Swimming with a manatee

I didn't see an alligator at the beach today,

But I did see a manatee while swimming.

This fish is real

It's tail fin arched out of the water about 20 ft to my left.

Storm of the day

I'm wondering if we might
not get rain later tonight

Storms of the century

Alma (Jun 1966) was the earliest,

And Kate (Nov 1985) was among the latest.


This calendar chart displays the history of storms
that made Florida landfall at hurricane strength.

Click on the dots to read a history of each.

But it's August, September and October that form the peak.

Here's the latest outlook for the upcoming year.

Hurricanes versus tornados

While tornado season is touching down in full fury,

The heavy part of hurricane season is still a few months away.

The North Atlantic Hurricane Season
officially begins on June 1st

This map shows a seasonal distribution of both seasons.

Tornadoes are scariest storms

There's this oft posed quandary about what is worse:

"Would you rather live in tornado or hurricane country?"

Comparison of hurricane and tornado seasons

But judging from the horrific news of recent years, I don't think there is a comparison to be made. Tornadoes strike with little warning and leave you little safe haven to hide. Not to mention they strike every year, too.

Florida hasn't had a hurricane make landfall since 2005.


But what really sticks out in my mind is this:

Hurricanes weaken over land compared to tornadoes which top out at full strength over the flat expanse of the Great Plains.


Tidal surge not withstanding, I'd take hurricane country every time.

Heavy rain

Straight ahead

Tamiami Trail
near Big Cypress
Bend

Old 84

Alligator Alley was once a single lane road.

Now its a super highway called I-75.

Over Big Cypress National Preserve,
looking east towards Ft Lauderdale

I regret having never driven on Old 84.

Hidden camp in the swamp

Somewhere between Miami and Naples

Why you still need your watch

Early May rains can be deceiving:

Normal monthly rain totals are already met, meanwhile the weather has once again turned dry.


Click on the links to view
detailed rain charts for each basin
Any rain that falls after May 1st I count in the rainy season half of the year.

But South Florida's true meteorologic wet season is still waiting to begin.


That usually happens between mid month and Memorial Day.

It in part depends on night-time low temperatures (consistently staying above 70 degrees) but also hinges on the location of regional high pressure systems which -- if they perch over the southeast -- can stifle the onset of normal sea and land breeze storms. You know the wet season has begun when you can practically set your watch to the afternoon darkening of skies (just don't plan on being on time -- clouds are not as accurate as atomic time).

Appearances are deceiving:
the monthly bar chart shows May at its midway point
to already be full even though the past two weeks
have largely been dry.

In summary, mid May finds us paradoxically well above normal ...

Yet in a dry spell waiting for the summer rains to begin.

How April fell short

April was very rainy by spring standards,

But it fell way short of being a Big Rain Month (BRM).

Big Rain Months
of South Florida,
2005 - present

What is a BRM?

It's any month when an average of 9 or more inches of rain fell across the entire south Florida peninsula. That doesn't happen much, but when it does it all but ensures that even the highest ground gets shallowly submerged. By my calculations we've only had 4 BRMs over the past eight years, all of which fell during the summer half of the year. Isaac gave us our last one (Aug 2012) and October 2011 before that.

June 2005 stands out as the biggest BRM of them all.