WEATHER MADE CLEAR FOR ALL TO HEAR

"But seeing they could not See; hearing they could not Hear"
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"From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds." - Job 37:9.

"The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course".

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Latent Marginal Potential For Strong/Severe Storms Late Today (East Side) - Watching Wednesday



TODAY: Clouds and showers (even thunder after midnight along the east coast) has cleared out with sufficient clearing for ample heating and atmospheric destabilization. Overall precipitable water is not exactly 'abundant' yet is sufficient for storms to manifest mainly late day along moisture convergence boundaries namely along the east/west coast sea-breeze merger which should hold steadfast near  I-95  give or take 5-10 miles either direction) given latest KSC sounding data , assuming nothing else significantly changes in the wind fields .

KSC sounding revealed a significant dry layer between 700 - 500mb which without ample forcing would result in mainly low topped showers which in fact is what most model guidance is showing in their projections of  late day 'radar simulations'. On the other hand, it does appear that the sea breeze will form with ample heating resulting in thermal spike down the spine of the state which could result in some low level yet broad cyclonic overtures across most of North Central down northern parts of South Florida.  The Convective Temperature as of early today was up at 88F, which means at least mid-afternoon or later for true storms to form across Central Florida if not later (if at all).





That said - with ample CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) in place and upper level temperatures 'sufficiently cool' with 5C/-10C (700mb/500mb respectively) but not overly impressive --  storms could be able to generate along sea breeze mergers. It is possible that much of how today ends up will be contingent both upon the timing of the sea breeze mergers and how diffuse (or not) the west coast sea breeze will be as well as if that drier layer will 'fill in' a bit during the day.

The better chance for storms at least in regard to coverage will be near and south of Lake Okeechobee, while the 'slightly better chance for more isolated but possibly stronger would be from near West Palm or Ft Pierce toward Mims and west toward far eastern Seminole/Orange Counties contingent upon how for west the east coast sea breeze manages to translate.

The morning KSC Sounding showed wind aloft to be sufficient for wind gusts even in rain showers near 25-30pm but if a big storm goes up and punches through the dry layer a severe storm is not at all out of the question with winds in excess of 58 mph (or in the 'Severe' Category (CAT) ) 

WEDNESDAY: Not much change for this day in regard to timing of possible severe storms. The 4KM NAM shows severe near Tampa and strong to severe eastward toward the Cape Area by late morning (west side first) toward the east prior to or near noon time.

On the other hand, the GFS focus is more on mostly moderate to heavy rains at times with thunder.

Given increasing winds aloft with cold air present and the frontal boundary on the approach the "Marginal Severe Risk" is in place by The SPC (Storm Prediction Center) yet still for almost all of the state as the boundary works from North Florida to South Florida after dark. However tomorrow pans out will be most interesting as the NAM shows not much in rainfall at all.

 Its simulated radar shows cold cloud tops but little rainfall whereas the GFS has been consistent in a band from near I-4 south toward Vero Beach in a swath across the state of totals up to and even possibly exceeding 2" from late morning toward early evening. Central / North could be done with rainfalls prior to sunset even.

BEYOND: Much cooler especially Friday and Saturday mornings with some mid-upper 50F's possible but likely warming quickly after sunrise. Cooler in the afternoons as well by 5-7F (perhaps) but what will make the biggest difference will be the drier quality of the air as opposed to the conditions we are now having and will continue to be in through Wednesday with the higher dew-points.

No rainfall really expected then after Wednesday until mid-late week NEXT week.

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