SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK

This week is Florida Severe Weather Awareness Week, and Wednesday’s topic is on thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Florida Severe Weather Awareness Week continues Tuesday, and the topic is on marine hazards.

Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week runs from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, and Friday’s focus is wildfires and extreme temperatures.

Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week runs from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, serving as an opportunity for residents to learn about the various weather hazards that frequently impact the state and how families and businesses can prepare for these natural events.

Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week runs from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, and Wednesday’s focus is thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week runs from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, and Tuesday’s focus is rip currents and marine hazards.

Severe Weather Awareness Week runs from Feb. 7 to 11, serving as an opportunity for Floridians to learn about the various weather hazards that frequently impact the state and how families and businesses can prepare for these natural events.

Severe Weather Awareness Week is an opportunity for Floridians to learn about the various weather hazards that frequently impact the state and how families and businesses can prepare for these natural events. Each day focuses on a specific weather event. Friday’s topic is temperature extremes and wildfires.

HurricanesThursday’s focus is on hurricanes and flooding. However, tropical systems can form as early as May and as late as December. AdFloodingWhile hurricanes are known and feared for their ferocious winds, historically it is the water that causes most of the deaths in hurricanes. The widespread flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 serves as a reminder that tropical storms can cause as much or greater devastation than hurricanes with freshwater flooding. Even outside of tropical systems, flooding is a serious concern in Florida since it can happen anywhere and at any time.

Rip currents, sometimes called rip tides or undertows, occur naturally and affect many Florida beaches year-round. Since 1995, rip currents have accounted for more than 300 drownings along Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic beaches. In fact, rip currents kill more people in Florida in an average year than hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning combined. Rip current injuries and fatalities often are under-reported, but in 2019, at least 30 people lost their lives due to rip currents or high surf. Rip currents can travel as fast as 5 mph, or about eight feet per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer.

Meteorologists can forecast the general conditions that cause lightning but no one can predict exactly when or where lightning will strike. Lightning strikes the ground about 25 million times each year and continues to be among the top weather-related killers in the United States. With an average of 1.2 million cloud- to-ground lightning strikes each year, no other state experiences more lightning strikes per square mile than Florida. Contrary to popular belief, lightning can strike the same place twice and rubber shoes or tires don’t protect you from lightning strikes. You can determine how far away a flash of lightning is by counting the number of seconds that pass after observing a lightning bolt.