This webpage is a combination of personal observations from the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay area,links to other sites and
information on severe weather conditions. The information
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Meteorology & Weather Resume
University So. Florida Major in Geography 1972
Dr.Dewey Stowers Head of Geography Dept.
Instructor
Member Tripod Weather Pod
Member Central Atlantic Storm Investigators
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Member Florida Weatherwatchers
Member Southwest Florida Water Management
District Rainfall Reporting Network
Member Wx4u Weather Observers Network
Observed Weather Conditions Locally for 25 years
Knowledge of Radar - 4yrs Experience USAF
MEMBER of the
POD
RAINFALL STATISTICS for BROOKSVILLE, FL from 2002 Forward/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Prior to 2002 >
BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY CLIMATOLOGICAL
OBSERVATIONS
JANUARY 2008
Date H L Rain BP RH% SKY H/L# DP
1/1
*Significant reading for the Month
c/cloudy; f/fair; fg/foggy; pc/partly cloudy; r/rain;
s/sunny; sh/showers; t/thunderstorm; th/thunder; wdy/windy; h/heat index; hz/hazy;clr/clear;dp/dew point;w/wind chill;L#/ligthning strikes per minute. All readings taken at 2300 hrs each day
12/1/99 With a air temperature of 42.8 degrees,
Dew point of 30.0 degrees and wind chill of 29.2 Winter has
finally arrived. Highs are expected to reach only into
the mid 60's with further cooling expected this evening.
Open the windows and get some of the free air conditioning!!!
12/2/9 With the arrival of a large polar high pressure
cell, the morning low in the city of Tampa dropped to 38.1
degrees. This temperature isn't very low by some standards
but for central Florida quite a chill!! A dewpoint of 32.2
degrees and wind chill of 26.4 degrees was quite a wake up call.
12/24/99 The temperature this morming a 0600hrs was
45.9 degrees with a wind chill of 39.6 degrees! Pretty chilly
for central Florida. More to come tommorrow morning!
11/25/99 With a low of 34.2 degrees,wind chill of 24.9 degrees, and dew point of 30.1 degrees,central Florida was a bit chilly this morning. This is due to several arctic cold fronts that pushed their way through the state over the past
few days. They arrived just in timefor the hollidays.
Ho Ho Ho!!!!!
1/11/00 The last three consecutive mornings we have been
greeted to fog. On the 1/9/00 the entire state seemed to be
socked. This was verified from reports on theFlorida weather
ring and a large number of my Ham Radio friends around the state.
Its been unseasonably warm for this time of year.
Most likely due to the influence of "La Nina".
The weather should turn more seasonable toward the
weekend and stay coolfor about 3 weeks.
1/15/00 After an extremely breezy several days the
winds have subsided and and the very cool temperatures
have begun to moderate for a time. BP's of 30.62 and 30.55
indicated very heavy & cool Canadian air mass over the
State of Florida. This should moderate some what over the
next several days until the next bout of cold air
moves this direction for thearctic. Brrrr cold but
a welcome change from the very unseasonable
temperatures over the past month.
3/19/00 The National Weather Service has issued a
drought warning for several areas in the Southeast to
include the Tampa Bay Area. This is significant because
]there has never been a drought warning issued for this
area since the the NWS has been keepingr ecords for this
area. Hopefully there will be a break in this weather pattern
which has been caused by "La Nina" and the summer rains will
come and break the drought!!
4/5/00 Winter is taking its final gasp for the season in
Florida. A last season cold front passed through this area
yesterday bringing with it temperatures of 50 degrees for
lows and a wind chill of 31.8 degrees. Brrr cold!!!!! This
is concidering the heat index has been quite high lately.
This should be the last of the cold weather for the season
in this area.
5/9/2000 Another cold front blew through the Tampa Bay
area this morning ushering in another bout of arctic air
(humidity never passed 54% all day) chilly weather late in
the season. Low's in the urban areas were 45.3 Degrees
with winds of approximately 15 mph(wind chill 29.5 degrees)
out of the north. Could this be the last blast
form the north. Only time will tell!!!!
6/10/00 As a Result of the La Nina weather pattern,
The extreme drought that has had a stranglehold on North
and Central Florida will go down as the worst since records
have been kept in this area.
At 10 to 12 inches of rain down from normal at this time
of year, it will take at least two good tropical systems
to bring the water supplies of the area back to normal. I
personally observed the water level on the Hillsborough
River being so low that fishermen
have been picking up the fishing lures stuck between
the rocks on the shallow (ankle deep) river bottom.
This sounds a little strange but normally the river
in this arrea is usually 8-10 feet deep! Hopefully
this situation will right itself as the rainy season
approaches.
5/2/01 As the "la nina" weather cycle begins to wane,
the hope is that the normal amount of rains will fall on
the Florida penisula later on in the summer, Hopefully
the second half of the rainy season will be greater than
normal amount of rainfall. Keep your fingers crossed.
7/1/01 It appears that the long awaited rainy season
Has begun. With 5.50 inches for last month it was welcome
but still more is needed.
7/14/01 With passage of unsually strong cold front
through the Tampa Bay area, More much needed rain fell
around the area. Although very little fell in the city of
Tampa itself, much did fall in the rural areas of the the state.
Over 100 realtime radar images from all over the United States. Every major metro area in the U.S. is represented on this site. Probably the best radar coverage on the internet. Check it out! on the
This website contains over 400 wx photos,wx models animations,forcast,radar loops,archives,Lightning detection and satillite images from SE Queensland. An excellent look at Aussie weather conditions!!
Excellent coverage of local conditions as well nation wide trends. This site has one of the best doppler radar images in the state and is linked to other weather station as far away a Tallahassee!
The 1999 names from the NWS,weather service storm forcast,satallite graphics for Gulf and Atlantic basin,UN Navy analysis of tropical activity,climatological data and records.
National Weather Service office in Hawaii.Pacific hurricanes,tropicl summaries,predictions,typhoon warnings,names,all info on storms east of 140w long.
Atlantic and Pacific tropical activity monitor.Tropical summaries,predictions,names,world satallite images and trcking of all storms. This site has taken a big subject and done very well.
CNN has once again done their complete and professional coverage of the tropical weather which could effect the USA. Maps,graphics and satallites just to name a few areas are done perfectly. a
Excellent site for information on the Pacific tropical season. The highlight of this site is a tracking map that computes and tracks tropical disturbances anywhere in the world.A must to bookmark!!
Excellent educational site. Articles written by talented staff writers on topics such as Lift factor,soundings,500 mb maps,skew T's,thunderstorms,tornadoes. All this and a weatherforcast too. A must!!
Excellent look at the National Weather Service in Honolulu. This site is an excellent source of information on Pacific hurricanes and typhoons. A MUST SEE!!!!!
A storm acquires a name when its wind speed reaches 39 mph,making it a tropical storm.The names are given by the National Hurricane Center in Miami,which draws up a list for each year.
U.S weather services started giving storms female names in 1953, although military meteorologists had used women's names for storms in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The feminine names replaced a short-lived practice of using a phonetic - Able, Baker, Charlie - alphabet.
Gender balance came in 1978, when men's names were added for Pacific storms; Atlantic/Gulf storms alternated men's names onto the list in 1979.
Because there were few names that started with Q,U,X,Y and Z, those letters are skipped. Also,some hurricane names have been retired because a storm by that name inflicted heavy damage. The names below are the ones that will be used for the 1999,2000 & 2001 hurricane season.
2001 ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES
Allison Felix Karen Pablo Wendy
Barry Gabrelle Lorenzo Rebekah
Chantal Humberto Michelle Sebastian
Dean Iris Noel Tanya
Erin Jerry Olga Van
2000 ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES
Alberto Gordon Michael Tony
Beryl Helene Nadine Valerie
Chris Isaac Oscar William
Debby Joyce Patty
Ernesto Keith Rafael
Florence Leslie Sandy
1999 ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES
Arlene Harvey Ophelia Tammy
Bret Irene Philippe Vince
Cindy Jose Rita Wilma
Dennis Katrina Stan
Emily Lenny Maria
Floyd Gert Nate
SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE
Category Wind Speed Storm Surge
I 74/95 mph 4/5 ft.
II 96/110 mph 6/8 ft.
III 111/130 mph 9/12ft.
IV 131/155 mph 13/18ft.
V 155+ mph 18+
TERMS and CLASSIFICATION of UNSTABLE WEATHER
Tropical Disturbance - First stage of unstable weather which may develope progressively into a hurricane.
Tropical Depression - The disturbance continues to intensify. A clear defined low pressure area begins to emerge, and the highest wind speed is 38 mph.
Tropical Storm - The wind speed has increased to 39/73 mph, as the now distinct low pressure area is well defined by rotatng circulation.
Tropical Storm Watch - An announcement that a tropical storm may pose a threat to coastal areas, generally within 36 hours.
Tropical Storm Warning - A warning that tropical storm conditions are expected in a specific coastal areas within 24 hours.
Hurricane - Once a tropical storm's constant wind speed reaches 74 mph or greater, it's classified as a hurricane.
Hurricane Watch - An announcement that hurricane or hurricane conditions may pose a threat to a coastal area, generally within 3 hours.
Hurricane Warning - A warning that a hurricane is expected in a specified coastal area within 24 hours.
