On this date in 1926, people in South Florida were nervously watching the sky. Two days before, the Miami Herald had reported that a hurricane was not going to hit Florida. The depressed real estate market could not afford the negative publicity that a storm would bring, so it was not even referred to as a hurricane. In Miami, Weather Bureau Office Chief Richard Gray had received word of a hurricane north of the Leeward Islands, heading west in the general direction of Florida. The 17th found bright blue skies over Florida with no sign of the hurricane. Nothing else was heard from the hurricane until that night, when it struck Grand Turks Island in the Bahamas. The Weather Bureau in Washington issued hurricane warnings for Florida after 11 p.m., almost as an afterthought.

Gray received the warning by teletype and immediately hoisted the familiar hurricane warning flags, made difficult by the winds that were already blowing strongly. The warning had come too late. The hurricane had strengthened rapidly during the evening hours and had winds of over 130 mph. Most residents had already gone to bed. Winds reached hurricane force by 1 a.m. Wind gusts to 132 mph were recorded at Miami Beach. The eye reached Miami Beach around 6:10 in the morning. Miami was in the eye for about 45 minutes and the barometer bottomed out at 27.61 inches, which was a new U.S. record at the time. During the calm, residents poured into the streams and a stream of cars started across the causeway from Miami Beach to the mainland, much to the dismay of Gray. He yelled to people on the streets that the other side of the hurricane was yet to come.

Sustained winds were measured at 123 mph for 5 minutes and 138 mph for 2 minutes and may have been higher, since the anemometer was destroyed at 8:12 a.m. A storm surge of 11.7 feet above normal devastated much of the beach and city. 243 people died. Damage totaled $12 million. Researchers have studied past hurricanes and have calculated what their damage would be in modern dollars. According to researcher Chris Landsea, the Great Miami Hurricane would have been the most destructive. The 1926 storm was weaker that Hurricane Andrew of 1992, but was much larger. Calculations are that damage today from a storm like the 1926 hurricane would have been a staggering $80 billion. There was a tremendous outcry in Florida about the poor warnings from Washington.

The Saturday map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Don't forget that the map discussion is available in both WMV and MOV formats (Windows and Quicktime), so you have your choice for viewing.

It's that time of year when fronts become a fairly regular occurrence, so it is not unexpected to see another front in the near future after the one last Tuesday. But for now it looks like the weekend will be beautiful as temperatures climb into the upper 80s with relatively low humidity. The good weather extends into Sunday, too, but dewpoints begin climbing late Sunday and rain chances look very good for Monday.

Monday a front approaches and moves through the state. Thunderstorms are likely with the front and some severe weather is possible. It's a little too early to be specific about the severe weather but the trough moving through the area is going to be fairly strong and moisture appears to be in good supply, so we'll have to watch the shear profiles to see how they shape up. This certainly bears watching.

The front reaches the Gulf coast Tuesday and high pressure builds into Central Alabama on Wednesday. The high is bringing Pacific air, so this won't be a dramatic cool down. The air will be drier and somewhat cooler. In fact I would not be surprised to see some of the coolest readings of the season on Wednesday morning if we get good radiationaly cooling. We could see some upper 40 degree lows Wednesday morning. Sure would feel nice!

The week ends on a dry and pleasant note with temperatures recovering. Another front late Friday and into Saturday could bring a wet start to the weekend, but timing is always an issue when you get out that far.

I enjoyed my visit to Lakeside Baptist Church yesterday to visit with the committee working on their severe weather safety plan. They have a beautiful facility and the people there will be much safer when the committee completes it's planning.

I'm sure pleased to be part of the 10th anniversary celebration at ABC 3340. I was in Birmingham when the station went on the air, but I only became part of the station in 2003. The gatherings Thursday and Friday were wonderful opportunities to meet some of the people who worked at the station over the last 10 years plus hear some of the stories about putting a new television station on the air!

Have a great weekend and be sure to spend some time with your family. God bless.

-Brian-