Heat Index over 100!

bob · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject: Heat Index over 100!

Seems to early for this!

1st 100 degree plus heat index of the season!

1;00pm 5/9/08
SW Cape Unit 64, Cape Coral, Florida (PWS)
Updated: 28 min 6 sec ago
89.0 °F / 31.7 °C
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity: 67%
Dew Point: 77 °F / 25 °C
Wind: 4.0 mph / 6.4 km/h / 1.8 m/s from the SSE
Wind Gust: 15.0 mph / 24.1 km/h
Pressure: 29.93 in / 1013.4 hPa (Falling)

Heat Index: 101 °F / 38 °C
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CONVECTIVEMIKE · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:37 pm Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

Shoot some of that stuff up here in the Bay area will ya' ??

bob · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 10:50 pm Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

Mike

You may enjoy all the heat and humidity THIS year, being your 1st full year in the Sunshine State. But you better believe your opinion will be different this time NEXT year! Even this year, come August and September, you will be longing for the less humid air of March and April.
The thunderstorms of summer usually do not start until the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Be patient, you will soon experience some spectacular storms!

bob
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alorfi · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 1:16 am Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

Bob, in reviewing rainfall records for the past 10 years, it has become my understanding that meaningful afternoon convective activity begins just a few days after the first of June. Of course, most measurements are taken a bit further inland... so is it possible the storms don't prominently reach the coast until later in the month?

bob · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

It all depends on the prevailing winds. A westerly component wind will keep the storms well inland and push them to the east.
An easterly component wind will push the storms toward our coast.
Main influencing factor on the prevailing winds is the establishment of the Bermuda High off our east coast. Once that sets up, Convective Mike will get his long awaited storms!

From Wikipedia:
Sea-breezes in Florida

Thunderstorms caused by powerful sea breeze fronts frequently occur in Florida, a peninsula surrounded on both the east and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, respectively. No matter which direction the winds are blowing, they are always off the water, thus making Florida the place most often struck by lightning in the United States, and one of the most on Earth. On especially calm days with little prevailing wind, sea-breezes from both coasts may collide in the middle, creating especially severe storms down the center of the state. These storms also tend to produce significant hail due to the tremendous uplift it causes in the atmosphere. In Florida, a sea-breeze pushed by prevailing winds may also continue past the land and out over the water at night, creating spectacular cloud-to-cloud lightning shows for hours after sunset

bob
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Sit back, relax and watch the show!

CONVECTIVEMIKE · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 10:21 am Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

Bob I am one of the few lizards that cant stand and if I may be as strong to say I loathe low humidity and cool conditions. I breathe better with at least 90 degrees and 60 percent humidity. I will always say I can 100 percent say all my life I love humid/hot conditions.

CONVECTIVEMIKE · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

From a weather underground station just 2 miles north of me. Now we are starting to talk serious heat index.

http://www.aroundmyhouse.com/wx.htm

alorfi · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: Re: Heat Index over 100!

The Gulf warms faster than the open Atlantic and when as that temperature imbalance increases by late-May, the Atlantic seabreeze is stronger than the Gulf breeze. Thus, the storms that develop as a result of the collisions will begin to drift in a westward fashion.

In mid-and-late-May, we see rather powerful seabreeze collisions, but the winds off the two coasts are about equal, so those storms tend to remain inland. It is only when the east coast seabreeze establishes dominance that the storms begin migrating toward the west coast.

By October, our daytime heating is subsided by the decreased sunshine and the contrast between landmass and ocean temperatures wanes. Thus, the seabreezes on both coasts are lessened and collisions (and resultant convective activity) begin to diminish.