1953 – morning – Hillsborough Co. – A tornado destroyed five homes and damaged 53 from Lithia to Hopewell in southwest part of county injuring 12 people. Other tornadoes were reported in Clermont, Minneola, and Brooksville. Severe thunderstorm winds were reported in Ft. Myers and Sarasota. There were many reports of trees and power lines down and roof damage. Storm waves washed over the beach road on south Captiva Island
1996 – west central peninsula – Damaging freeze – Sub-freezing temperatures severely damaged vegetable crops with losses estimated over $2 million dollars in Hillsborough and Lee counties; with minor damage to the dormant citrus crop in Pasco County. Several tropical fish farms lost over 50 percent of their harvest with the estimated loss at $5.5 million dollars.
January 8 1978 – 1720 – Hillsborough Co., Dover – A tornado destroyed four block homes, five mobile homes, six other homes and several cars. 1817 – Windermere, Orange Co. – Tornado severely damaged large lakefront home and damaged five other homes. 1835 – Lockhart, Orange Co. to Sanford, Seminole Co. – Large tornado moved through mobile home park near Lockhart destroying 17 trailers, damaging 60 and
injuring 23 people, eight seriously. Tornado continued into Seminole Co., passing southeast of Sanford and causing damage to homes and boats along St. Johns River.
1976 – 1200 – Escambia Co., Pensacola – A small tornado was observed by radar northeast of the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
1995 – 0550 – Marion Co., Summerfield – An F2 tornado destroyed or heavily damaged 66 mobile homes with less extensive damage to another 85 dwellings, mostly mobile homes. A man received fatal head injuries while sitting in his car outside a mobile home when the car was rolled four times. Another 20 persons, mostly those in mobile homes, were injured.
1978 – 1720 – Hillsborough Co., Dover – A tornado destroyed four block homes, five mobile homes, six other homes and several cars. 1817 – Windermere, Orange Co. – Tornado severely damaged large lakefront home and damaged five other homes. 1835 – Lockhart, Orange Co. to Sanford, Seminole Co. – Large tornado moved through mobile home park near Lockhart destroying 17 trailers, damaging 60 and
injuring 23 people, eight seriously. Tornado continued into Seminole Co., passing southeast of Sanford and causing damage to homes and boats along St. Johns River.
January 6- 1892 – 1000 – Orange Co., Winter Garden – A tornado destroyed five homes. A woman was killed when her home turned completely upside down and fell on her. Five injuries.
January 6 –1970 – Morning – West central Florida – Tornado outbreak – Five trailers overturned, power/telephone lines down at Apollo Beach in Hillsborough County. Other tornadoes touched down in Ruskin, Lakeland, Bartow, Mulberry, and Avon Park. Total of six tornadoes caused five injuries.
Another year of above average precipitation in Alachua and Marion counties
When it rains, it pours.
North Central Florida experienced another extremely wet year in 2018 and, uncharacteristically, the reason wasn’t a tropical storm or hurricane.
Scientists say that a warming climate is leading to more rainfall. The rainy season had an early kickoff (late April instead of late May.) December deluges also added to the totals.
Ocala’s official gauge registered 64.56 inches of rain in 2018, which was 3.65 inches more than 2017 and well above the annual average of 50.8 inches.
Gainesville recorded 60.28 inches of rain in 2018 — down from 71.31 inches in 2017 but still well above the annual average of 47.33 inches.
2018 was the third wettest year in the past 54 years in Ocala.
Ocala’s 2018 total was 13.76 inches above the historical average and the highest yearly total since 2004, when this part of Florida was struck by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. The 2004 rainfall total in Ocala was 69.84 inches.
Ocala received its highest annual rainfall (74.71 inches) in 1982.
Since Marion County is larger than Rhode Island, rain totals can range significantly in different areas of the county. Some areas of Marion County recorded more than 75 inches in 2018. Ocala’s official rain gauge is located just of Southeast 36th Avenue on property owned by the city of Ocala.
Nate McGinnis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Jacksonville, said 2018 was Ocala’s 13th wettest year since 1892, when such weather data was first kept for the area.
2018 was the fourth wettest year in 45 years in Gainesville. Since 1972, there have been only two other years when Gainesville received more rain than in 2017 and 2018: 1982, 61.13 inches; and 1983, 65.35 inches.
The 2018 total was 12.95 inches above the annual average for Gainesville and surpassed the 58.37 inches the area received in 2004, when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne crossed Alachua County.
McGinnis said 2018 was the 19th wettest year in Gainesville since 1890, when records were first kept for Gainesville.
McGinnis said the excessive rainfall in 2018 was due to a stronger convection in the spring and several low-pressure systems that helped stream excessive moisture across North Central Florida in December.
Usually this part of Florida receives only about 2.5 inches of rain in December. Gainesville received 8.68 inches, just shy of its December record of 9.6 inches, set in 1997.
Ocala received 11.47 inches in December. The December record is 13.79 inches, set in 1939.
Gainesville’s official rain gauge at the Gainesville Regional Airport has recorded 121.79 inches since June 1, 2017. That is 45.14 inches above normal for those months. Ocala’s official gauge registered 112.59 inches of rain since June 1, 2017, or 27 inches above normal during those 19 months.
David Holmes, Marion County’s extension agent, said he received 76 inches of rain during 2018 at his home in northwest Marion County. He said the December deluges did not harm any plants or crops because farmers “are not growing anything this time of year.”
“This kind of December rain is good for the water table,” he noted.
Climate Central, a national think tank that studies climate change, released a study in December that revealed increasing global temperatures can be linked to higher amounts of rainfall.
Of 2,800 weather stations across the country that were analyzed by Climate Central, at least 133 in 21 states featured record precipitation totals in 2018. Another 685 featured yearly totals that were among the top 10 on record.
As it turns out, 2018 was the fifth wettest year in the contiguous United States since record keeping began. The report states that “warmer air holds more water: on average, when the atmosphere gets 1 degree hotter, it can carry 4 percent more moisture.”
Another Climate Central study revealed that temperatures have been on the rise since 1970. The report states that some seasons, including winter in Florida, are warming faster than others.
The study found that every state has warmed by at least 1 degree since 1970 and two-thirds of the states have warmed by 3 degrees.
“Northern winters have heated up the most, with over 5 degrees of warming in Alaska, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin,” the report states.
The report says much of the western United States has seen its transitional seasons of spring and fall warming the fastest.
“Warming springs in the Southwest are leading to longer allergy seasons and premature plant blooms, stressing agriculture by pushing plants out of sync with their pollinators,” the report notes. “In less snowy places like the Southeast, fruit trees are suffering with less natural chilling time, hurting a multibillion-dollar industry.”
In Florida, winter is 2.7 degrees warmer today than it was in 1970, while summer is nearly 2 degrees warmer and fall is about 1.5 degrees warmer, according to a detailed report about climate change.
