Buresh Blog: Wet Season Ends... Help for Keys Bleached Coral Reef...First Alert Neighborhood Weather
“Talking the Tropics With Mike” updated each day through Nov. 30th.
We’re in the 2nd to last month of the Atlantic hurricane season. In most El Nino (warming of the equatorial Pacific) seasons when the El Nino is in full force such as this year, the back end of the season has a tendency to be quieter. Having said that, the first few weeks of Oct. have historically had some big storms. Most recently in 2016 - Hurricane Matthew moved just offshore of Fl. the first week of Oct. causing extensive damage along the coast in particular. The hurricane’s closest approach - approximately 40 miles offshore - to Jax Beach was on Oct. 7th. Then in 2018 on Oct. 10th, unforgettable Cat. 5 Michael was the first U.S. landfalling Cat. 5 since Andrew in Aug., 1992 decimating parts of the central & wester coast of the Fl. Panhandle [podcast from when I visited the hard hit Panhandle just a few months later * here *].
We (Jax/NE Fl./SE Ga.) have just exited the wet season which runs from June through September. The avg. for the 4 months combined is 28.81″ - more than half the annual avg. of 53.4″. We ended up just short of the avg. for the wet season but had an unusually dry Aug. (& early Sept.).
And now a nice taste of fall is on the way during the first week of Oct. Inland areas of Fl. & Ga. will likely see the coolest temps. in at least 5 months!
The Florida Keys were subject to an intense heat wave that peaked in July with water temps. well into the 90s & a few readings at 100 degrees F over several days. The result was one of the worst bleaching events on record for the Keys coral reefs. Oceanographers & other scientists have stepped in the past few months in an attempt to grow some healthy coral that can then be transplanted on the reef in the Keys. It should be noted that threats to the reef are not relegated to just warm ocean water but also from pollution & pesticides. The full story from my interview here:
We continue to grow our First Alert Neighborhood Weather Network powered by Tempest. The 2nd image below is from Duval Co. & is just a fraction of all the Tempest weather stations in the county. We also have stations in St. Johns, Nassau, Clay, Baker, Columbia, Bradford & Union Co. in Fl... & Glynn, Camden, Ware, Brantley & Pierce Co. but none yet in Charlton Co., Ga. Scan the barcode below for more info. & how to buy your weather station with a 10% discount.
