Tropical Storm Debby to Soon Become Hurricane, Hit Florida's Big Bend Region

Before all this recent travail and tragedy entered my hitherto happy-go-lucky existence, I had remarked on this blog that I might just follow this 2024 Atlantic hurricane season more closely than in past years.  I'm still sticking to that idea, and we have the fourth named storm, Debby, churning and intensifying in the eastern Gulf of Mexico as it makes its way to an early Monday morning landfall at my home state of Florida's swampy "Big Bend" region.  Sometime this evening Debby will gain hurricane status and may intensify further before landfall.  It's dropping a horrendous amount of rain and Gainesville is currently expected to get around possibly 8 inches of water, creating localized flooding threats.  Once Debby passes through Florida tomorrow, it is expected to veer eastward and, as it slows down, cause much flooding in southeastern Georgia before inflicting itself on South and North Carolina.   As for Gainesville, tonight and all day tomorrow will be the window for concern.  Right now at this posting around 5:17 PM, Debby has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph with the barometric pressure at 992 mb, traveling northward at 12 mph...

Very Windy, Stormy Weather Coming Our Way in Northern Florida This Afternoon

When I got home from work and the gym late yesterday evening, Melissa told me that there was a monster storm system heading our way, to strike today in the afternoon.  High winds, much lightning, tornado possibilities, rain...and especially those high winds...are going to sweep across northern Florida.  It's a confluence of a cold front from the northwest combining with Gulf of Mexico moisture...sounds kind of like another Storm of the Century (March 1993): hope it's nothing like that!  Since professional meteorologists are good with probabilities and not so good with extreme anomalies in the weather, I guess we're just going to have to ride this one out and see what happens, hopefully for the better.  I should be at work the whole time...for those of you outside or on the road, take extra care...

Truly Pleasant Fall Weather Day Here in Gainesville

This morning I walked out in the back yard and marveled about the coolness...so pleasant, for a change!  I checked my phone weather app, and it said here in Gainesville it was 58 degrees with a humidity of 77%...this a little past 10:30. I think we may now be entering a "Goldilocks" zone with the weather in northern Florida...not too hot and not too cold, with rain at most presenting occasional umbrella opportunities.  On the other hand, I would probably like it even more if today's "high" were 58, with the nighttime lows dipping into the upper 30s...yes, that's my Goldilocks zone.  Still, I'll take any break from the unbearably hot and humid year we've been experiencing.  Hopefully, the cool weather break will extend into a properly autumn seasonal trend and stay with us for a while without reverting to the months-long stagnation plaguing us this year...