'Golf ball-sized' hail, nearly 3 inches of rain from weekend cold front; more could follow

Corey Arwood, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·3 min read

Showers and storms are expected to continue early this week following a weekend cold front that brought golf ball-sized hail and a funnel cloud sighting plus nearly 3 inches of rain to some areas of the Treasure Coast.

Meteorologists said the rain likely will help ease severe drought conditions across the region.

A roughly 60% chance of rain is expected Monday night and will begin to diminish Tuesday, as dry weather with lower temperatures -- highs in the upper 70s to low 80s -- follow for much of rest of the week, federal weather forecasters said.

The cold front Sunday produced what meteorologist Kole Fehling with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Melbourne said were “quite a bit of good strong storms across the area.”

Satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the remnants of cold front moving east across the Florida peninsula around 10:15 a.m. EDT Monday.
Satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the remnants of cold front moving east across the Florida peninsula around 10:15 a.m. EDT Monday.

In Port St. Lucie and White City, he said storm reporters documented golf-ball sized hail up to 1.75 inches, but no damage to property.

In Port St. Lucie, there were reports of 1.75 inch or "golf ball sized" hail from storms in a cold front that moved across the Treasure Coast Sunday April 16.
In Port St. Lucie, there were reports of 1.75 inch or "golf ball sized" hail from storms in a cold front that moved across the Treasure Coast Sunday April 16.

St. Lucie County received the most rain of each Treasure Coast county.

“Fort Pierce saw the most rain in that area (at) 2.7 inches,” Fehling said.

Weather data recorded at the Vero Beach Regional Airport showed, 0.73, or just under an inch of rain while radar estimates from Martin County projected “up to 2 inches” Sunday, Fehling said.

Ahead of the weekend the entire east central part of the state was under what the U.S. Drought Monitor classified as severe drought.

Drought conditions monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are updated every Thursday, but Fehling said he expects to see portions of the Treasure Coast have at least “reduced levels of drought” following the rainfall from the weekend.

As of Monday evening, the agency's damage survey in southern Brevard County found that the tornado which touched down in the Micco area was part of a different storm system than one which spawned a funnel cloud sighting reported in Sebastian or northern Indian River County Sunday.

The funnel cloud seen in Sebastian, was what meteorologist Cassie Leahy called a fair weather funnel, and is typically associated with waterspouts, and can form in minor storm conditions.

In this case, Leahy said the funnel formed in what was "actually just a shower," around 4 p.m. while the tornadic activity just north of the county line in the Micco area occurred between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., she said.

So far, she said, meteorologists have not found any tornadoes that either formed or touched down on the Treasure Coast.

Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 'Golf ball-sized' hail, nearly 3 inches rain on TC from weekend front