Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I was previously planning to write about “The Cars Of Sebring” as a continuation of last Thursday’s fascinating post on “The Birds Of Sebring”, but I decided to change the script and write about the weather instead. (It’s always an easy subject to write about for me.) Don’t worry – those cars will be reported on next Thursday (unless I call another audible).
It’s been a cold week so far here in the Heartland of Florida. (As a refresher – the Heartland is that mostly rural inland region of South-Central Florida that’s southeast of Tampa and southwest of Orlando.)
Due to a plunging jet stream and trough in the east with several strong cold fronts sweeping through – December and January-like temperatures invaded the Heartland (and all of Florida). The 50s actually made it all the way south to the Everglades in South Florida, and the 40s (even mid-40s) poured into the northern suburbs of the Tampa Bay area. We actually set some record low daytime high temperatures this past Monday and Tuesday – with the low-70s – or about 15°F below normal. (Our normal high for this time of the year is still the mid-80s, and our normal low is still the low-70s here in Sebring.)
We dipped down to 52°F here in my part of Sebring with wind chills around 48°F on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at dawn. It felt good and weird – like we suddenly plunged into winter after 5 months of a hotter and dryer than normal summer. I had to dig-in to my limited winter clothing collection.
Our rainy season has ended. September 30TH is generally the unofficial end of the rainy season here in the Heartland. (It’s October 15TH in South Florida.) We’re now in our 7-to-8-month dry season when we get just 30% of our annual rainfall.
But it’s an El Niño Winter, so that means cooler and wetter than normal for Florida (all regions). So far – it’s living up to its reputation. This is (already) our strongest El Niño since the Winter of 2015-2016, and that was one of the strongest ever recorded. (This one likely won’t be as strong.)
Unfortunately – El Niño Winters also bring severe weather to Florida, as the leading edge of this early winter weather arrived after a confirmed 6 tornados (EF0 to EF2) in the Tampa Bay area last week.
Fun Fact: That strong El Niño Winter of 2015-2016 ? I recorded an unprecedented 13 days in Homestead Florida that we did not reach 70°F. (Normal is 6.)
Want to learn more about El Niño (and La Niña) ? The NOAA does a very good job of explaining it here.
So – it should be a very interesting winter season here in Florida. I’ll keep watching and studying it just like I’ve done for the past 45 years, and I’ll even post pictures of it occasionally.
Next #TravelThursday – I’ll tell you all about the cars of Sebring – unless I change my mind again. Let’s keep traveling together.
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