Why Tampa doesn't get the pattern of thunderstorms it used to
Posted by Chris in Tampa on 9/29/2018, 9:18 pm
I thought this was interesting. It has seemed different and in fact it is. I've noticed the past 15 years being different. This says even further back than that.

This has meant less rain for me normally. By the time the storms really develop, they've already moved further inland.



"What Happened To Our Typical Set Your Watch By Them Summer Thunderstorms?
By: Paul Close

For much of this past summer we saw winds coming from a southerly to westerly direction, which is in contrast to what has been considered our more typical summertime east to southeast flow. Since about the mid-1990s West Central and Southwest Florida has seen many more summer days with winds coming from the south to west than a few decades ago when they were mainly from the east. This shift can be attributed to the fact that with the warming of the Pacific Ocean, the North Pacific High has gotten stronger, leading to a deeper trough over eastern North America. This has in turn caused the western edge of the Bermuda High to be moved slightly further east, leading to more south to west winds over the Florida peninsula.
This can be seen in the wind rose images to the left, where the summer average for 1961 to 1990 indicates winds mostly with an easterly component, while this summer weve seen numerous days with a southerly to westerly component. This caused the timing of our daily thunderstorms to shift to earlier in the day, with convection developing during the morning hours near the west coast, then moving well inland and across to the eastern side of the Florida peninsula during the afternoons. When we have easterly winds we get our more classic set your watch by it late day and evening thunderstorms that we did see on several days during the last two weeks of August into early September."


From the second page of the PDF file on this page:
https://www.weather.gov/tbw/tampabaysuncoastweatherobserver
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Why Tampa doesn't get the pattern of thunderstorms it used to - Chris in Tampa, 9/29/2018, 9:18 pm
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