Warm

Winter ends and Spring begins this week, but the temperatures will not vary. Lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s are here to stay. - Jim

Thursday's Tornadoes in Michigan

While things have been warm and fairly quiet in southwest Florida, that hasn't been the case elsewhere. On Thursday 3 tornadoes tore through parts of Michigan. The National Weather Service says the most destructive was an EF-3 that hit Dexter, damaging 100 homes and destroying 13. The tornado had an estimated maximum wind of 140 miles per hour and damage path of just over 7 miles. There was also an EF-0 in the town of Ida and an EF-2 in Columbiaville. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries.

For pics and the official assessment:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dtx&storyid=80731&source=0

Warmer Than Average Continues

April-like warmth will continue through at least the next 7 days. A ridge of high pressure in the Southeast will remain in place, deflecting any weather maker attempting to cross its path. That means highs in the mid 80s will become our "norm" and a mainly dry radar will persist.

Hello Spring!

Spring may not officially begin for another week or so, but it's certainly feeling like it stepping outdoors! This weekend, expect highs in the low 80s along the coast and mid 80s elsewhere, a partly cloudy sky and isolated afternoon showers.

Breezy

Breezy conditions are in place for the next 2 days. Coupled with low humidity, the brush fire danger remains elevated this week. - Jim

March 2, 2012 Severe Weather Recap

14 of the 48 states in the continental U.S. experienced some sort of severe weather Friday, March 2nd; that's roughly 30% of the country! Tornadoes occurred in at least 9 states, and there were a total of 80 preliminary tornado reports. The storms not only produced long-lived tornadoes but large hail as well. Tennis and softball size hail was reported in TN and KY. Remember, reports on this map are considered preliminary. Local National Weather Service agencies will be out today surveying damage. Stay tuned to WINK for the latest.

Winter Weather Summary

While the official start of spring is still a couple weeks away, mother nature kicked Old Man Winter out of Southwest Florida a while ago...or perhaps she never let him in.

December 2011 through February 2012 averaged 2 degrees warmer than normal. This winter stands in contrast to the previous two, which were colder than average. Why the warmth you may ask? Two natural cycles: La Nina and a positive phase of the North American Oscillation. In short, this pattern means the jet stream is located far to the north over the Great Lakes and Northeast, allowing high pressure to situate itself over the Southeast, causing warm east and southeast wind to blow across SW FL.

After a very dry December and January, February brought us much-needed rainfall but did little to help the deficit; overall winter rainfall averaged 2 to 4 inches below normal.

So what can we expect for March, April & May? According to the Climate Prediction Center, more of the same--above average temperatures and below average rainfall.

-Katie