The average temperature in the month of January 2010 for Tampa International Airport averaged 6.6F degrees below average. Typically in January, our daytime highs approach 70 while overnight lows are near 52. If we were near those normals, the average monthly temperature would have been about 61.3 degrees F.

January 2010 was a cold month though, with an average monthly temperature of 54.7 degrees F. That is 6.6 degrees F below average. That makes January in Tampa the sixth coldest on record.

February is not looking much better either as we already are running below average. So far our monthly average of highs and lows combined is 57.6F This is 4.2 degrees F below average. The next 5-7 days all look below average and even the extended models suggest the rest of the month will remain cooler than average. So much for the warm Florida winters!
As much as we want to complain, we should remember that things could be much worse. The three major airports in the Washington D.C. area (BWI, DCA, IAD) all set record snowfall totals for the season!

It's officially winter! The winter solstice occurred at 12:47pm today.

The winter season began today at 12:47pm in the northern hemisphere.   This day has the least amount of sunlight so the days will slowly be gaining more daylight time through June 21.

Bobby Deskins

Meteorologist 10 Connects

Posted via email from Deskins,'s posterous

The Winter Solstice occurs at 12:47 p.m. EST on Monday, December 21, 2009. This marks the beginning of Winter for the Northern Hemisphere and is the shortest day of the year with respect to daylight.

Winter officially begins just after noon on Monday as the Sun reaches it's lowest point in the southern sky. On Monday, December 21, 2009 at 12:47 p.m. EST the Sun will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn which is about 23.5 degrees south of the equator. This is known as the winter solstice. As the earth rotates around the sun on it's tilted axis, the Northern Hemisphere appears to lean away from the Sun this time of year. That lean results in less direct sunlight thus shorter days and cooler temperatures. This day also marks the Summer Solstice for the Southern Hemisphere, the day Summer begins for them.

The Winter Solstice can be called the shortest day of the year, but it is more precisely called the day with the least amount of daylight hours. For Tampa, sunrise occurs at 7:17 a.m. with sunset at 5:39 p.m. That means there will be only 10 hours 22 minutes and 9 seconds of daylight on the Winter Solstice. Compare that to the Summer Solstice on June 21, 2010 when we see 13 hours 55 minutes and 2 seconds of daylight.

This year we continue to forecast an active winter season across Florida. With El Nino going strong, the southern jet stream has become more active. This has resulted in several storm systems tracking across the Gulf of Mexico and bringing much needed rainfall to our region during our dry season. This active pattern appears as if it will continue through the season. The long range forecast which includes this winter, continues to call for cooler than average temperatures with higher than average rainfall amounts.

Sea Fog

Sea fog rolled into the area this morning and hung around for much of the day for the beaches.
From Sarasota County northward to western Pasco County, the damp cool air and clouds that make up sea fog made for a cloudy Wednesday.

The sun did eventually break out for Tampa and areas east and as a result air temperatures jumped to the upper 70's and lower 80's. However, along the beaches of Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties, the fog kept temperatures down in the low 70's with just a little sunshine breaking out late in the day. Many areas are still socked in with the fog as I write this.

I have included a visible satellite image from this afternoon that depicts the fog along the coast. Most of the white shaded area (fog/clouds) along the coast is the sea fog. This is typically only visible on "visible" satellite imagery during the day. We use visible imagery to best locate fog, as infrared imagery does not show it very well. Visible imagery uses reflected sunlight (like a camera) while infrared imagery uses temperature differences to sort between the surface and the clouds above. Because the clouds are on the surface when fog forms, the temperature difference is very little and as a result infrared imagery cannot differentiate between the the two.

Sea fog typically forms when the water surface temperatures are very close to the dew point of the airmass located over the water. The local winds then blow toward land, bringing that saturated airmass onshore as sea fog. This time of year, the water temperatures are in the 60's for the most part and when an air mass moves in with dew points in that range, the air mass becomes saturated. This causes the fog to form. Today's winds were light out of the south, bringing in moist air right off the Gulf of Mexico. The main mechanisms that can alleviate the fog, are surface heating, dry air and stronger winds.

This fog should appear again tomorrow morning as we see winds out of the SW, but those winds will increase late in the day allowing the fog to scour out. A cold front moving in later tomorrow will switch the winds around to the NW then N bringing in drier air (lower dewpoints). That will eliminate the threat for the sea fog on Friday.

Monte Colburn of the Deadliest Catch in the studio!

Monte Colburn of the show Deadliest Catch was in the studio today. He and his brother Keith work on the boat the Wizard. This is the second time fisherman from the show have visited the 10 Connects studios. A few months ago the Hillstrand brothers from the Time Bandit visited. Monte Colburn summed it up best when he explained how they are just fisherman, but the show has made them celebrities. They'd just be fishing as usual if the show hadn't brought them notoriety. Now they fish and do public appearances but he's not complaining!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Flood Watch now in effect with 1-3" of rain expected

A Flood Watch has been issued for the entire Bay area beginning early Friday morning and continuing through midday Saturday.  1-3" of rain is expected between now and midday Saturday.

      

A stalled frontal boundary and a moist upper level southwesterly flow will bring rain showers back to the Bay area as early as sunrise Friday morning.  The rain will begin slowly through Friday, but will increase in intensity late Friday afternoon and continue overnight into Saturday morning.  Strong storms are possible especially Saturday morning as the front moves through.  The primary threat would come in the form of gusty winds.  The rain should end by midday Saturday allowing the Bay area to finally dry out.

Rainfall amounts will average between 1-3" for most of the area.  Localized amounts of 3-5" will be possible especially south and east of Tampa, mainly in a line form SE Polk County to Punta Gorda and north of the Bay area along the Nature coast.

A Flood Watch is issued when heavy rains are expected and flooding is possible.  If your area typically floods with heavy rainfall, you can expect some minor flooding especially Friday evening.  Local rivers will rise as well and will likely surge 2 or 3 days after the rainfall ends.  This would mean local rivers will be running higher than normal through Tuesday.

Meteorologist Bobby Deskins

bobbyd@10connects.com
Facebook: Bobby Deskins Weather
Twitter: bobbydweather
Blog: http://www.bobbydeskins.blogspot.com/

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Bobby Deskins

Meteorologist 10 Connects

Posted via email from Deskins,'s posterous

Check out our new embeddable live radar from Forecastfirst.com

From: Deskins, Robert
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 1:29 PM
To: 'blog@posterous.com'; 'facebook@posterous.com'
Subject: Check out our new embeddable live radar from Forecastfirst.com

Bobby Deskins

Meteorologist 10 Connects

Posted via email from Deskins,'s posterous