Southeast Florida catches significant rain and wind from a frontal low as Tropical Storm Watches go up for portions of the Greater Antilles due to Potential Tropical Cyclone 22.
I forgot to mention, I’m only about four miles inland from the ocean. And how I know the feeder got moved...I have a camera secured to it for a citizen science project that I do, and I could tell when I looked at videos this morning it had moved. 😉
Here in Stuart, we actually had a recorded gust of 53 mph. I can’t believe the NWS is only showing more or less 30 mph gusts. They were *far* more than that; it was at least true mid tropical storm force winds! There were 56 mph gusts (42 steady) at 11:47 pm, and 64 mph gusts (55 steady) at 3:56 am recorded at the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge weather station. Winds were so strong, they broke off the top of a dying pine tree in the wetlands behind me, and even forced a caged platform bird feeder on a pole in my yard to go slightly off kilter.
I went out at about 11:00 last night with my anemometer (manual, handheld), in the front of my house, and while it was so gusty it nearly knocked me over, I only got 25-30 mph gusts at full force. (Too many obstacles/not high enough to record the *real* butt kickers 🫤). But gusts were very similar to when rain bands from an oncoming/passing hurricane come through.
Thanks for the obs! It was a remarkably "tropical-feeling" storm for a frontal low. The classic El Nino subtropical jet has kicked up in the past couple of weeks, while the southern Gulf and Caribbean remain quite warm, giving the frontal system some convective zhuzh. Wouldn't be surprised to see other potent non-tropical lows crossing Florida over the course of the winter, and it may well be an active severe weather season for us as well.
I forgot to mention, I’m only about four miles inland from the ocean. And how I know the feeder got moved...I have a camera secured to it for a citizen science project that I do, and I could tell when I looked at videos this morning it had moved. 😉
Here in Stuart, we actually had a recorded gust of 53 mph. I can’t believe the NWS is only showing more or less 30 mph gusts. They were *far* more than that; it was at least true mid tropical storm force winds! There were 56 mph gusts (42 steady) at 11:47 pm, and 64 mph gusts (55 steady) at 3:56 am recorded at the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge weather station. Winds were so strong, they broke off the top of a dying pine tree in the wetlands behind me, and even forced a caged platform bird feeder on a pole in my yard to go slightly off kilter.
I went out at about 11:00 last night with my anemometer (manual, handheld), in the front of my house, and while it was so gusty it nearly knocked me over, I only got 25-30 mph gusts at full force. (Too many obstacles/not high enough to record the *real* butt kickers 🫤). But gusts were very similar to when rain bands from an oncoming/passing hurricane come through.
Thanks for the obs! It was a remarkably "tropical-feeling" storm for a frontal low. The classic El Nino subtropical jet has kicked up in the past couple of weeks, while the southern Gulf and Caribbean remain quite warm, giving the frontal system some convective zhuzh. Wouldn't be surprised to see other potent non-tropical lows crossing Florida over the course of the winter, and it may well be an active severe weather season for us as well.