NOUS42 KMLB 011549
PNSMLB
FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147-020000-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1050 AM EST SAT JAN 1 2011
...2010 WAS A YEAR OF EXTREMES FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA...
...BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL WERE EXPERIENCED OVERALL
ACROSS THE AREA THIS PAST YEAR...
FROM ONE OF THE COLDEST STARTS TO THE YEAR ON RECORD TO ONE OF THE
HOTTEST SUMMERS AND THEN BACK TO A RECORD COLD DECEMBER...AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES VARIED WIDELY ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH THE
YEAR. STORMS SYSTEMS THAT MOVED THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE FIRST
FEW MONTHS OF 2010 KEPT PLENTY OF RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA.
HOWEVER...A BELOW NORMAL WET SEASON AND GENERAL LACK OF PERSISTENT
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL INTO THE END OF THE YEAR ALLOWED FOR SEVERE TO
EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS TO DEVELOP...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE
COAST.
.TEMPERATURES...
JANUARY-APRIL...
THE VERY FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT BECAME ONE
OF THE COLDEST BEGINNINGS TO THE YEAR ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ON
RECORD. A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH THE AREA ON THE 1ST OF
JANUARY AND USHERED IN WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES INTO THE
STATE. THIS COLD AIRMASS WAS THEN REINFORCED INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE
MONTH. CLIMATE SITES ACROSS THE REGION EITHER TIED OR BROKE THE
GREATEST NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REMAINED AT
OR BELOW 60 DEGREES AND SEVERAL NIGHTS OF AT OR BELOW FREEZING
TEMPERATURES WERE REPORTED.
DESPITE A BRIEF WARM UP FROM THE LATTER HALF OF JANUARY INTO EARLY
FEBRUARY...UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES RETURNED FOR MUCH OF THE
REST OF FEBRUARY AND INTO MARCH. AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES OF
10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL WERE COMMONPLACE MOST DAYS FROM THE
SECOND WEEK OF FEBRUARY INTO EARLY MARCH. THE REST OF MARCH REMAINED
BELOW NORMAL BUT WAS NOT AS EXTREME. THE COMBINATION OF COLD WEATHER
FROM JANUARY TO MARCH MADE FOR THE COLDEST OR IN THE TOP 3 COLDEST
STARTS TO THE YEAR ON RECORD FOR DAYTONA BEACH...ORLANDO...MELBOURNE
AND VERO BEACH.
TOP 5 COLDEST JANUARY-MARCH AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RANKINGS IN DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT AND YEAR SET:
DAYTONA ORLANDO MELBOURNE VERO BEACH
1. 54.9 1958 1. 56.4 1958 1. 57.5 2010 1. 58.0 2010
2. 55.5 1940 2. 56.7 2010 2. 58.8 1968 2. 59.5 1958
3. 55.6 2010 3. 58.5 1968 3. 59.1 1981 3. 59.8 1978
4. 56.0 1981 4. 58.9 1981 4. 59.7 1969 4. 59.9 1981
5. 56.2 1978 5. 59.3 1977 5. 59.8 1970 5. 60.2 1968
A COMBINATION OF ONGOING EL NINO CONDITIONS OVER THE EQUATORIAL
PACIFIC OCEAN WATERS (WHICH DEVELOPED EARLIER IN 2009) AND A STRONG
NEGATIVE PHASE OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION WERE THE MAIN
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THESE WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. STRONG
FRONTAL PASSAGES BECAME LESS FREQUENT IN APRIL AS EL NINO CONDITIONS
AND ITS TYPICAL INFLUENCE OVER THE AREA BEGAN TO WANE. THIS ALLOWED
TEMPERATURES TO RETURN TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES FOR THE MONTH...FINALLY
ENDING THE STREAK OF UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES.
MAY-AUGUST...
A WARMING TREND CONTINUED IN MAY AS COLD FRONTAL PASSAGES BECAME
LESS FREQUENT WITH AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES NEAR TO ABOVE
NORMAL FOR MUCH OF THE MONTH. IN FACT CLIMATE SITES ACROSS THE AREA
OBSERVED MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THAT RANKED IN THE TOP TEN
WARMEST MAYS EVER RECORDED. THE SUMMER MONTHS CONTINUED UNSEASONABLY
WARM TEMPERATURES AS WELL AS A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE ALOFT BECAME MORE
DOMINANT OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. HOWEVER IT WAS THE
NIGHTTIME LOWS AND NOT SO MUCH THE DAYTIME HIGHS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO
THE OVERALL ABOVE NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES. FROM JUNE
TO AUGUST...ALL MAJOR CLIMATE SITES IN THE AREA HAD EITHER THE
WARMEST OR SECOND WARMEST SUMMER ON RECORD IN RESPECT TO THE OVERALL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE VALUE FOR THE SEASON.
TOP 5 HOTTEST SUMMER (JUN-AUG) AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RANKINGS IN
DEGREES FAHRENHEIT AND LAST YEAR SET:
DAYTONA ORLANDO MELBOURNE VERO BEACH
1. 83.5 1998 1. 84.1 1998 1. 84.0 1998 1. 83.1 2010
2. 83.0 2010 2. 83.8 2010* 2. 83.5 2010 2. 82.7 1998
3. 82.5 1977 3. 83.4 2005 3. 82.6 2007 3. 82.5 2005
4. 82.3 2007 4. 83.3 1981 4. 82.3 1942 4. 82.3 1997
5. 82.1 1981 5. 83.2 1969 5. 82.1 2009 5. 82.1 1952
*TIED 1987
THESE WELL ABOVE NORMAL SUMMER TEMPERATURES MADE FOR ONE OF THE
LARGEST SWINGS IN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FROM THE BEGINNING TO MIDDLE
OF THE YEAR...ONLY SURPASSED BY 1981 OR 1977.
TOP 3 LARGEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE CHANGES BETWEEN JANUARY AND JULY
IN DEGREES FAHRENHEIT AND YEAR SET:
DAYTONA ORLANDO MELBOURNE VERO BEACH
1. 34.0 1981 1. 32.8 1981 1. 30.4 1981 1. 29.8 1981
2. 32.1 1977 2. 31.4 1977 2. 28.6 2010 2. 27.2 2010
3. 30.0 2010 3. 29.6 2010 3. 27.5 1977 3. 26.4 1977
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER...
THE WARMER THAN NORMAL TREND CONTINUED INTO SEPTEMBER WITH MONTHLY
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE VALUES AROUND 1 TO 2 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL...RANKING SEPTEMBER WITHIN THE TOP 10 WARMEST ON RECORD.
HOWEVER BY OCTOBER...THE REEMERGENCE OF SLIGHTLY STRONGER COOL
FRONTS BROUGHT SOME RELIEF TO THE WARM PATTERN THAT HAD BEEN IN
PLACE...MAINLY DURING THE EARLY AND MIDDLE PART OF THE MONTH. THIS
ALLOWED OCTOBER TO COME OUT SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL OVERALL...AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE-WISE. A STRONG COLD FRONT BROUGHT WELL BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES IN THE FIRST HALF OF NOVEMBER...WHILE TOWARDS THE END
OF NOVEMBER MORE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WERE OBSERVED. HOWEVER
OVERALL MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE VALUES ONCE AGAIN TURNED OUT
SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR THE SECOND MONTH IN A ROW.
BIG CHANGES CAME IN THE MONTH OF DECEMBER AS SEVERAL STRONG FRONTAL
BOUNDARIES MOVED INTO THE AREA AND BROUGHT WELL BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES FOR MUCH OF THE MONTH. THESE COLD AIR OUTBREAKS WERE
ONCE AGAIN FUELED BY A PERSISTENT NEGATIVE PHASE OF THE NORTH
ATLANTIC OSCILLATION THAT DEVELOPED DURING THIS PERIOD. THREE
SEPARATE FREEZE EVENTS OCCURRED DURING THE MONTH WITH ONE OF THE
EARLIEST HARD FREEZES ON RECORD (MINIMUM TEMPERATURES BELOW 28
DEGREES) IMPACTING THE AREA ON THE 14TH AND AGAIN ON THE 15TH. THE
OVERALL EFFECT OF THESE WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES...LEAD TO THE
COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR ALL CLIMATE SITES OVER EAST CENTRAL
FLORIDA.
YEAR END STATISTICS...
DESPITE THE WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH LATE SPRING INTO
EARLY FALL...THE ABNORMALLY COLD PERIODS IN EARLY 2010 AND AGAIN IN
DECEMBER HAD A LARGE INFLUENCE ON AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR THE YEAR.
OVERALL BELOW NORMAL ANNUAL TEMPERATURES WERE EXPERIENCED OVER EAST
CENTRAL FLORIDA FOR 2010.
THE OVERALL ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE VALUES FOR THE FOUR MAIN
CLIMATE SITES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ARE AS FOLLOWS:
-DAYTONA BEACH HAD AN AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE OF 69.4 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 1.5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS TIED WITH 1958
AS THE 8TH COLDEST ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR DAYTONA BEACH.
-ORLANDO HAD AN AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE OF 70.7 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 2.1 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE SECOND
COLDEST ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR ORLANDO.
-MELBOURNE HAD AN AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE OF 71.1 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 1.0 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE THIRD
COLDEST ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR MELBOURNE.
-VERO BEACH HAD AN AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE OF 71.1 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 2.1 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE THIRD
COLDEST ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR VERO BEACH.
OTHER CLIMATE STATISTICS THAT PUT THE AMOUNT OF COLD WEATHER
EXPERIENCED THIS YEAR INTO PERSPECTIVE:
NUMBER OF DAYS IN 2010 WHEN MAX TEMPERATURE WAS LESS THAN OR
EQUAL TO 60 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT:
SITE DAYS RECORD (YEAR)
DAYTONA BEACH 42* 32 (1958)
ORLANDO 33* 26 (1958)
MELBOURNE 27* 18 (1977)
VERO BEACH 23* 17 (1958)
NUMBER OF DAYS IN 2010 WHEN MIN TEMPERATURE WAS LESS THAN OR
EQUAL TO 32 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT:
SITE DAYS RECORD (YEAR)
DAYTONA BEACH 17 (2ND HIGHEST) 22 (1940)
ORLANDO 13* 10 (1977/1981)
MELBOURNE 15* 7 (1977/1981)
VERO BEACH 15* 9 (1981)
*NEW RECORD
.RAINFALL...
JANUARY-APRIL...
THE MIDDLE TO LATTER PART OF THE DRY SEASON...WHICH FOR CENTRAL
FLORIDA TYPICALLY RUNS FROM MID OCTOBER TO MID MAY...SAW ABOVE
NORMAL RAINFALL THROUGH THE PERIOD. EL NINO CONDITIONS IN THE
TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEAN HELPED EXTEND THE SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM OVER
THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES...TRANSPORTING SEVERAL STORM SYSTEMS
ACROSS THE AREA. THESE SYSTEMS DROPPED WIDESPREAD RAINFALL ACROSS
THE AREA...ESPECIALLY IN MARCH WHEN MOST OBSERVING LOCATIONS
RECEIVED DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH.
MAY-SEPTEMBER...
AS EL NINO CONDITIONS WEAKENED AND FRONTAL PASSAGES BECAME LESS
FREQUENT INTO LATE SPRING...RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA WAS GENERATED
BY MORE TYPICAL DAILY SEA BREEZE INITIATED CONVECTION. HOWEVER
THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND INTO EARLY FALL...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY WAS NOT AS WIDESPREAD AS WHAT IS TYPICALLY OBSERVED. THIS
LEAD TO BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA EACH
MONTH. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE LOWER CONVECTIVE COVERAGE ACROSS
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WAS A MEAN NORTHWARD PLACEMENT OF THE SURFACE
HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WHICH CONCENTRATED MORE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY TOWARD THE WEST COAST. ALSO...A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE WAS GENERALLY OBSERVED OVER THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES AND
ACTED TO SUPPRESS AFTERNOON CONVECTION MANY DAYS.
LA NINA CONDITIONS THAT FORMED OVER THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC WATERS
DURING THE SUMMER WAS A MAIN CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO GREATER THAN
NORMAL ATLANTIC BASIN TROPICAL ACTIVITY DURING THE HURRICANE SEASON.
HOWEVER MOST OF THESE SYSTEMS (AND THE RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH
THEM) DID NOT IMPACT FLORIDA WHICH ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO BELOW NORMAL
RAINFALL THROUGH THE WET SEASON.
OCTOBER-DECEMBER...
AN EARLY START TO THE DRY SEASON...CONTINUED LACK OF IMPACTING
TROPICAL ACTIVITY AND THE PASSAGE OF RELATIVELY DRY COOL FRONTS INTO
OCTOBER...LEAD TO LITTLE RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA. MANY LOCATIONS
WENT NUMEROUS DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAINFALL WITH SOME LOCATIONS
NOT OBSERVING ANY PRECIPITATION AT ALL FOR THE MONTH. THIS LEAD TO
THE DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD FOR ORLANDO...MELBOURNE AND VERO
BEACH...WHILE DAYTONA BEACH JUST BARELY MISSED THE DRIEST OCTOBER ON
RECORD COMING IN SECOND. THESE RECORD SETTING DRY CONDITIONS
COMBINED WITH THE IMPACT OF THE BELOW NORMAL WET SEASON BEGAN TO
FORM DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER THE REGION...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EAST
COAST WHERE THE GREATEST RAINFALL DEFICITS SINCE MAY WERE
OBSERVED.
THE INFLUENCE OF LA NINA...WHICH TYPICALLY BRINGS DRIER THAN NORMAL
CONDITIONS OVER FLORIDA TOWARDS AND THROUGHOUT THE WINTER SEASON...
CONTINUED BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. THIS
EXACERBATED DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA WITH SEVERE TO EXTREME
DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN PLACE OVER MOST OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA BY THE
END OF THE YEAR.
YEAR END STATISTICS...
THE DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS THAT WERE PRESENT OVER THE AREA FOR
MUCH OF THE YEAR LEAD TO BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL OVERALL FOR MOST
OBSERVING SITES:
-DAYTONA BEACH HAD A TOTAL ANNUAL RAINFALL OF 39.39 INCHES WHICH WAS
9.90 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 14TH DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
-ORLANDO HAD A TOTAL ANNUAL RAINFALL OF 45.72 INCHES WHICH WAS 2.63
INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 22ND DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
-MELBOURNE HAD A TOTAL ANNUAL RAINFALL OF 35.71 INCHES WHICH WAS
12.58 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 3RD DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
-VERO BEACH HAD A TOTAL ANNUAL RAINFALL OF 37.04 INCHES WHICH WAS
14.89 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 5TH DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
BELOW IS A LIST OF OBSERVED PRECIPITATION TOTALS AND RAINFALL
STATISTICS FOR SELECT SITES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FOR 2010:
STATION 2010 30 YEAR DEPARTURE PERCENT OF
RAINFALL NORMAL FROM NORMAL NORMAL
DAYTONA BEACH 39.39" 49.29" -9.90" 80%
(DAB)
ORLANDO 45.72" 48.35" -2.63" 95%
(MCO)
MELBOURNE 35.71" 48.29" -12.58" 74%
(MLB)
VERO BEACH 37.04" 51.93" -14.89" 71%
(VRB)
CLERMONT 45.63" 49.74" -4.11" 92%
(CLRF1)
DELAND 53.78" 52.79" 0.99" 102%
(DELF1)
SANFORD 43.43" 51.31" -7.88" 85%
(SFNF1)
TITUSVILLE 37.54" 52.79" -15.25" 71%
(TITF1)
FORT PIERCE 37.31" 53.50" -16.19" 70%
(FPCF1)
OKEECHOBEE 47.15" 45.66" 1.49" 103%
(OKEF1)
STUART 56.75" 59.53" -2.77" 95%
(STRF1)
.2010 SEVERE WEATHER SUMMARY...
THERE WERE 4 DEATHS IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA IN 2010 ATTRIBUTED TO
WEATHER RELATED PHENOMENA. TWO PEOPLE DIED IN RIP CURRENTS AND
ANOTHER TWO DIED DUE TO INJURIES FROM DANGEROUSLY HIGH SURF
CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION THERE WERE 8 WEATHER RELATED INJURIES: ONE
FROM FLYING DEBRIS DURING A TORNADO...TWO FROM LIGHTNING
STRIKES...ONE FROM FALLING DEBRIS DURING A THUNDERSTORM...TWO FROM
HAIL...ONE FROM A RIP CURRENT...AND ONE FROM HIGH SURF. DUE TO AN
INACTIVE WET SEASON...EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA EXPERIENCED ONLY 6
CONFIRMED TORNADOES IN 2010...WHICH IS THE FEWEST TORNADOES IN THE
AREA SINCE 2003. ALL SIX TORNADOES WERE RATED EF0.
FOR MORE LOCAL CLIMATE INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB PAGE AT
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/MELBOURNE AND CLICK ON THE "LOCAL" LINK UNDER THE
CLIMATE SUBSECTION ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE.
$$
WEITLICH/BOWEN/GLITTO
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