An elongated tropical disturbance (now known as Invest 94L) that has been over the northwestern Caribbean Sea the last few days, and that has brought flooding rains to Miami-Dade County, has finally begun to track northeastward into the Bahamas. Rainfall recored already for the month of May in Miami is 12.30 inches (avg. 3.40), and kicking off a fast start to the summer wet season.

Metro Southeast Florida has experienced some very impressive rainfall totals over the last 72 hrs, and the system that is to blame for all the heavy precipitation is now possibly slowly organizing into a tropical low east of the peninsula. The National Hurricane Center Wednesday afternoon upgraded the outlook to 40% of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours or so for the weather system over the long holiday weekend.

Gusty winds in the low range of tropical storm force have been blowing across metro Broward and Miami-Dade Counties today, as the tropical system just offshore tightens up the pressure gradient. For a short time today, the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning, but has canceled it in the last hour as winds have begun to subside along the coast.

Could We See Tropical Storm Beryl This Weekend?

Everyone will be closely monitoring the tropical disturbance going into Memorial Day weekend for any signs of becoming a sub-tropical or fully tropical storm offshore the southeast United States. There is some computer forecast support for development, and the current trends today to the east of the state possible show an organizing system. Keep tabs on the weather this weekend if you'll be along coastal area's of the southeast as there could be yet another tropical storm before the actually beginning to hurricane season on June 1st.

A hurricane Air Force recon flight will be investigating Alberto later this afternoon to see how organized he really is, although his satellite presentation shows a well developed low-level circulation that is exposed from deep convection as drier air has wrapped into the system.

At this time, weak Alberto is forecast to remain offshore and turn to the northeast and out to sea while remaining a tropical storm.

The early start to the rainy season couldn't have come at a better time, as drought conditions were becoming worse as we moved into early May, and ground conditions were very dry fueling some brushfires across the state.

Some of the storms, as seen in the one above, have reached severe limits producing damaging straight-line winds and large hail. Even a few tornado warnings have been issued, as storms would track eastward and interact with the East Coast seabreeze boundary where the winds were more backed along the coast increasing low-level wind shear. Luckily none of the storms have become too dangerous outside of some damaging gusty wind's and lightning.

More thunderstorm action is forecast as we move into the weekend, although more isolated in nature with drier air in the mid and upper-level's moving by Saturday. Should make for a great beach weekend, but be sure to keep an eye to the skies as you get into the late afternoon hours when lightning will become more of a hazard to beach bums. 

The traditional beginning of the Florida wet season doesn't start until the late May or so, but this past week it felt more like it got an early start. The last several days has brought numerous showers and  thunderstorms (some strong) each afternoon and evening.

Unfortunately, most of the heavy showers and storms were focused over the interior and eastern portions of the peninsula, leaving the west coast starving for more rainfall with the very dry conditions. However, the rain that did fall across the state was very beneficial in helping the drought conditions as we near the end of the dry season.

The lightning storms did help to spark a few small brushfires in Central and South Florida, but nothing that's out of control at this time. A weak frontal boundary will be clearing through the state this weekend and helping to dry things out, but could kick up the winds a little helping to spread some of the smaller fires. Nevertheless, it was great to receive some heavy rainfall the last several days… And we'll take it. Have a great weekend!

Onlookers outside of SunFest gathered along seawalls and  on boats to catch the traditional firework show, including myself. I set up my tripod and camera to film a beautiful time-lapse video looking north towards the firework barge that was sitting out in the intercoastal waterway on the other side of the Okeechobee Boulevard bridge.

Just like last year, the weather was outstanding, and this time with a large vivid moon to the east rising over the Atlantic Ocean as the fireworks began to light up the sky. A very enjoyable evening, and I hope you like the short time lapse video.

Heavy rains continue across metro southeast Florida and the Florida Keys, as a almost stationary mid and low-level low meanders over the Florida Straits.

The weekend brought heavy rainfall along with flood watches between Miami and West Palm Beach. It definitely was not the best weekend for outdoor activities, including canceling the air-show in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday and other beach activities. The Miami Marlins game seem to be the only great place to be hanging out on a rainy Sunday outside of heading to a local movie theater or mall. The new beautiful ballpark facility finally got to break in that covered roof allowing fans to enjoy the game without having to run for the nearest covered food courtyard.

The rain is very welcome due to drought conditions here toward the end of the dry season, but too much rain over little time can be problems in low-lying areas dealing with street flooding especially in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. More afternoon rains are expected today going into tonight as the system slowly moves out of the area by midweek, as well as gusty easterly winds due to the tight pressure gradient. 

The Florida rainy season typically begins in mid to late May and we're only a few weeks away. Many other regions across the peninsula could use some significant rainfall to put a dent in the drought and help keep brushfires to a minimum until those Sea-breeze circulations and afternoon lightning storms crank up for the summer weather pattern.

The weekend brought several rounds of heavy showers and thunderstorms to the state, all associated with a series of upper-level weather disturbances and one beefy cut-off upper-level low pressure system.

Thursday and Friday afternoons gave way to isolated strong thunderstorms interacting with breeze and outflow boundaries. These storms were enhanced by upper-level disturbances with strong winds and cooler air aloft. There were isolated reports of small hail and damaging winds but nothing too serious, however, if you're a storm buff like myself you are entertained by beautiful storm structure, and there was plenty of that to go around both days. The storms remained linear but produce some amazing shelf cloud scenes over the flat landscapes of Central and South Florida.

Overnight Friday another round of storms and heavy rain moved in associated with mesoscale convective system (MCS) in the Gulf of Mexico. These rains and clouds cleared out by midday Saturday allowing some heating to take place but not enough to have widespread severe storms. By this time, the strong upper-level low was tracking into the central Gulf of Mexico and turning east towards Florida. It wasn't clear if another round of even stronger severe storms would develop after the atmosphere being worked over from the previous line of storms on Saturday.

Overnight Tornado Watch Issued

Later Saturday evening it was becoming clear that new storms we're beginning to develop in the eastern Gulf and would track over the peninsula late that night. Low-pressure was developing in the Northeast Gulf and trying to phase with the upper-level low. The surface low was helping to back the winds across the central and southern peninsula, and prompted the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) to issue a tornado watch that covered from Orlando to Key West. Luckily for all the sleeping residents and visitors no tornadoes ever materialized, but a very intense squall line did develop and rake the state during the overnight hours.

The long intense line of storms had several bow echo features that produced straight-line wind damage and some hail reports. Luckily the earlier storms on Saturday reduced the instability over the region keeping the intensity of the line of storms under control.

We'll Take All The Rain We Can Get

The strong storms brought very beneficial rain to the state, with many locations picking up 1-3 inches, and some isolated higher amounts. We'll know over the next few days if all that lightning action has helped to spark additional wildfires.

Breeze Boundary Evening Magic

A very isolated, weak and short-lived pulse thunderstorm developed around sunset on Wednesday, and I was able to capture a beautiful timelapse video of it. The cell developed on a lake breeze boundary colliding with the west coast breeze boundary in far western Okeechobee County, FL.

The storm only produced a few lightning strikes during it's mature stage, and just has quickly as the cell developed on the boundary, it collapsed and dissipated with the loss of daytime heating and shallow moisture. Always an awesome sight to see this early in the season, and with a fantastic sun setting in the background.

Looking Ahead for More Storms Late Tonight 

Another round of more storms are forecast for late tonight (some strong), so I will be back out on the hunt for some lightning opportunities and maybe another timelapse.

Enjoy the video!

The Lone Coconut Palm

I found myself stopping at the local fishing marina for Lake Okeechobee to scout some shooting spots. This marina was banged up pretty bad by Hurricane Wilma back in 2005 destroying most of the marina. Today it has been rebuilt into a really nice park and marina, and I come here sometimes during the summer months to film lightning storms moving in off the lake.

After scouting around for a bit, I found this lone coconut palm tree that I knew I wanted to frame up with the setting sun. Before the hurricane there use to be more older and taller coconut palms in this region around the southeast side of the lake, but Wilma took care of that when those intense category 2 winds in the backside of the eye moved right over this location.

Throw Some Distant Storms Into The Mix

At the time I was searching and finding my place on the levee to frame up my shots, I wasn't aware of the ongoing isolated thunderstorms along the FL west coast. Sure enough after firing up Radarscope on my iPhone I could see storms on the west coast boundary and was hoping it would add to the sunset. As the sun got lower in the sky I could start to make out the storm anvil clouds along with several contrails vividly lit by the sun.

I was all ready for the show, and began to shoot stills and video off and on for the next 20-25 minutes as the sun quickly lowered in the western sky. It was really an amazing sunset, with distant convection for March and felt more like late April weather with the light easterly breeze and warm evening temperatures. Not to mention the blood-sucking mosquitoes that quickly began their assault on me as soon as the sun fell below the cloud line. I was pleased that I made the decision to head out to the Glades for an evening sunset photo ops, and it was all worth the drive out there.

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Controlled Burn or Full-on Brushfire?

I first noticed the large impressive plume of smoke on SR 710 in Martin County, and decided to check out the source since I already had my camera gear with me. I turned onto 714 in western Martin County and drove a few miles east, and this is where I encountered several fire rescue trucks staging along the side of the road.

They were at the entrance to a large ranch called "Martin County Ranches" and seemed to be evaluating the fire and road options to gain access to it. About 15 minutes later I noticed they packed up and headed out. A very nice Martin County Sheriff Officer drove up to me and said they were told it was a controlled burn across the county line.

Let's Go For A Buggy Ride

The fire looked a little large to me to be a controlled fire, but maybe the gusty winds flared it up more than what they had planned. Shortly after a very nice couple (David and Linda) came up to me as well in their off-road buggy. They lived on the ranch and invited me to take a ride with them way back towards the fire along the property line.  So, I jumped on the buggy with my tripod and HDSLR camera and off we went. 

At this point the fire looked to be settling down some with more white smoke over a smaller area. David and Linda took me back into some brush driving on some bumpy trails passing small wetlands and trees. Actually, it was like a little afternoon adventure in chase for a view of the fire. We reached the property line, and all that remained was smoldering smoke beyond the railroad tracks and it looked like the firefighters had things under control thankfully. Good thing too because the winds were gusty and I would of hated to see the fire reach the ranch.

A Thank You

A big thank you to David and Linda for their kind hospitality and invitation to take me back on their ranch to get a little closer to the fire. David told me he's a "storm buff" and I'll have to take him out on a lightning chase sometime.

I ended the afternoon driving over to the northeastern rim of Lake okeechobee. The area was down wind of the fire and the large smoke plume was making for a very interesting skyscape. The late day sun was beaming through the dark smoke clouds making an ominous sky that was also turning the lake waters bright orangey-red. Not something you see every day. I will check on the fire again tomorrow to make sure it hasn't flared back up.

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