‘s in the Everglades. There were a lot of cold record low temperatures this morning across Florida. Even Key West got down to a crazy 47F for a low. Here is just a small sample of record low for Southern Florida this morning. (Note: you can turn off th HD in the player window for slower internet users)

• Miami – 38F
• Ft Lauderdale – 37F
• West Palm Beach – 33F
• Pompano Beach Air Park – 35F
• Key West – 47F
• Okeechobee – 28F
• Homestead – 34F
• Coral Springs – 31F
• Boca Raton – 32F
• Jupiter Farms – 29F
• Palmdale – 22F
• Naples – 35F
• Buckhead Ridge – 29F
• Labelle – 27F
• North Key Largo – 39F

Now add on a 10-15mph wind and these cold temperatures felt even colder. Earlier this morning wind chill values were running in the teens. As for today, high temps are expected to struggle to reach the upper 50’s to lower 60’s. Another possible freeze tonight is possible as temps will fall fast under clear skies and light winds.

Deep Freeze Returns To Florida Tonight, Record Lows

January 2010 Florida Freeze Coverage Can Be Found Here

This is beginning to get old fast now. I’m tired of talking cold weather and freezing temperatures for us here in central and South Florida. This morning as I type it’s 39 degree’s outside with a cold northwesterly wind to add to it. But it’s getting a lot colder later today and into tonight. Record lows expected overnight with temperatures forecast to fall into the mid and upper 20’s well into interior South Florida. Hard freeze warming’s all counties starting tonight, and wind chill advisories all area’s as well as it will feel more like the teens in some locations overnight with 10-15mph northerly winds. We could be dealing with another significant advection freeze while also breaking some record low temps from the past.

Palm Tree’s To Suffer Another Freeze Tonight -

Just a little over two weeks ago, Florida experienced a hard freeze event into Southern Florida that produced some freeze damage to sugarcane, and other vegetations. Some of my Palm tree’s and of course my lawn suffered from the last event and still have not recovered, and this next cold air event looks to be even worst. This is not going to be good for Florida agriculture and they could take a big blow tonight.

TEMPERATURES: LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S OVER THE INTERIOR AREAS TO THE LOWER 30S TO MID 30S OVER THE COASTAL AREAS. THEREFORE, A HARD FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE AREA. A FREEZE WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR REST OF SOUTH FLORIDA, EXCEPT FOR COASTAL BROWARD COUNTY AND METRO MIAMI-DADE COUNTY INCLUDING THE COASTAL AREAS.

Looking For Storm Video Not Cold Weather Please -

I hate to cover cold weather events, but it’s the only happening thing these days in Florida, HA! I’ll be out shooting Florida beach cold weather video today, and interior hard freeze video overnight. I’m not happy about it, but it won’t be lasting for much longer, warming trend begins late week. Once we get past early to late February, spring normally racing right into the Sunshine State, and I‘ll be the first to greet it. Stay warm out there Floridian’s!

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