ORLANDO, Fla. – Yes, it’s the wet season. But the timing of the storms has been different than what Floridians are used to.
So what’s the deal?
Typically, like clockwork, you can bank on storms rolling through about the same time nearly every afternoon. These storms are generated by the sea breeze from the heating of the day.
Over the past week, waves of storms have moved through Central Florida at all hours of the night, morning and, of course, during the day. It’s been a much more active pattern.
The main reason has been a huge, stubborn upper low parked over the southeast U.S.
Storms have been firing along along a stalled front in the Deep South and being steered in this direction like they were on a conveyer belt.
The upper low in the vicinity has also helped to generate our own heating-of-the-day storms by providing more lift to spark storms. These storms promote rising air to help in developing clouds and storms given moisture is around.
It’s Florida. The moisture is no problem.
It doesn’t help either that the main atmosphere railroad that keeps storms moving from west to east is jammed up right now by a huge omega blocking pattern.
This pattern looks like the Greek letter omega at about 20,000 feet above your head.
It’s made up of the upper low over the Southeast, a huge high over Texas, and another upper low over the Southwest, as pictured above.
The high over Texas is responsible for the record-breaking heat over the last week in the Lone Star State. Those systems promote sinking air. When air sinks it warms.
The other upper low in the Southwest has sent rounds of severe weather to the Plains.
All of the weather in the U.S. is being dominated by the same blocking pattern and it until it breaks down, similar weather will continue for Florida and the country.
This blocking pattern may hold into next week, keeping rain and storm chances elevated.
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