A hot, humid start to our holiday weekend will end with a much different feel. I'm still locking onto a pretty strong cool front (for this time of yr.) that will roll through the area late Sat./Sat. night. As this front approaches, showers & storms will break out over Southeast Ga. & Northeast Fl. with some locally strong storms possible that could produce some hail & very gusty winds. Once the front moves through, gusty northeast winds will follow with much drier air & cooler temps. While an isolated brief coastal or near coastal shower will be possible due to strong onshore flow, the story will be the big temp./humidity change. High temps. will
struggle just to reach the upper 70s at the beaches & gusty winds will make it feel pretty cool. There will also be a high risk of rip currents at our beaches Sun. & Memorial Day -- be careful!
This from the city of Jax:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 20, 2008 –Huguenot Memorial Park visitors are advised to call before visiting the park over the Memorial Day holiday weekend to determine current tidal conditions. Periods of high tide or impacts related to beach and dune erosion may result in temporary beach restrictions or limited beach access during daytime hours. Campground and picnic pavilion functions should not be affected.
Visitors may check conditions by calling (904) 251-3335 or visiting this web site.
The National Weather Service predicts high tide at roughly 11:30 a.m. Friday, 12:10 p.m. Saturday, 12:53 pm. Sunday and 1:39 p.m. Monday. The mid-day tides will result in a 4.5 foot or higher rise in water levels along the beach, thus minimizing the area of shoreline navigable by vehicle and foot.
Managed by the City of Jacksonville’s Department of Recreation and Community Services, Huguenot Memorial Park is located at 10980 Heckscher Drive.
Huguenot Memorial Park will maintain regular hours over the holiday weekend. Day-use visitors may enter from 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. All but permitted campers and their authorized visitors must depart by 8 p.m. Visitors of campers should pre-register with the office and be issued a visitor pass to stay in the park until 10 p.m. Camping reservations by phone can be made Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Only pedestrian traffic is allowed on the beach after 8 p.m.
Well, well, well. What happened with all the heavy rain for Fri.??? It all seems to have come down to too much cloud cover for much of the day limiting our instability which limited the development of showers & storms. A large complex of storms over the Northeast Gulf spread clouds across the area so storms developed over Central & South Fl. & "overrunning" rain occurred to the north & northwest of Jax. The upper level disturbance ended up moving a little north of what was expected which also kept the more widespread rains to the north. Another upper level disturbance will move into the area Fri. night with scattered showers & storms + we'll have the storms Sat. so -- in the end -- we should still see areas that receive some locally very heavy rainfall. In fact, some locally heavy rain did occur late Fri./Fri. evening with some 1-2" amounts in St. Johns Co....the Southside of Jax along with Eastern Duval Co. & scattered portions of Southeast Ga.
Official storm surveys are ongoing for the Thu. tornado outbreak in Colorado, Kansas & Wyoming. But you can see some vivid doppler radar images from the massive Windsor, CO tornado (preliminary EF-3 rating) on the Denver N.W.S. web site as well as excellent photos on the Goodland, KS N.W.S. web site.
And severe weather redeveloped Fri. afternoon/evening. Read this very scary report/warning from the Dodge City, Kansas N.W.S.:
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR NORTHERN KIOWA AND SOUTH CENTRAL EDWARDS COUNTIES...
AT 826 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS AND STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GREENSBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...GREENSBURG...RURAL RESIDENCES OF NORTHERN KIOWA AND SOUTHERN EDWARDS COUNTIES.
GREENSBURG IS IN THE DIRECT PATH OF THIS TORNADO. TAKE SHELTER NOW!
THIS STORM IS CONSIDERED A SUPERCELL STORM. DESTRUCTIVE HAIL THE SIZE OF BASEBALL OR LARGER AND VERY DANGEROUS STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS WILL ALSO BE LIKELY NEAR THE TORNADIC PORTION OF THIS STORM.
You might remember Greensburg -- that's the town nearly wiped away just a little more than a yr. ago -- May 4th, 2007 -- on a Fri. night! Reports are still sketchy as of this writing but "considerable damage" has been reported -- if not in -- very near Greensburg.
I visited the Naval Station, Mayport Fri. morning to discuss hurricanes with one of the helicopter squadrons (HSL 40) & their safety stand-down. I felt honored to stand in front of so many (300+!) brave men & women protecting our freedom every day. A salute to all those in our Armed Forces on this Memorial Day weekend.
Check out the photo below -- beautiful shot of cumulonimbus clouds as an intense storm rolled through Glynn Co. Wed. afternoon not far from Brunswick. This storm produced hail & damaging winds. Notice the strong updrafts -- a cauliflower-look to the clouds next to cumulonimbus clouds that have been "glaciated" -- upper level winds have started to spread out the anvil, in other words. Thanks to Naomi Pickett!
"Phoenix" is scheduled to land on Mars Sun. with the potential for some exciting & fascinating photos & data. Click here for more!
Earth Gauge: Tow the Line
Did you know that clothes dryers across the U.S. collectively use about 66 billion kilowatt-hours of energy each year? It takes about 34 million tons of coal to produce that much energy! With nice weather in the forecast, this is a great time to think about drying your clothes with an abundant, free and natural source – the sun.
Tip: Consider adding a clothesline in your yard – you’ll save around 85 dollars per year on energy bills, which adds up to more than 1500 dollars of savings over the average dryer’s lifetime. Added benefits: line-drying is less damaging to clothes and can help prevent static cling and wrinkles.
Don’t have an outdoor area to hang clothes? Try placing a drying rack near an open window that receives ample sunlight.
Need to use the dryer? Increase energy efficiency by drying only full loads, and making sure the lint trap is clean.
(Sources: McKay, K. and J. Bonnin. “True Green: 100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to A Healthier Planet.” The National Geographic Society, Washington, DC; National Geographic Green Guide. “Rediscovering the Clothesline.” March/April 2006
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Climate Fact: AMO and THC
The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), or the North Atlantic’s periodic shift (65-year period) from predominately warm to predominately cool regimes, controls much of the climatic variability in the Northern Hemisphere. During warm (positive) AMO phases, the Northern Hemisphere is generally warmer, by as much as a few degrees Fahrenheit when compared to the cool phases. This cycle appears to be linked to periodic fluctuations in the strength of the thermohaline circulation (THC), or the “conveyor belt” that moves heat and salt around the world’s oceans. In the North Atlantic, a surface current transports warm water north and then “overturns” near Greenland and becomes a deep cold water current that moves south. The northward movement of warm water is strongest at about 30 degrees North (about the same latitude as New Orleans), where over 40 billion gallons of water pass each second! The strengthening of this current, which has been happening since the 1970’s, has corresponded to the rise in North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and Northern Hemisphere land temperatures.
(Sources: Knight, JR et al. “A signature of persistent natural thermohaline circulation cycles in observed climate.” Geophysical Research Letters 32 (2005): L20708 and Bryden, et al. “Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25 degrees N.” Nature 438 (2005): 655-657.)
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Climate in the News – "El Niño May Have Been Factor in Magellan's Pacific Voyage – Science Daily, 16 May 2008
Magellan's 16th Century journey around the world coincided with an El Niño event, which helped his passage through the Pacific.
Come on out Sun. evening to enjoy the 20th annual "Concert on the Green" in Orange Park. This is a fundraiser for scholarships for Clay Co. students. I'll be the emcee -- see ya' there!
Have a great & safe holiday weekend!!
