Sat - 29 Mar/14

Finally, it rained! It was really heavy at times overnight; but, this is Florida. This morning all has been soaked up and you wouldn't know anything had happened. We are now under "Tornado Watch #42" on the weather radio. We are batting 0 for 42 although one did turn into a "Warning". (Watch = possible - Warning = imminent) Temps will hit the low 80's F today and the humidity is in the 90% range.

At 11:30 a.m. the Weather Radio just went off again - There was a "Tornado Warning" just west and north (60 miles) of us until 5 p.m..

This will be another "Veg Out" day. I will continue working on "Going Home" plans.

At noon it began to rain lightly. It is "dark as dusk" outside at noon. Chances of heavy rain and thunderstorms are very possible.

Local TV is showing a Severe "Thunderstorm Warning" (w/hail possible) for all of Central Florida. The local TV stations are tracking the weather minute by minute. We expect the worst in about a half hour. Winds up from 60 - 70 mph possible. The list of minute by minute arrival times in the area is really accurate. We can expect the heavy rain in a few minutes.

TV just updated to a "Tornado Watch". Their "Severe Weather Update" map is solid white with lightning strikes for much of the radar storm weather map. The thunder is now rumbling overhead and the rain is really heavy. A quick "Couple Inches of Rain" is the TV description. The TV volume is twice the normal level just so we can hear it.

The Park Truck just went by with the "Tornado Warning Siren" wailing! We are watching live TV weather. Their radar is extremely accurate. We decided to remain in the RV rather than go to the shelter. TV information now shows we (Lake County) is out of the "Tornado Warning" area. It is moving east at 35 mph.
Fortunately, we are in the lightest storm area now on the map. Light rain with thunder and lightning for us now with a little heavier rain expected in about a half hour.

Disney World is now being dumped on. It has just crossed I-95 at Daytona Beach (1:45 p.m) - not fun for those on Spring Break.

Our power just blinked. TV reports lightning has started a structure fire due to lightning and knocked down power lines in Lady Lake, FL. We are in "Lightning Alley". The area from Tampa to Orlando has the highest number of lightning strikes in the entire USA! Over 3000 strikes so far and continuing at the rate of around 1000 an hour!

Just below us (20 miles as the crow flies) a "Waterspot" (Tornado over water) has been spotted (on radar) in Lake Apopka. They have now announced 3 "Tornado Warnings" (meaning rotations have been spotted on radar). These rotations may not have "touched down"; but , indications are they are near the ground. No confirmations, as yet (although several reports have been called in). The cloud formations are now nearly reaching up to 50,000 feet. Chances for hail are imminent when the updrafts get this high. Up to 1" hail has been spotted.

The TV reports are giving the immediate areas of concern due to strong rotations. They are giving these warnings by area and street name (east of Lake Nona). Some straight line winds are now up to 120 mph in this area. Some roads have been blocked by downed trees and windows being blown out of houses (pictures coming in by social media are being displayed on TV) The storm is now moving east at 45 mph and should be off-shore in an hour.

OIA (Orlando International Airport) has been shut down for 1.5 hours and hundreds of flights cancelled or re-routed. The airport control tower was partially evacuated. There is a potential for it to get nasty!

As expected the heavier rain has now arrived.

Charlotte made Fish Rolls for lunch...mmm good!

The TV has been pre-empted with continuous coverage for over 3 hours. They are tapping into the DOT highway cameras near the center of the storm as they try to spot a funnel cloud. It is now pushing across I-95 from Titusville to Cocoa Beach. The TV showed live shots of folks on Cocoa Beach with the storm less than 5 minutes away. They are asking folks to warn them as lightning can strike prior to the storm arrival.

At least the storm makes a dull day more interesting. Besides, it is the most interesting thing on TV at this time of day.

All clear by 4 p.m. Sunshine breaking through at 4:30 p.m.

The OMS RV Park office called to get an update. We blocked our lot until the end of April. They wanted to know when we would be departing. We said that it would be mid-April - depending on the weather.

Charlotte made cracker snacks for supper. Ritz, old cheese, pepperoni and pickles. One of my favourites.

Just a relaxing evening of TV. After Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune we watched Dateline then news.

We should have sun back on it's day (Sunday - grin).