"Buresh Blog": 2016 Weather Review

Dec. 28, 2016 — Locally.... 2016 will be remembered for the hot/dry summer & hurricane "Matthew" in early Oct.

JANUARY..... avg. temp.: 51.1 degrees/-2.0; rain: 2.83"/-0.47"

11th - 1st official freeze of the season at JIA (avg. is Dec. 8th)

14th - hurricane "Alex" forms over the far Eastern Atlantic south of the Azores - 1st Atlantic hurricane in Jan. since 1938.

23rd - snow flurries across the area!

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FEBRUARY.... avg. temp.: 55.7 degrees/-0.7; rain: 4.82"/+1.63"

3rd - record high low temp. of 68 degrees (65/1974)

4th - 2.83" of rain - a daily record (0.99"/1960)

24th - 80-100 mph t'storm gusts in Bradford Co. near Lawtey with some property damage

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MARCH.... avg. temp.: 66.1 degrees/+4.4; 1.83" of rain/-2.12"

31st - record tying high of 88 degrees (1954)

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APRIL.... avg. temp. 68.5 degrees/+1.5; 2.69" of rain/+0.05"

1st - EF-1 tornado near Dixie Union, Ga./Ware Co.

16th - Jax Beach rip current fatality (visitor from Michigan)

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MAY... avg. temp. 74.3 degree/+0.2; 2.29" of rain/-0.19"

6th - 45 degrees - ties the daily & all-time May record low

7th - 48 degrees - record low (49/2011)

13th - 2 hour lightning delay at "The Players"

17th - St. Augustine man critically injured by lightning

28th - Tropical storm "Bonnie" forms 250 miles northeast of Jacksonville... landfall as a tropical depression on the 29th near Charleston, SC.

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JUNE... avg. temp.81.1 degrees/+1.2; 3.09"of rain/-3.36"

2nd - "Bonnie" reborn as a tropical storm over the SW Atlantic over open water

5th - tropical depression #5 forms over the Southern Gulf of Mexico & becomes tropical storm "Colin"

6th - tropical storm "Colin" landfall on the Florida Big Bend producing heavy rain & severe storms over Northeast Fl./SE Ga. including an EF-1 tornado on Jacksonville's Westside

Greg Chapman, lightning from t'storms associated with "Colin":

18th - 4.4" of rain in Nocatee

20th - tropical storm "Danielle" landfall on the Mexican coast

21st - 60 degrees ties the record low for the date (1965)

22nd - 62 degrees ties the record low for the date (1965 & 1879)

24th - 23 dead in W. Virginia flooding

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JULY... avg. temp. 84.3 degrees/+2.0; 2.14" of rain/-4.41" - 7th hottest / 3rd driest July on record

9th - 100 degrees - 1st official 100 degree temp. at JIA since July 30, 2010

12th - numerous large hail reports, downed trees including metro Jax. Photo below is hail damage to a car port just southeast of downtown Jax:

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AUGUST... avg. temp. 82.9 degrees/+1.1; 2.65" of rain/-4.15".... June/July/August rainfall of 7.88" at JIA - driest on record (8.71"/1954)

4th - Yulee tornado - EF-1 (photo below is a semi that crushed a car).... Cat. 1 hurricane "Earl" landfall near Belize City

I get a lot of great pics sent to me.... this is one of my favorites of the year:

14th - Weekend of massive Louisiana flooding

17th - Tropical storm "Fiona" forms over E. Atlantic

22nd - Tropical storm "Gaston" forms over Central Atlantic

31st - "Hermine" becomes a tropical storm over the Southern Gulf of Mexico

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SEPTEMBER... avg. temp. of 79.1 degrees/+0.9; 4.36" of rain/-3.83"

1st - "Hermine" becomes a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico - first hurricane over the Gulf since 2013 ("Ingrid")

2nd - Cat. 1 hurricane "Hermine" landfall near the Fl. Big Bend - 1st Florida landfalling hurricane since Oct., 2005 ("Wilma") - longest such stretch on record

7th - 62 degrees - record low (63/1997)

9th - 61 degrees - record low (62/2011)

13th - Tropical storm "Julia" develops near Jacksonville over land after the tropical system moved ashore Melbourne earlier in the day.... heavy rain & gusty winds but no significant damage. First Alert Doppler HD radar image below is from about 4pm before the storm was upgraded.

28th - Tropical storm "Matthew" forms over the Lesser Antilles

29th - "Matthew" goes hurricane over E. Caribbean

30th - Cat. 3 "Matthew" at 11am... Cat. 5 by 11pm

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OCTOBER... avg. temp. of 71.6 degrees/+1.2; 9.51" of rain/+5.58"

4th - "Matthew" Cat. 4 landfall on southwest coast of Haiti

7th - Closest approach of "Matthew' to NE Fl. - 45 miles east of Jax Beach... widespread wind damage & power outages... 6.28" of rain at JIA - a daily record (6.14"/1996)... read my (long!) blog post about "Matthew" -- here --.