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MARINE WEATHER

On this Memorial Day, the remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie continues to hover along the South Carolina coastline.  Comparison as she made landfall on the morning of 5/29/16 and this afternoon, not a whole lot of movement.  Across Florida afternoon thunderstorms were developing along the east and west coast sea breezes.

Early morning visible satellite imagery shows Tropical Storm Bonnie making landfall along the SC coast.

Florida visible satellite shows a large bow shaped line of strong to severe thunderstorms quickly traveling across the peninsula with a second large area over the northern Gulf of Mexico.  Both of these areas developed over Texas and traveled the length of the Gulf Coast.  Ahead of the first squall line low level southwest winds can be seen by the orientation of the Lake Okeechobee shadow along with the sea breezes developing over south Florida.

Florida visible satellite imagery shows ongoing thunderstorm activity across The Florida Keys and Florida Straits.  The other item of note is the beginning of developing thunderstorms over the western half of the peninsula.  SW-NE cumulus cloud lines most easily seen southeast of the Tampa signifies where thunderstorms will initially develop.  Additional activity will develop as surface heating increases and the sea breezes develop.  All activity will travel SW to NE.

Florida visible satellite imagery reveals that the west coast sea breeze, along with intense surface heating will initiate thunderstorm development today.  Another interesting feature is the very thin cumulus cloud line just offshore east central Florida, another subtle potential initiator of thunderstorms.  The east coast sea breeze will remain pinned along the coast due to westerly environmental winds.

Florida visible satellite imagery shows thunderstorms already developing in the moist and unstable air mass that has moved over the state.  Thunderstorms will continue to develop and increase in coverage throughout the afternoon.  Also of note is the large thunderstorm complex over the Gulf of Mexico.  All thunderstorm activity will travel towards the NE.

Florida visible satellite imagery shows convective clouds forming over the peninsula with concentrations along the east coast sea breeze and an E-W boundary stretching from the western Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.  Upper level cirrus clouds can be seen across the Gulf of Mexico indicating higher winds aloft.  Clouds will continue to develop along the boundaries and become thunderstorms by early afternoon as the atmosphere becomes more moist and unstable.  The trend for a more active thunderstorm pattern will continue this week as the onset of the Florida ‘wet season’ begins.

Florida visible satellite imagery shows the east and west coast sea breezes penetrating inland from both coasts.  Thunderstorms will develop along the collision of the two sea breezes over the next couple of hours over central portions of the peninsula then travel towards Florida east coast counties this evening.

Florida visible satellite imagery reveal more general cloudiness over the Florida peninsula and surrounding water although very little in the way of precipitation.  Area soundings received from morning weather balloons show the atmosphere is still quite dry above 3000 feet so any clouds that form will be low level and flat in nature.  These clouds may generate a sprinkle or two but nothing more.  The long strip of clouds over the northern Gulf of Mexico and southeast U.S. are thin jet stream level cirrus clouds.