We have a weather set-up tomorrow -- & to some degree Fri. too -- similar to early last week. A weak front/trough will move north into Northern Florida Thu. & Fri. helping to develop plenty of showers & a few thunderstorms. Surface winds north of the boundary will be east or southeast but west or southwest aloft so this directional shear (but weak speed shear) will make for a favorable environment for a few waterspouts. Be alert along the St. Johns River & especially the beaches & near coastal areas. This should be a good rainfall for much of the viewing area.
Speaking of rain...the Jax Int'l. Airport had 9.48" of rain for July -- more than the first 5 months of the year! Jan.-May had only 9.18"...the wettest month at JIA since June, 2005...the wettest July since 1991. But as wet as some areas were, others remained relatively dry. My yard on the Southside, for example, had "only" about 5"...much of Georgia was also short-changed. Here are some co-op reports from our Jax N.W.S for July:
JACKSONVILLE VICINITY.. NORTHEAST FLORIDA..
JACKSONVILLE BEACH..... 3.69 LIVE OAK.......... 5.20
MAYPORT N.S............ 4.86 GAINESVILLE....... 8.92
JACKSONVILLE NAS....... 5.20 LAKE CITY......... 5.57
FERNANDINA BEACH.. 4.37
FORT CAROLINE.......... 6.19 ST. AUGUSTINE..... 4.40
HIGHLANDS.............. 7.49 OCALA............. 10.66
CRAIG FIELD............ 7.29 HIGH SPRINGS...... 7.36
S. PONTE VEDRA BEACH... 3.54 HASTINGS.......... 6.10
JASPER............ 3.56
BEAUCLERC.............. 7.91 FEDERAL POINT..... 9.34
SOUTHSIDE TV 4......... 9.09 BELL.............. 3.83
BIG TALBOT ISLAND...... 18.34 BUNNELL........... 12.12
LITTLE TALBOT ISLAND... 14.62 WASHINGTON OAKS... 9.61
ORANGE SPRINGS.... 8.21
NORMANDY............... 8.66 STARKE............ 6.43
FLAGLER BEACH..... 9.90
CECIL FIELD............ 5.31 AMELIA ISLAND PLN. 9.50
GUANA RIVER STATE PARK. 6.33
GLEN ST MARY...... 5.88
WHITE SPRINGS..... 2.07
SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...
BRUNSWICK.............. 6.18 ST SIMONS ISLAND.. 5.23
HOMERVILLE............. 5.75 ALMA.............. 6.08
PRIDGEN................ 4.71 BAXLEY............ 3.97
WOODBINE............... 8.25 HAZLEHURST........ 4.05
WILLACOOCHEE........... 3.07 NAHUNTA........... 6.90
STEPHEN FOSTER SP...... 5.26 PATTERSON......... 3.86
DOUGLAS................ 6.55 WAYCROSS.......... 5.16
Other July #'s for Jax...the avg. temp. was 81.7 degrees, a mere 0.1 degree above avg....the record low for the date was tied (67) on the 22nd & broken on the 23rd when the low dropped to 64 (record: 65/1965). Rainfall of 2.32" on the 24th was a daily record beating the old record of 2.27", 1963.
Now despite the July rainfall, long term drought is still a concern. Areas especially dry are from North Central Florida near Lake City across much of Southeast Georgia where yearly deficits are still commonly 10-15"! JIA's yearly deficit is now only 3.49" but the deficit balloons to 17.45" since Jan. 1, 2006. The Jax N.W.S. updated their drought summary today.
Some interesting July #'s for other parts of Florida...Wet on the East Coast...from the Melbourne NWS:
A WESTERLY COMPONENT FLOW ON MANY DAYS DURING JULY
BROUGHT WELL ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL ALONG THE EAST COAST. HERE ARE
THE UNOFFICIAL TOTALS FOR THE CLIMATE REPORTING SITES...
TOTAL NORMAL RECORD (YEAR)
ORLANDO MCO 6.52 7.15 19.57 (1960)
DAYTONA BEACH 10.23 5.17 14.58 (1944)
MELBOURNE # 11.46 5.38 11.95 (1944)
VERO BEACH * 13.71 6.53 13.71 (2007) OLD 12.22 (1971)
* NEW RECORD
# 4TH WETTEST JULY ON RECORD
And an exceptionally hot month for the Keys....this from the Key West NWS:
OUR AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN JULY WAS 86.8 DEGREES AT KEY WEST. THIS TIED THE RECORD FOR THE WARMEST MONTH EVER.
Looking ahead to August for the First Coast....the following #'s are for JIA:
1st 31st
Low/High 73/90 72/89
Sunrise/Sunset 6:45am/8:33pm 7:03am/8:21pm...A loss of 30 min. of daylight
Rainfall: 6.87" (2nd wettest month of the yr. on avg.)
NHC has scheduled a couple of reconnaissance flights -- one in the Northeast Gulf & another into the Caribbean...check out "Talking the Tropics With Mike".
