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Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Miami, FL
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NOUS42 KMFL 012301 CCA
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FLZ063-066>074-168-172>174-021100-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
545 PM EST MON FEB 1 2010

...COLDER AND MOSTLY DRIER THAN NORMAL JANUARY ACROSS SOUTH
FLORIDA...

THE MAIN WEATHER EVENT IN JANUARY WAS THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF COLD
TEMPERATURES BETWEEN JANUARY 2ND AND JANUARY 13TH. DURING THIS TIME,
A TOTAL OF 17 INDIVIDUAL DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES AND RECORD
LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE SET AT THE FOUR PRIMARY CLIMATE SITES
(MIAMI, FORT LAUDERDALE, WEST PALM BEACH AND NAPLES). THE COLD
EPISODE REACHED ITS PEAK IMPACT DURING THE WEEKEND OF JANUARY 9TH
AND 10TH AND EXTENDING INTO MONDAY, JANUARY 11TH IN THE WAKE OF A
SECOND ARCTIC COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE REGION. SATURDAY,
JANUARY 9TH WAS NOTED BY FALLING TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S, CLOUDS AND
RAIN, WITH EVEN UNVERIFIED REPORTS OF SLEET AND SNOW. SUNDAY,
JANUARY 10TH WAS THE COLDEST DAY OF THE OUTBREAK, WITH LOW
TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING OVER MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INCLUDING
PARTS OF THE EAST COAST BEACHES, FOLLOWED BY HIGH TEMPERATURES
FAILING TO REACH 50 DEGREES OVER MOST OF THE AREA. THE COLDEST
MORNING OCCURRED ON MONDAY, JANUARY 11TH WHEN TEMPERATURES ONCE
AGAIN DIPPED TO BELOW FREEZING OVER MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA.

IN ALL, FREEZING TEMPERATURES WERE REGISTERED ON 5 TO 7 DAYS OVER
THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGION AND INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA. RECORDS FOR CONSECUTIVE NUMBER OF COLD DAYS WERE SET IN
SEVERAL LOCATIONS.

FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF THESE RECORDS FOR THE FOUR PRIMARY CLIMATE
SITES IN SOUTH FLORIDA:

WEST PALM BEACH:

AVERAGE 12-DAY TEMPERATURE OF 49.9 DEGREES BETWEEN JAN 2 AND JAN 13
IS LOWEST ON RECORD FOR ANY 12-DAY PERIOD (PREVIOUS RECORD 50.9
DEGREES SET FROM JANUARY 16-27, 1977).

SET NEW RECORD OF 12 STRAIGHT DAYS OF LOWS AT OR BELOW 45 DEGREES
(PREVIOUS RECORD 9 SET IN JAN 1956). - TIED RECORD OF 12 STRAIGHT
DAYS OF LOWS BELOW 50 DEGREES (PREVIOUSLY SET IN JAN 1956 AND DEC
2000-JAN 2001).

SET NEW JANUARY RECORD OF 5 TOTAL DAYS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES BELOW 60
DEGREES (OLD RECORD 4 DAYS IN 1940, 1958 AND 1970).

NAPLES:

AVERAGE 12-DAY TEMPERATURE OF 48.8 DEGREES BETWEEN JAN 2 AND JAN 13
IS LOWEST ON RECORD FOR ANY 12-DAY PERIOD (PREVIOUS RECORD 51.3
DEGREES SET FROM JANUARY 9-20, 1981).

SET NEW RECORD OF 13 STRAIGHT DAYS OF LOWS BELOW 50 DEGREES
(PREVIOUS RECORD 12 DAYS IN DEC 1980/JAN 1981 AND FEB 2006). - SET
NEW RECORD OF 12 STRAIGHT DAYS OF LOWS AT OR BELOW 45 DEGREES
(PREVIOUS RECORD 8 SET IN JAN 1977).

SET NEW JANUARY RECORD OF 6 TOTAL DAYS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES BELOW 60
DEGREES (OLD RECORD 4 DAYS IN 1956, 1958 AND 1970).

MOORE HAVEN:

AVERAGE 12-DAY TEMPERATURE OF 46.4 DEGREES BETWEEN JAN 2 AND JAN 13
IS LOWEST ON RECORD FOR ANY 12-DAY PERIOD (PREVIOUS RECORD 46.5
DEGREES SET FROM JANUARY 21-FEBRUARY 1, 1940).

FORT LAUDERDALE:

TIED RECORD OF 12 STRAIGHT DAYS OF LOWS BELOW 50 DEGREES (PREVIOUSLY
SET IN JAN 1956).

TIED JANUARY RECORD OF 10 TOTAL DAYS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW 65 DEGREES (PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1940).

AVERAGE 12-DAY TEMPERATURE OF 52.1 DEGREES BETWEEN JAN 2 AND JAN 13
IS THE THIRD LOWEST ON RECORD FOR ANY 12-DAY PERIOD AND THE COLDEST
SUCH PERIOD SINCE 1940 (RECORD 51.1 DEGREES ENDING FEBRUARY 1,
1940).

MIAMI:

SET NEW JANUARY RECORD OF 10 TOTAL DAYS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AT OR
BELOW 65 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD 8 DAYS IN 1940 AND 1977). THIS
ALSO TIES THE RECORD FOR ANY SINGLE MONTH (PREVIOUSLY SET IN
FEBRUARY 1958).

AVERAGE 12-DAY TEMPERATURE OF 52.7 DEGREES BETWEEN JAN 2 AND JAN 13
IS THE 10TH LOWEST ON RECORD FOR ANY 12-DAY PERIOD  AND THE COLDEST
SUCH PERIOD SINCE 1940 (RECORD 49.3 DEGREES ENDING JANUARY 31,
1940).

A RETURN TO SEASONAL TO ABOVE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES TOOK PLACE FOR
MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF THE MONTH, WITH TEMPERATURES DEFICITS
RELATIVE TO NORMAL SHRINKING FROM 15 DEGREES TO BETWEEN 4 AND 6
INCHES BELOW NORMAL BY THE END OF THE MONTH. NEVERTHELESS, JANUARY
2010 RANKS AS THE COLDEST JANUARY SINCE 2003 FOR VIRTUALLY ALL OF
SOUTH FLORIDA. MIAMI BEACH RECORDED ITS THIRD-COLDEST JANUARY ON
RECORD, WITH WEST PALM BEACH RECORDING ITS 7TH COLDEST, NAPLES ITS
5TH COLDEST AND MOORE HAVEN ITS 8TH COLDEST JANUARY ON RECORD.

HERE ARE AVERAGE JANUARY 2010 TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM
NORMAL FOR SELECT LOCATIONS:

LOCATION                  JAN 2010       DEPARTURE    RANK

MIAMI INT`L                 64.1          -4.0       17TH COLDEST
FORT LAUDERDALE INT`L       63.3          -4.2       13TH COLDEST
PALM BEACH INT`L            60.6          -5.6        7TH COLDEST
NAPLES REGIONAL             59.8          -4.5        5TH COLDEST
MIAMI BEACH                 61.8          -6.1        3RD COLDEST
MOORE HAVEN                 57.3          -5.4        8TH COLDEST

JANUARY PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 0.5 TO 1.5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL OVER
MOST OF THE EASTERN HALF OF SOUTH FLORIDA, AND WITHIN A HALF INCH OF
NORMAL OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF SOUTH FLORIDA INCLUDING THE LAKE
OKEECHOBEE AREA. THE DRY AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD OUTBREAK
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH LIMITED THE RAINFALL DURING THIS
PERIOD, BUT A RETURN TO WARMER TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEMS IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE LED TO AN
INCREASE IN RAINFALL DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH. FOLLOWING
ARE JANUARY RAINFALL TOTALS AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL IN INCHES FOR
SELECTED LOCATIONS, ALONG WITH THE TOTAL AND DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL
PRECIPITATION FOR THE DRY SEASON OF 2009-2010 SO FAR:

LOCATION                JAN 2010 PRECIP     DEPARTURE

MIAMI INT`L                 0.89            -0.99
PALM BEACH INT`L            2.03            -1.72
FORT LAUDERDALE INT`L       1.37            -1.57
NAPLES REGIONAL             1.65            -0.36
HOLLYWOOD WATER PLANT       1.99            -0.30
MIAMI BEACH                 0.88            -1.56
THE REDLAND (SOUTH DADE)    2.44            -0.13
MOORE HAVEN                 1.88            -0.16
DEVILS GARDEN               2.45            +0.08
IMMOKALEE                   2.10            -0.23
CLEWISTON                   1.62            -0.76
HOMESTEAD                   0.95
PALM BEACH GARDENS          3.28
OASIS RANGER STATION        2.44
LABELLE                     1.99            -0.32
MARCO ISLAND                1.62
BRIGHTON RESERVATION        0.62

LOCATION                NOV 2009-JAN 2010   DEPARTURE

MIAMI INT`L                 6.87            -0.62
PALM BEACH INT`L            13.06           +0.62
FORT LAUDERDALE INT`L       13.56           +3.40
NAPLES REGIONAL             6.71            +1.18
MIAMI BEACH                 10.36           +2.62
MOORE HAVEN                 5.47            -0.12

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S OUTLOOK FOR FEBRUARY THROUGH APRIL
CALLS FOR AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF COOLER AND WETTER THAN
NORMAL CONDITIONS. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE TYPICAL EL NIO
PATTERN OF MORE GULF OF MEXICO STORM SYSTEMS WHICH PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
DRY SEASON RAINFALL ALONG WITH CLOUD COVER AND COOLER DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES. THESE GULF STORMS ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
SEVERE WEATHER, INCLUDING TORNADOES, AS WAS THE CASE DURING EL NINO
EPISODES IN 1998 AND 2003.

FOR THE LATEST SOUTH FLORIDA WEATHER INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE
LATEST WATCHES, ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS, PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FORECAST OFFICE`S WEB SITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/SOUTHFLORIDA.

$$

MOLLEDA
National Weather Service National Headquarters
