Another day of storms Tue.....& Wed. will be very similar. But changes are just around the corner.
First....the Wed. storms. An upper level trough of low pressure will be nearby if not overhead Wed. with an upper level disturbance approaching as well. This combined with morning the sun that will push temps. close to 90 degrees by noon + high humidity will lead to heavy & strong t'storms that will generally move east or maybe a little southeast.
A subtle wind shift to the northeast Thu. should start to push most of the showers & storms inland & probably mostly south & west of Jax by late in the day. The northeast to east surface winds will become stronger Fri. through the weekend. This brings about:
** showers near the coast overnight into the early morning
** showers/isolated t'storms mostly inland
** overall rain amounts far less than recent days
** cooler temps.
** rough seas/surf & an enhanced rip current risk at area beaches
Obviously....we need a break from at least the very heavy rainfall. Storms were strong again Tue. Straight line winds peeled a metal roof off a building in St. Augustine. Winds were estimated at near 60 mph & much of the reason for the damage was because 3 large bay doors were open. From the Jax N.W.S.:
0352 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 SW ST. AUGUSTINE 29.88N 81.33W
06/12/2012 ST. JOHNS FL NWS EMPLOYEE
ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A SAINT AUGUSTINE TIRE. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 60 MPH. THREE BAY DOORS WERE OPEN AT THE TIME AND WHEN THE WINDS BLEW INSIDE...THE ROOF WAS RIPPED OFF. ALL DEBRIS IS IN THE SAME DIRECTION. A PLANT NURSERY ACROSS THE STREET HAD PLANTS BLOWN OVER...ALL IN THE SAME DIRECTION.
We also apparently had a waterspout at Jax Beach near 3pm. We might manage photos of the storm by Wed. morning. In any case....photos below are from Deanna Konowal, St. Augustine Beach (nice roll cloud/gust front)...Lisa in Mayport (another roll cloud)....Mike Cornell, St. Augustine Regional Airport...April Lacoss, Fernandina Beach...Dawn Wade - a beautiful reflection of a rainbow.
It appears a funnel cloud occurred Mon. evening near Yulee (Nassau Co. about 20-25 mi. north of Jax) as a line of storms built southward while the individual cells moved east. You can see the funnel cloud video on my FB fan page -- click here -- shot by Keith Flanagan. Radar screen shots below are very helpful & were provided by Howard Altschule of Forensic Weather Consultants. Both images were at 7:49pm -- the first shows "reflectivity" or rain in other words. You can make a slight hook echo (curl) just southeast of Yulee. The 2nd image shows velocity & the slightly brighter green southeast of Yulee is -- again -- the hook echo or rotation in the storm. This is not a very strong signature which
is why the funnel never touched down & was brief. It's likely that the interaction of the outflow boundary pushed out by the storms & the sea breeze &/or other outflow boundaries allowed for just enough localized shear to produce the brief funnel.
And while on the subject of twisters....check out the tornado video from -- of all places -- Venice, Italy -- click here. While not real common, tornadoes have occurred in Italy before. In fact, in Sept., 1970 a tornado in Venice killed 36 & a tornado 5 yrs. earlier in Parma killed 25.
