Florida Weather

[northjaxpro]

I am receiving very heavy rain currently at my locale. Southern areas of Jax metro under a severe thunderstorm warning during the next hour as that strong to severe stroms moving through Columbia and Baker counties will be entering Duval county very shortly.

[psyclone]

long lived supercell heading into st john's county is now TOR warned and has become a right mover. this is a dangerous storm capable of all modes of SVR weather. if you're in or know people in st john's county... get ready and move vehicles into shelter to protect against possible damaging hail. i am happy to be below the fray with this severe weather. I-10 from JAX to NOLA looks rough for the forseeable future.

[northjaxpro]

yeah, psyclone it will be a rough time for me here in Jax going right through the evening hours. I have already picked up over an inch of rain already and more storms are coming down I-10 toward the Jax metro.

That tornadic cell is now approaching Wold Golf Village in St. Johns county. Just talked to my sister who lives right by the Wolrd Golf Village and she is getting torrential rains currently. No reports of hail from her just yet. That cell is moving rapidly east-southeast. This is the same dangerous cell that produced large hail, and downed trees which have been reported in Lake City, which happened over an hour ago.

[psyclone]

NORTHJAX, keep us up to date with the happenings in your neck of the woods and good luck.

[northjaxpro]

Bradford county emergency operations officials just reported into WJXT-TV 4 here in Jax of receiving Baseball -sized hail near Lawtey, which is on U.S. Hwy 301 about 35 miles southwest of Jax metro area. Amazing seeing hail that large in the area. Very rare to see hail reach that size here in this region. That was some dangerous cell that is still being tracked right now, as it is moving through St Augustine area.

[northjaxpro]

My sister did receive quarter-sized hail down near the World Golf Village in St Johns county dring that super-cell which came through there the past half hour.

[northjaxpro]

Here are some photos of the damage which has occured across the area this afternoon, courtesy of WJXT-TV 4 facebook page:


Lake City




Check out the size of this hail stone, which was taken near Lake Butler, just west of Lawtey in Union county:



A barn destoyed in Lawtey earlier this afternoon

[cycloneye]

Here is an update from the Bradford County Emergency Management:


UPDATE - We are now getting reports of damage coming in to the EOC...

- a tree down on County Road 125 at NW 63 Ave with power lines down and the road blocked.

- reports of large hail, from marble size to lemon size, in Heilbronn Springs and Lawtey.

- a barn damaged and partially collapsed by high winds, as well as vehicle damage in Lawtey. Reports of a funnel cloud spotted at the time.

[northjaxpro]

Thanks cycloneye. I saw that report a short while ago, but I have been so busy, I just never got around posting that. However, I did post of Bradford County emergency operations officals reporting that into WJXT TV-4 shortly after it happened. But, there will be more damge reports coming in the rest of the afternoon I'm sure and into the evening. There are more storms to come. The convergence line with the warm front has settled right on the I-10 corridor. There are more strong to possibly severe storms moving in toward the Suwanee River Valley region. Also, more storms forming across the GA/FL state line from near Valdosta east-southeast toward Jax area. It is pouring again at my home. It is going to be a long rest of the day and evening here in Jax area and NE Florida/SE GA region.

[northjaxpro]

Just had a very heavy thunderstorm move over my locale. Interesting wind shift just occured. had a wind gust to near 40 mph and the temperature dropped from 64.8 degrees to now currently 56.7 degrees. Winds now out of the northeast, signaling to me that the front has pushed back just south of the Jax area temporarily. There is a very decent cool air wedge down into the Carolinas and south along the Georgia coast and it has managed to wedge down into Northeast Florida temporarily. The warm front will eventually get north up into Georgia later tonight. This certainly explains the main culprit for the severe weather in my area today with the collision of the air masses right over the area.

The convergence is right over the region and the rain is really accumulating. Just checked and we are now approaching 2 inches and more on the way this evening.

[psyclone]

a flash flood threat may begin to materialize with the training of storms in some areas. this event could really alter the next US drought monitor map in northeast florida.

[northjaxpro]

Yep. Flash flooding already occured down in St. Auguistine earlier this afternoon and I would bet that we will see that in the Jax area shortly. It is pouring here and all across the Jax area currently. I wouldn't be surprised at all to up to 5 inches+ rain amounts across the area when its all said and done.

[northjaxpro]

What an active Saturday it was across the area. The warm front sat over North Florida the entire day and bought severe weather and heavy rain through the region. I ended up with just over 3 inches of much needed soaking rainfall at my locale. There were spots across southern Jax area and down across portions of Clay county and St Johns county which saw amounts from 4-7 inches. The warm front finally has lifted north up into Georgia currently.

Today will bring more possible strong to severe storms as a pre-frontal squall line has already developed in the panhandle region well ahead of the cold front moving across the Gulf coast region this morning. Tornado watch is already in effect for the much of the panhandle and into the Big Bend region until 11 a.m. this morning. I am sure with this dynamic set-up SPC will extend the tornado watch later today east and south. It will also be a very warm and windy day with southwest winds gusting as high as 30 mph+ today as the winter storm over Missouri currently strengthens as it moves east today.

The pre-frontal squall line should move through Northeast Florida sometime during the early to mid afternoon hours and then push down the rest of the peninsula late this afternoon into the evening hours. There will be a possibility of severe weather again today everyone so stay alert today. Hopefully many people will get some much needed rain down the peninsula. The cold front will push through the peninsula later tonight and clear skies and dry conditions will return on Monday.

The other big story is the cold coming this week. We have been discussing this for more than a week and now it is definitely coming! People spending their spring break vacations down here are not going to be happy about this for sure. A big dome of modified Polar High Pressure (1030+ mb) is dropping straight down from Canada down into the Plains and it is going to provide a deep north to northwesterly upper level flow for much of this week across the region. This will set the stage for some unseasonable cold temps, as much as 15-20 degrees below what the averages for late March should be across the area this week. Cold air will advect into the entire peninsula beginning tomorrow and lasting into much of this work week. It will be breezy also during much of this period as well, which will add to the chill in the air.

I will have to protect my sensitive plants this week for sure as minimum temps are expected to get well down into the 30s at my locale, especially the Tuesday-Thursday period. Also, will have to worry about frost by Thursday when the High Pressure axis gets closer to the region. The colder interior spots of Northeast Florida and along the I-75 corridor in the Suwanee River Valley and the Big Bend will see temps approaching the freezing mark Tuesday-Thursday period.

I wouldn't be shocked in the least for areas like Crystal River, Brooksville and Ocala also will get down into the 30s during the course of this week. Temps will get down to the 40s all down the peninsula to Lake Okeechobee, and possibly as cool as near 50 degrees by mid week across inland Dade and Broward counties.

No question that this month will end quite a bit below normal for many spots. It has definitely been the coldest month of March that I can ever recall in these parts that's for sure! However, there is hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel everyone! Indications from the models show that the Arctic Oscillation has finally bottomed out and is returning to a positive phase beginning by Easter. Temperatures should begin to moderate beginning Good Friday and by Easter Sunday, temps should rebound back to seasonable norms statewide.

(Keeping my fingers crossed about the warm-up staying for good after Easter)

[gsytch]

I've seen that the AO is turning and they anticipate temps to moderate if not go slightly above normal for the East, incl Florida, in about 7 days. If this holds true then spring should ariive. We've had some rain but nothing like NoFla - we dont need severe wx! Being on spring break this week is a bummer with the wx so chilly!

[northjaxpro]

Pre-frontal squall line moving rapidly east across the Suwanee River Valley and already moving into Lake City area currently. This line of storms will be moving across the Jax metro area within the next hour. This is moving a least a couple of hours earlier than I had anticipated.

We have had overcast conditions all morning long, but that is a good thing as at least solar heating will be limited. Temp currnetly around 70 at my locale, with brisk southwest winds gusting over 20mph. Thus, the cloudiness here will be one big element that will help to undercut adding more juice to feed these storms, at least here in Northeast Florida. Hopefully, we won't get to severe storms in this area as what we saw yesterday.

I think the severe potential later today will be across the I-4 corridor and points south. Temps well into the 80s down there to help fuel the squall line later today.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

I've seen that the AO is turning and they anticipate temps to moderate if not go slightly above normal for the East, incl Florida, in about 7 days. If this holds true then spring should ariive. We've had some rain but nothing like NoFla - we dont need severe wx! Being on spring break this week is a bummer with the wx so chilly!

((((gsytch)))))

[AdamFirst]

Bow echo rolling through central FL right now

[cycloneye]

I saw on TV the high winds and heavy rain in the Arnold Palmer invitational golf course in Bay Hill. Play is suspended until further notice.

[gsytch]

...and despite heavy winds, a strong front, and severe wx 10 miles to my north with pounding rains, I get....dada....a few drops here and there! That's it. Time to get out the hose yet again!

[cycloneye]

SPC report:

1840 86 ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL A ORANGE FL 2842 8132 KMCO ASOS MEASURED A WIND GUST OF 75 KT/86 MPH FROM 300 DRGREES. (MLB)
1841 62 ORLANDO EXECUTIVE AIRPO ORANGE FL 2855 8134 KORL ASOS MEASURED A WIND GUST OF 54KT/62 MPH FROM 290 DEGREES. (MLB)