Lots of Lightning

The storms did roll through our area late this afternoon. We had over an inch of rain here at the home station. Lightning activity was high today with these storms with a couple of flickers of power as well. During the peak of the activity around 6PM tonight it sounded as if there was some hail but I did not observe any. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for our area due to this storm.

Speaking of observing my daughter and I saw a funnel cloud this morning off the coast of Deerfield Beach, FL. This was the first for my daughter. We saw it from the street in front of our house and observed it moving north along the coast. None of the pictures or video I took has any quality so they will not be posted.

So for Sunday I believe we will still see some thunderstorms in the afternoon but they should not be as widespread or as severe as today's activity. I will update that statement in the morning.

Special Weather Statement

From NWS Miami:

441 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 2008

....STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS PARKLAND AND COCONUT CREEK...

AT 438 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT
A THUNDERSTORM WAS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING NEAR PARKLAND AND THIS STORM WAS
NEARLY STATIONARY.

THIS STORM WILL AFFECT...

COCONUT CREEK...
POMPANO BEACH...
PARKLAND...
NORTH POMPANO BEACH...
SANDALFOOT COVE...
MARGATE...

AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.

FREQUENT TO EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH...DIME-SIZED
HAIL...TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...OR A COMBINATION OF THESE ARE POSSIBLE.
LIGHTNING IS THE NUMBER ONE WEATHER RELATED KILLER IN FLORIDA. TREES
AND OPEN SHELTERS OFFER NO PROTECTION. WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 50 MPH CAN
DOWN SMALL TREE LIMBS AND BRANCHES...AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED SMALL
OBJECTS. SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE BUILDING UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

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Miami's Sounding Parameters

From this morning, looks interesting:

Message Date: Jun 21 2008 16:15:5912Z MFL SOUNDING PARAMETERS WITH A HIGH TEMP OF 90 DEGREES: EQ. LEVEL:48638; CAPE 4838; PWAT'S 1.89; 500 MB TEMP -9.1; LOWEST AFTN LI: -10 DEGREES AND WBZ HGT: 13770; HIGH CHANCE FOR WET MICROBURSTS.

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Short Term Forecast for Broward

1210 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 2008

..NOW...
THROUGH 130 PM...SHOWERS WILL START TO DEVELOP OVER INLAND
SECTIONS OF BROWARD AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AS HEATING INCREASES AND
THE SEABREEZE MOVES FURTHER INLAND.

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Numerous Thunderstorms Today

Could be an active weather day after all today. Latest HWO was just issued advising that numerous thunderstorms are likely today with some string to severe. We are looking at a high of 90F today. Nothing serious is on radar yet but we will keep an eye on it.

For local storm spotters the NWS is asking that activation may be needed today and to please monitor the situation and at least phone in any reports.

Updates to follow as needed.

Sky Picture

I just liked the colors of this one. This was taken shortly after the showers moved off shore tonight.

Some More Rain on Thursday

I was anticipating a bit more rain around today, but considering that we are still quite a bit behind in our rainfall totals we will take whatever we can get. MIA had 1.25 inches of rain today and PMP had a trace. Lake Okeechobee level at midnight was 9.27 feet, much below normal.

There was a Tornado Warning this evening for central Broward county which was allowed to expire at 7:30PM. There was no damage reported with the tornado or any other thunderstorms today.

Wednesday we have a 70% chance of rain according to the NWS, with locally heavy rains possible in some areas. Storms are expected to last through Thursday then a more normal pattern Friday through Sunday.

I will post an update in the morning to adjust the forecast.

This Afternoon's Weather Threats

For south Florida from the NWS Miami:

....NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TODAY...
...SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS GULF COAST BEACHES...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA.

..DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

RIP CURRENTS: SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH WILL OCCUR ALONG THE
GULF COAST TODAY, RESULTING IN A SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS.

THUNDERSTORMS: NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS
THE ENTIRE MAINLAND AND ATLANTIC WATERS, WITH SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED ACROSS THE LOCAL GULF WATERS. FREQUENT TO
EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING STRIKES AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE
PRIMARY THREATS WITH THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY.

WIND: A FEW ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY
ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA, WITH ASSOCIATED WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH
POSSIBLE.

HAIL: THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SMALL HAIL ASSOCIATED WITH THE
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY.

FLOODING: LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF
SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY, WITH PONDING OF WATER IN POORLY DRAINED AREAS
AND NUISANCE TYPE FLOODING POSSIBLE.

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Possible Heavy Rains on Tuesday and Wednesday

Not much time for an update but we are looking at the possibilitiy of heavy rains later today and tomorrow. A tropical wave will pass to our south and introduce the acttivity to the area in conjunction with our day time heating.

I will post more after I look at the morning data.
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Funnel Cloud/Waterspout East of Boca Raton

These images were taken Thursday, June 12, 2008 around 9AM from the Glades Road and I-95 area in Boca Raton, Florida. Sorry these pictures are not great but it was the best I could do while driving safely.

It has been a very busy week for funnel sighting along the southeast Florida coast. Besides this one I also saw one on Wednesday night east off shore Lighthouse Point, Florida.

More Thunderstorms Thursday

After a storm Tuesday and more showers today we will have some drier air working into the area for the weekend. Yesterday we had quite a few severe thunderstorm warnings and special marine warnings. Several waterspouts were reported yesterday along with one that I spotted and reported to the NWS just before 7PM about 9 miles east of Lighthouse Point, Florida. Ranfall amounts were generally light along the coast and increased towards the middle of the counties.

Today was not nearly as severe but we did have one Severe Thunderstorm Warning for central Broward and a couple reports of hail in Palm Beach county.

For Thursday we should see some showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon, a little less on Friday then some drier air will take over for the weekend where we will have about a 20% chance of precipitation.

Lastly tonight, we are watching an area of disturbed weather east of Venezuela that should move inland tonight. Models are being run on this system and I will continue to monitor.

Unsettled Monday

Monday we should see quite a few showers and some thunderstorms around thanks to an upper level low spinning this way. You can see it in the above image just to the east of south Florida. This low along with the heating of the day will lead to a chance of some of the thunderstorms tomorrow being strong.

Will update in the morning with the latest.

Rip Currents Today

A reminder from the NWS:

....HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY...

MODERATE EASTERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH ALONG THE ATLANTIC BEACHES
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING WILL RESULT IN A HIGH RISK OF RIP
CURRENTS. THE RISK COULD BE HIGHER LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WHEN LOW
TIDE IS EXPECTED.

A RIP CURRENT IS A 10 TO 30 YARD WIDE CHANNEL OF WATER THAT CAN
PULL EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER FROM NEAR OR INSIDE THE SAND BAR INTO
DEEPER WATER. DUE TO THE LIFE THREATENING DANGERS THAT THESE
STRONG CURRENTS OF WATER POSE...SWIMMING IS NOT ADVISED AT THE
ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY.

HOWEVER...IF YOU DO GO INTO THE WATERS...SWIM AT GUARDED BEACHES
AND HEED THE ADVICE OF THE BEACH PATROL. IF CAUGHT IN THE SEAWARD
PULL OF A RIP CURRENT DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY TOWARD SHORE
AGAINST THE CURRENT. INSTEAD...SWIM SIDEWAYS PARALLEL TO THE COAST
UNTIL THE PULL WEAKENS. THEN SWIM TOWARDS SHORE AT AN ANGLE AWAY
FROM THE CURRENT.

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Funnel Cloud Video

Just posted on youtube.com:

Funnel Cloud East of Deerfield Beach

The above images were taken Sunday June 1, 2008 at 8:05am EDT in Deerfield Beach, Florida. I was approaching SE 10 Street heading north when my wife and I spotted the funnel cloud off to the east. I am estimating that the funnel cloud was in the area of the Deerfield Beach Pier.

I will be posting a video as well that we took.

The Hazardous Weather Outlook this morning did state that there was a high risk of waterspouts so it was not too surprising that the funnel cloud formed, I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right moment to capture it :)