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2002-2003
Florida Dry Season Storm 1
November 15-18, 2002
The first storm of the 02-03 dry season announced
the start of a potentially very active season. Lasting from 15 November
to 18 November with the day of biggest impact on the 16th, the storm is classified
as a Gulf Low with a Southern Jet (for more information about
our storm classification see the 14th
Symposium on Global Change and Climate Variations American Meteorological
Society 83rd Annual Meeting paper). NCEP's Hydrometeorological Prediction
Center (HPC) surface
maps (7 A.M. EST) show a 1004 mb low over the Florida Big Bend., map animations from the Climate
Prediction Center (7 P.M. EST) illustrate the evolution of the low. The lowest
average pressure recorded over the Florida
grid was 1010.75mb.
Locally there was a storm
report of a microburst over Sam's Club in West Melbourne. South of
Tampa Bay reported rain up to 10
inches and some local flooding. To the North, NWS Jacksonville put out
a Significant Weather Alert for Strong Thunderstorms with Gusty Winds
of 45 to 55 MPH.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 2
November 20-23, 2002
The second storm of the season was considerably
weaker than the first with a pressure recorded over the Florida grid of
only 1012.36mb. While there was a
very strong subtropical Gulf Jet over Florida typical of El Nino
conditions, limited low level moisture was available to the broad
developing low pressure center over Florida and it did not develop
significantly until it moved up the Atlantic Seaboard and joined with a
second low bringing significant precipitation to the Ohio Valley and the
Northeast (see CPC animations and HPC
daily map analyses). The storm was classified for Florida as a
southern low with associated Gulf of Mexico jet stream)
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 3
December 12-15, 2002
While the pressure with the developing Gulf
low over the state of Florida didn't reach very low (average 1012.46mb),
because of a classic strong El Nino season subtropical Gulf jet overhead
and a good feed of tropical moisture there was excessive rainfall and
isolated severe weather associated
with Storm 3. Both HPC
surface maps and CPC animations
indicate the storm was a Gulf Low with a Gulf Jet. With the jet coming out of the
Gulf and right over Florida, these
conditions are prime for severe weather and heavy rainfall. NWS Melbourne issued several
severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for this storm. Around noon
there was a tornado touch down in Wabasso
Florida. Of note was that this was the only severe weather
reported in the Nation on this day as recorded
at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman Oklahoma. Severe weather
was limited due to the unidirectional nature of the low level flow and
marginal instability.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 4
December 23-26, 2002
This storm was classified as a southern low
with southern jet combination as indicated in the CPC
animations and the HPC
surface maps. Also, the HPC Surface Maps show a
cold front passage on the 25th. 20
tornado reports and 45 wind damage reports in Alabama, Georgia, and
North Florida are associated with the passage of the low. The lowest pressure
over the Florida grid was 1012.4mb
on the 25th.
Storm 3 and 4 were largely responsible for making December one of the
wettest on record in central Florida.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 5
December 30-January 04, 2003
This storm was classified as a southern low
with a moderate strength Gulf subtropical jet using the CPC animations and
HPC
surface maps. No reports
of severe weather were associated with this storm. However heavy
rainfall of
over
4 inches of rain in some areas of central Florida fell on the new year.
The lowest pressure recorded over the Florida grid was 1011.4mb
on the 1st.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 6
February 20-24, 2003
Storm 6 brought the pressure over the
Florida
grid down to 1006.17mb on the 22nd
and was classified as a southern low with Gulf jet using CPC
animations and HPC
surface maps. However, the Gulf Jet over Florida was moderate and
Florida itself didn't have a whole lot of severe activity. The rest of
the East Coast wasn't so lucky. There were 3
Tornado reports, 123 wind damage reports, and 33 large hail reports
stretching from North Florida to West Virginia. This storm dropped precipitation
up to about
2 inches in some areas of the East Coast.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 7
February 25-March 01, 2003
Both HPC
maps and CPC animations confirm
that Storm 7 can be classified as a Gulf Low with a Southern jet. The
lowest pressure over the Florida grid was 1011.33.
A few hail reports were associated with this storm. The first on Feb
26 in Madison county Mississippi and the second on Feb
28 in Jackson county Florida. There were other storm reports of damaging
wind and hail on March
01 associated with the transition from storm 7 into storm 8. Daytona
Beach, FL
received Record Rainfall
on Feb 28.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 8
March 01-03, 2003
Close examination of HPC
maps and CPC animations reveal
that this storm develops from a low pressure trough in the Gulf
of Mexico with a strong southern track subtropical jet stream. The overall pressure over the
Florida barely reached minimum storm criteria
with 1012.41mb. No storm
reports were received with this storm other than on the March
01 transition from Storm 7 to Storm 8. A new
record for daily rainfall of 1.48 inches was recorded at Daytona on
Mar 03.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 9
March 15-22, 2003
This storm was classified as a Southern Storm
with Southern Jet using the CPC
animations and HPC
maps . The lowest pressure over the Florida grid was 1003.53mb
on the 18th - the lowest recorded of the dry season. This storm came from
the Great Plains area down to Texas moving east into Arkansas before moving
up to the Great Lakes area. This storm affected a large area (18th,
19th,
20th)
including Florida. A Storm survey was done
for Tornadoes that touched down in NWS Tallahassee's area. In NWS Melbourne's
area a Storm Survey was
done on possible Tornado damage. Overall, not much
rainfall over Florida came with this storm (with a max of about .59
inches in some areas).
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 10
March 26-29, 2003
This storm was classified as a Gulf
low with
a weak Gulf jet that is later enhanced by a strong southern jet after
the storm passes Florida. The HPC
surface maps as well as the CPC
animations provide a good depiction of Florida inside
the warm sector of the low. This storm turned out to be the most significant
severe weather producer of the season in Florida. The
lowest pressure over the Florida grid was 1010.15mb
on the 27th
which was the big weather day for Florida. There were 9
Tornado reports, 10 wind damage reports, and 18 hail reports all along
the west coast and south Florida. There was a Fatality
reported with one of the Tornadoes in Miami-Dade County and at least
6 tornadoes reported in the NWS Miami area. Rainfall amounts over Florida on the 28th
and the 27th
were relatively light.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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2002-2003 Florida Dry
Season Storm 11
April 24-28, 2003
After almost a month of no storm activity
a northern storm with associated
Gulf jet put Florida in the warm sector of the passing low and pulled
down a
cold front far enough south to affect Florida. The day
of greatest activity was on the 25th with several large hail reports
along the east coast, a few tornadoes in north Florida, and some wind
damage. The lowest pressure was a day later at 1007.51mb
on the 26th.
Click on map to see animation of the storm.
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