Here's why the weather has been so strange this summer – WJXT News4JAX
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WEATHER ALERT
David Heckard, Assistant chief meteorologist
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David Heckard, Assistant chief meteorologist
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – You may notice the weather this summer in Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida has been a bit strange.
While it’s always warm and stormy this time of year, things are a bit different this summer.
From early morning steady rain, to highs in the upper 90s, to sea breezes that barely move, the summer so far has been, well, odd.
And there are a couple of key things that are going on.
Probably the biggest factor in our weather has been a consistent and steady southwest wind.
This wind is often called an offshore flow as the wind is coming from land toward the Atlantic.
The southwesterly winds have created significant impacts on our daily weather.
One of the biggest things is the southwest flow is dragging moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. This moisture is resulting in scattered showers and storms in the morning, especially in Northeast Florida.
When the winds are really pronounced, we’ve seen steady rain set up for hours across parts of the region.
This is peculiar for the area in summer as the vast majority of the rainfall occurs in the PM hours.
The southwest winds are also having an impact on the sea breeze.
Normally, the sea breeze develops in the midday hours and blasts inland.
With the steady southwest flow, the sea breezes cannot get very far inland. In fact, on some days the sea breeze doesn’t make it past the Intracoastal Waterway.
This only allows areas right at the coast to feel cooler afternoon temperatures and has also kept some of the bigger storms right along the I-95 and US 301 corridors.
Another major factor is the heat domes that developed over the southern United States.
These domes have slowly expanded eastward over the last several weeks, and the result has been well above-average temps.
In Jacksonville, many days have seen highs soar in the mid and upper 90s, when the low 90s are typical for June and July.
One major culprit is the lack of a large Bermuda high.
The Bermuda High is normally dominant in the Atlantic this time of year, and the high often prevents heat domes out west to move into the region.
This year, the Bermuda High is significantly weaker, and the heat domes have been able to build over Florida and Georgia.
Water temps have been very warm across nearly all of Georgia and Florida.
This is having an impact on overnight lows at the coast.
The warm water is not allowing areas adjacent to it to cool down overnight.
Some areas at the coast have seen morning lows consistently in the mid to upper 70s, with low 70s being far more common.
Unfortunately, there is no real relief in sight for the region.
Highs in the mid to upper 90s are expected later this week, and the steady southwesterly flow will continue.
In fact, the remainder of July looks hot.
The latest 6-10 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center has the entire region of above-average temperatures.
It has been a downright odd start to summer, and the strangeness of the season will continue into July and possibly August.
Copyright 2023 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
David Heckard is The Weather Authority's Assistant Chief Meteorologist.
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