We have had a second threat. Cat. 5 Hurricane Milton-the second storm in10 days
to have to worry about. I just took my storm lines off a couple of days ago. I was hoping that considering getting to be mid-October, we were done for the year. Nope!!
This one was projected on a more southerly path
The eye was headed directly for Tampa Bay. Fortunately, the eye passed south of Tampa Bay. The reason I say that is because the winds of a Hurricane rotate counter-clockwise. That means the winds north of the eye would be pulling the water offshore and the winds south of the eye are pushing water onshore. IF the eye had been north of Tampa Bay it would have pushed water into the bay with no place for it to go but inland and that would have caused a major surge. Thankfully it did not. It hit around Sarasota. That was south of my brother in Pass-a-Grille and south of my Nephew in Tampa. Neither one suffered any surge. It’s kind of a moot point for my Brother, his house was destroyed last week in Helene. He is still trying to salvage what he can of his possessions so at least he doesn’t lose what little he has left.
Video of the dock during Hurricane Milton – Milton 3
Hurricanes are not common in October.
It is still technically “Hurricane Season”, but just as storms in early June, the beginning of hurricane season, are rare, the same is true once we get to the middle of October. Usually August and September are the most concerning times, but until we start getti1256ng a few Cold fronts moving south through the country, the threat still exists.
A Hurricane is a low-pressure system
and a cold front is a high-pressure system. Even a weak high pressure will stop or turn a hurricane. I’m not a meteorologist, so I can’t exactly tell you why, I just know it does. There have been times, such as Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Wilma, when a storm would have passed southwest of Key West, only to hit a cold front and have it turn the storm into Key West. Timing is everything! Basically, if the cold front gets here first, it protects us.
So far this year
We haven’t seen any cold fronts push this far south. It has to happen soon. I was back in NJ a few weeks ago for a High School Reunion and it was getting down into the 50s at night so the weather is cooling off. Unfortunately, the cooler weather just hasn’t gotten here yet. Once it does, it pretty much signals the end of Hurricane season and I am really looking forward to it! Besides the end of the probability of a major storm. I use the term “Probability” because, while Mother Nature can be wonderous………after 40+ years on the waters here, I know all too well, she can be a real Bitch too!
So for now, we are hoping for cool weather
That will let us breathe a little easier. Not to mention I’m looking forward to the end of the “big heat” of the summer. Because of the water, the air temperature has never hit 100 degrees here, but because of the humidity, the heat index can be over 110 and we’ve had a lot of days with a heat index over that this year. Looking forward to a chilly 75 degrees hopefully soon!