Robert
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1155 AM EDT SAT OCT 1 2005
...SEPTEMBER CLOSES OUT A GENERALLY HOT AND DRY RAINY SEASON
FOR THE IMMEDIATE TAMPA BAY AND SARASOTA BRADENTON METROPOLITAN
REGION...
AFTER JUNE...THE TYPICAL FLORIDA RAINY SEASON FAILED TO LIVE UP TO
ITS NAME ACROSS THE MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS OF THE CENTRAL FLORIDA
SUNCOAST. THE PERIOD FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER WAS THE HOTTEST AND
DRIEST IN TAMPA...WITH THE THREE MONTH PRECIPITATION TOTAL
SHATTERING THE PREVIOUS LOW BY MORE THAN THREE AND A HALF INCHES!
THE SAME PERIOD AT SARASOTA/BRADENTON WAS AMONG THE FIVE HOTTEST.
...METEOROLOGICAL SITUATION...
JUNE: THE MONTH BEGAN WET AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND
ASSOCIATED STATIONARY FRONT JUST NORTH OF THE STATE BRIEFLY
CHANNELED SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW OF DEEP MOISTURE ACROSS THE
SUNCOAST. TEMPERATURES WERE HELD 5 TO 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
WHILE WIDESPREAD RAINS OCCURRED...ESPECIALLY FROM TAMPA BAY TO
LAKELAND SOUTH.
OTHERWISE...FOR MOST OF THE MONTH AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WAS OVER THE
REGION WITH THE SURFACE RIDGE AXIS MEANDERING NORTH-SOUTH ACROSS THE
FLORIDA PENINSULA. THIS DID NOT ALLOW ANY MAJOR DISTURBANCES TO
AFFECT THE AREA...AND THUS NO WIDESPREAD RAINFALL EVENTS OCCURRED.
INSTEAD THE AREA ONLY SAW THE TYPICAL SCATTERED SUMMERTIME SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS...WHICH AS WE ALL KNOW CAN DROP THREE INCHES IN ONE
LOCATION...WHILE ANOTHER SPOT ONE MILE AWAY WILL REMAIN DRY. FOR
EXAMPLE...TAMPA WAS HEADED FOR A DRIER THAN NORMAL MONTH UNTIL JUNE
27-30...WHEN NEARLY HALF OF THE MONTH'S RAINS FELL IN TORRENTIAL
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS.
JULY AND AUGUST: IN GENERAL...THE LAST HALF OF JULY AND MOST OF
AUGUST WAS DOMINATED BY A LARGE ATMOSPHERIC RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE
WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN WESTWARD
THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES AND FLORIDA AND INTO THE WESTERN
GULF OF MEXICO. IN ADDITION...THE PAST SEVERAL JULY/AUGUST PERIODS
HAD AT LEAST ONE LARGE SCALE TROUGH MOVE NEAR THE SUNCOAST...CREATING
WIDESPREAD AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL EVENTS...THIS JULY AND AUGUST
HAD NONE.
WHILE PERSISTENT HIGH PRESSURE RIDGES ARE COMMON EACH SUMMER...THE
SOUTHERLY LOCATION ALLOWED THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE RIDGE TO STRETCH
ACROSS THE CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA MORE FREQUENTLY THAN USUAL.
A SURFACE RIDGE IN THIS POSITION WEAKENS THE LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY
EVENING COLLISION BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND THE GULF COAST
SEA BREEZES...WHICH WILL OCCUR CLOSE TO THE SUNCOAST WHEN THE RIDGE
AXIS IS ACROSS NORTH FLORIDA OR THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES.
THE LACK OF PERIODIC WIDESPREAD AFTERNOON AND EVENING RAINS IN JULY
AND AUGUST NOT ONLY HELPED BOOST DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES...BUT
KEPT OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES WARM AS WELL...ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AND
COASTAL SITES. INLAND LOCATIONS OF COASTAL COUNTIES FARED BETTER
SEVERAL TIMES IN EACH MONTH.
EXPECTED RAINS FROM THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF KATRINA
NEVER MATERIALIZED...AS NORTHEASTERLY WINDS AROUND A DEVELOPING
RIDGE IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SHOVED THE STORM THROUGH THE LOWER
EVERGLADES AND BROUGHT IN DRIER AIR IN THE DEEPER ATMOSPHERE...
LIMITING RAINFALL TO OUTER FEEDER BANDS WHEN THE STORM WAS WELL WEST
OF THE KEYS.
SEPTEMBER: SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AT THE VERY BEGINNING
AND DURING THE FINAL WEEK OF THE MONTH WERE BOOKENDS TO A NEARLY
THREE WEEK STRETCH OF VIRTUALLY NO PRECIPITATION ACROSS MOST OF THE
SUNCOAST. ONCE AGAIN...THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE DEEP IN THE
ATMOSPHERE SET UP SHOP GENERALLY TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE AREA...
TRANSPORTING GENERALLY DRY CONTINENTAL AIR INTO THE MID AND UPPER
LEVELS WHICH SUPPRESSED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.
TROPICAL CYCLONE OPHELIA...WHICH MOVED VERY SLOWLY ALONG THE ATLANTIC
COAST FROM FLORIDA TO NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE SECOND FULL
WEEK OF THE MONTH...PULLED EVEN DRIER AIR ACROSS THE PENINSULA
WHICH KILLED PRECIPITATION COMPLETELY. DURING THE THIRD FULL WEEK...
THE RIDGE REESTABLISHED ITSELF FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TO THE
SOUTHEAST U.S. DESPITE SURFACE FLOW FROM THE EAST...DRY AIR
CONTINUED AT MID AND HIGHER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. HURRICANE
RITA...WHICH EXPLODED FROM A TROPICAL STORM TO A CATEGORY 5
HURRICANE IN TWO DAYS...PROVIDED A BRIEF RESPITE FROM THE HOT
TEMPERATURES WITH INCREASED CLOUD COVER AND SOME RAINFALL MAINLY
WELL SOUTH OF TAMPA BAY.
THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW PRELIMINARY STATISTICS FOR TAMPA AND
SARASOTA/BRADENTON FROM SEPTEMBER...THE PAST THREE MONTHS...AND THE
RAINY SEASON (JUNE TO SEPTEMBER) AS A WHOLE.
A FULL SUMMARY WITH MORE DETAILED STATISTICS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE ON
OUR WEBSITE SOON.
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TOP 10 DRIEST TOP 10 DRIEST
AUGUSTS IN TAMPA: SEPTEMBERS IN TAMPA
1 0.78 IN 1938 *1 0.79 IN 2005*
2 2.35 IN 1952 1 0.79 IN 1910
3 2.38 IN 1921 3 1.05 IN 1937
4 2.83 IN 2001 4 1.28 IN 1972
5 3.27 IN 1990 5 1.58 IN 1921
6 3.47 IN 1924 6 1.68 IN 1904
7 3.63 IN 1919 7 1.90 IN 1927
8 3.75 IN 1907 8 2.08 IN 1915
9 3.87 IN 1941 9 2.20 IN 1967
*10 4.09 IN 2005* 10 2.26 IN 1925
TOP 10 DRIEST JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER COMBINATION
IN TAMPA
*1 8.26 IN 2005*
2 11.91 IN 1944
3 12.10 IN 1974
4 13.55 IN 1942
5 13.97 IN 1992
6 14.19 IN 1956
7 14.58 IN 1993
8 14.84 IN 1930
9 14.90 IN 1978
10 15.15 IN 1921
NOTES: THE AUGUST RAIN TOTAL OF 4.09 WAS 3.51 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
THE SEPTEMBER RAIN TOTAL OF 0.79 WAS 5.75 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL.
THE COMBINED JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER TOTAL OF 8.26 WAS
12.37 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
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TOP 10 WARMEST TOP 10 WARMEST
AUGUSTS IN TAMPA: SEPTEMBERS IN TAMPA
1 85.1 IN 1941 1 83.2 IN 1925
*2 84.8 IN 2005* 2 83.1 IN 1944
3 84.4 IN 1951 *3 82.9 IN 2005*
4 83.9 IN 1990 3 82.9 IN 1958
5 83.7 IN 1993 5 82.8 IN 2002
5 83.7 IN 1999 5 82.8 IN 1990
5 83.7 IN 1975 5 82.8 IN 1974
5 83.7 IN 1987 5 82.8 IN 1933
9 83.6 IN 1942 9 82.7 IN 1921
9 83.6 IN 1924** 10 82.4 IN 1951
TOP 10 WARMEST JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER COMBINATION
IN TAMPA
*1 84.0 IN 2005*
2 83.4 IN 1942
3 83.1 IN 1941
3 83.1 IN 1951
3 83.1 IN 1993
6 83.0 IN 1990
6 83.0 IN 1996
8 82.9 IN 1944
8 82.9 IN 1958
8 82.9 IN 1975**
TOP 10 WARMEST RAINY SEASONS (JUNE-SEPTEMBER)
IN TAMPA
1 83.6 IN 1998
*2 83.2 IN 2005*
3 83.0 IN 1951
4 82.9 IN 1942
4 82.9 IN 1944
4 82.9 IN 1977
4 82.9 IN 1990
8 82.8 IN 1941
8 82.8 IN 1975
8 82.8 IN 1993
** TIED WITH AT LEAST ONE MORE YEAR.
THE AUGUST 2005 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT TAMPA = 84.7 DEGREES WHICH IS
THE 2ND WARMEST AUGUST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1890 AND 2.0 DEGREES
ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 82.7 DEGREES.
THE SEPTEMBER 2005 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT TAMPA = 82.9 DEGREES WHICH
IS TIED FOR 3RD WARMEST AUGUST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1890 AND
1.3 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 81.6 DEGREES.
THE JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER COMBINED AVERAGE TEMPERATURE = 84.0 DEGREES
WHICH IS THE WARMEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1890 AND ABOUT 1.7
DEGREES ABOVE THE COMBINED AVERAGE OF AROUND 82.3 DEGREES.
THE RAINY SEASON COMBINED AVERAGE TEMPERATURE = 83.2 DEGREES WHICH
IS THE 2ND WARMEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1890 AND ABOUT 1.1 DEGREES
ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF 82.1 DEGREES.
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TOP 5 WARMEST TOP 5 DRIEST
SEPTEMBERS IN SEPTEMBERS IN
SARASOTA/BRADENTON SARASOTA/BRADENTON
1 83.7 IN 1998 *1 1.04 IN 2005*
2 82.7 IN 1997 2 2.33 IN 1984
3 82.5 IN 1951 3 2.41 IN 1972
*4 82.3 IN 2005* 4 2.74 IN 1991
4 82.3 IN 1989 5 3.39 IN 1990
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FOR CURRENT AND UPDATED CLIMATE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT THE
FOLLOWING ADDRESS: HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW/ AND THEN CLICK ON
THE PAST LOCAL WEATHER LINK. FOR WEATHER WIRE USERS AND OTHERS WHO
USE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO) CODES...PLEASE SEARCH
FOR THE MONTHLY SUMMARIES UNDER WMO CODE CXUS52 KTBW.
$$
BSG
