NOUS42 KMLB 011402
PNSMLB
FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147-020000-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
902 AM EST SAT JAN 1 2011
...EXTREME COLD AIR OUTBREAKS LEAD TO THE COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD
FOR EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA...
...RAINFALL WAS ALSO WELL BELOW NORMAL FOR DECEMBER 2010...
A SERIES OF STRONG COLD FRONTS THAT BROUGHT NUMEROUS NIGHTS OF
FREEZING TEMPERATURES TO THE AREA THIS MONTH LEAD TO THE COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD. LITTLE RAINFALL ACCOMPANIED THESE BOUNDARIES
WHICH ALSO LEAD TO WELL BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA.
.TEMPERATURES...
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES EXPERIENCED ACROSS THE AREA DURING LATE
NOVEMBER WERE ENDED BY THE 1ST OF THE MONTH AS THE FIRST OF A SERIES
OF STRONG FRONTS CROSSED THE AREA. ADDITIONAL COLD FRONTS CROSSED
THE AREA ON THE 5TH...12TH...18/19TH...AND 25/26TH WHICH REINFORCED
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR MOST OF THE MONTH. THREE SEPARATE
FREEZE EVENTS WERE EXPERIENCED THIS DECEMBER DUE TO THE VERY
UNSEASONABLE COLD AIR BEHIND THESE BOUNDARIES. THESE EVENTS TOOK
PLACE ON THE MORNINGS OF THE 7-8TH...14-16TH...AND 27-29TH. ONE OF
THE EARLIEST HARD FREEZES (MINIMUM TEMPERATURES BELOW 28 DEGREES) TO
OCCUR ON RECORD FOR DECEMBER WAS OBSERVED DURING THE 14TH AND 15TH
WITH HARD FREEZES OBSERVED AGAIN ON THE 28TH AND 29TH.
DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES REMAINED BELOW NORMAL ALMOST
EVERY SINGLE DAY WITH DEPARTURES AS HIGH 15 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL OCCURRING ON SEVERAL DAYS. IN ADDITION...NUMEROUS RECORD LOWS
AND COOL HIGHS WERE BROKEN THROUGHOUT THE MONTH. IN THE END MONTHLY
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WERE 9
TO 11 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THESE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE VALUES NOT
ONLY SET THIS DECEMBER AS THE COLDEST ON RECORD...BUT SHATTERED THE
PREVIOUS COLDEST DECEMBER RECORDS BY A WHOLE 2 TO 4 DEGREES. RECORDS
FOR THE FOUR MAIN CLIMATE SITES IN THE AREA GO AS FAR BACK AS THE
EARLY 20S...HOWEVER EVEN COOP SITES THAT HAVE DATA EXTENDING BACK
INTO THE EARLY 1900S SUCH AS TITUSVILLE...FORT PIERCE AND DELAND
EXPERIENCED THEIR COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD BY A LARGE MARGIN.
THE MAIN CONTRIBUTING FACTOR FOR THESE WELL BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES DURING DECEMBER WAS A PERSISTENT AND STRONG NEGATIVE
PHASE OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION. THE NEGATIVE PHASE OF THE
NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION TYPICALLY BRINGS MORE COLD AIR OUTBREAKS
ALONG THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN UNITED STATES.
THE OVERALL MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE VALUES FOR THE FOUR MAIN
CLIMATE SITES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ARE AS FOLLOWS:
-DAYTONA BEACH HAD AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 50.1 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 10.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THIS SITE. (RECORDS GO BACK TO 1923)
-ORLANDO HAD AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 52.0 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 11.0 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THIS SITE. (RECORDS GO BACK TO 1948)
-MELBOURNE HAD AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 54.0 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 9.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THIS SITE. (RECORDS GO BACK TO 1937)
-VERO BEACH HAD AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 53.9 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT WHICH WAS 10.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THIS SITE. (RECORDS GO BACK TO 1942)
TOP 5 COLDEST DECEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RANKINGS IN DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT AND LAST YEAR SET:
DAYTONA ORLANDO MELBOURNE VERO BEACH
1. 50.1 2010 1. 52.0 2010 1. 54.0 2010 1. 53.9 2010
2. 52.7 1935 2. 55.5 1989 2. 56.2 1989 2. 58.1 1989
3. 53.3 1989 3. 56.5 1963 3. 58.3 1950 3. 59.2 1969
4. 54.1 1960 4. 57.2 1954 4. 58.4 1968 4. 59.3 1963
5. 54.7 1950 5. 57.5 1960 5. 58.6 1969 5. 59.5 1962
DATA FROM CO-OPERATIVE STATIONS* IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA:
DECEMBER (AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AND RANKING)
CLERMONT 50.6 - COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1948)
DELAND 47.8*- COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1900)
TITUSVILLE 51.7 - COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1901)
SANFORD 51.4 - COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1948)
OKEECHOBEE 51.9*- COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1945)
FT. PIERCE 53.7 - COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1901)
STUART 54.4 - COLDEST (DATA GOES BACK TO 1936)
*NOTE: RANKINGS FROM CO-OPERATIVE STATIONS MAY BE LESS RELIABLE DUE
TO MISSING DATA. (AVERAGES FOR DELAND AND OKEECHOBEE WERE MISSING
DATA FROM THE 31ST, WHICH WOULD LIKELY MAKE THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THESE NUMBERS REFLECT).
.RAINFALL...
THE NUMEROUS COLD FRONTS THAT CROSSED THE AREA DURING THE MONTH
BROUGHT LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION. THIS IS NOT UNUSUAL AS
LA NINA CONDITIONS CURRENTLY OBSERVED OVER THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC
WATERS TYPICALLY BRING DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS OVER FLORIDA
DURING THE WINTER SEASON. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EVENT
OCCURRED AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT CROSSED THE AREA LATE ON THE
18TH. SEVERAL LOCATIONS OBSERVED A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH OF
RAINFALL WITH A HEAVIER BAND OF PRECIPITATION OCCURRING FROM
OKEECHOBEE TO SOUTHERN BREVARD AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTIES. LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 1.5 TO 2 INCHES WERE REPORTED ALONG
THIS BAND WITH MELBOURNE BREAKING A DAILY RAINFALL RECORD WHEN IT
RECEIVED 1.87 INCHES.
OVERALL ACROSS THE AREA...RAINFALL DEFICITS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WERE
GENERALLY OBSERVED FOR THE MONTH.
THE OVERALL RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE FOUR MAIN CLIMATE SITES ACROSS
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA ARE AS FOLLOWS (RANKINGS PROVIDED IF IN THE TOP
10):
-DAYTONA BEACH RECEIVED 0.38 INCHES OF RAINFALL WHICH WAS 2.33
INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS 8TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THIS
SITE.
-ORLANDO RECEIVED 0.78 INCHES OF RAINFALL WHICH WAS 1.53 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL.
-MELBOURNE RECEIVED 1.95 INCHES OF RAINFALL WHICH WAS 0.36 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL.
-VERO BEACH RECEIVED 0.56 INCHES OF RAINFALL WHICH WAS 1.63 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL.
BELOW IS A LIST OF OBSERVED PRECIPITATION TOTALS AND RAINFALL
STATISTICS FOR SELECT SITES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FOR DECEMBER
2010:
STATION DEC 2010 30 YEAR DEPARTURE PERCENT OF
RAINFALL NORMAL FROM NORMAL NORMAL
DAYTONA BEACH 0.38" 2.71" -2.33" 14%
(DAB)
ORLANDO 0.78" 2.31" -1.53" 34%
(MCO)
MELBOURNE 1.95" 2.31" -0.36" 84%
(MLB)
VERO BEACH 0.56" 2.19" -1.63" 26%
(VRB)
CLERMONT 0.75" 2.40" -1.65" 31%
(CLRF1)
DELAND 0.29" 2.65" -2.36" 11%
(DELF1)
SANFORD 0.15" 2.53" -2.38" 6%
(SFNF1)
TITUSVILLE 0.32" 2.52" -2.20" 13%
(TITF1)
FORT PIERCE 0.39" 2.28" -1.89" 17%
(FPCF1)
OKEECHOBEE 0.71" 2.28" -1.57" 31%
(OKEF1)
STUART 0.70" 2.78" -2.08" 25%
(STRF1)
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/GLITTO
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