063 NOUS42 KMLB 091153 PNSMLB Public Information Statement National Weather Service Melbourne FL 752 AM EDT Mon Sep 9 2019 ...August 2019 East Central Florida Climate Summary... The axis of the subtropical ridge over the west Atlantic generally remained near to south of Lake Okeechobee through August as several fronts moved into the southeast United States. The majority of these boundaries stalled before moving into Florida, with an offshore flow dominating across the area during the month. This helped keep temperatures near to above normal, with average temperatures for August ranging from a half degree up to 2 degrees above normal across the region. Moisture associated with a tropical wave early in the month and afternoon boundary collisions focused across east central Florida from offshore flow led to higher coverage of showers and storms most days, especially through early to mid August. Precipitation amounts were still highly variable due to the scattered nature of this activity. However, much of the area still had near to above normal rainfall for the month. ...Temperatures... Daily average temperatures through the month remained near to a few degrees warmer than normal. Highs often reached the low to mid 90s, with overnight lows remaining quite mild in the mid to upper 70s. Several warm minimum temperature records were tied or broken through the month. The most notable of these records occurred at Melbourne, when on the last day of the month the low was a muggy 83 degrees. This tied for the all-time warmest minimum temperature on record for this site, surprisingly last set on the same date last year. This all-time warmest low of 83 degrees has now occurred six times at Melbourne, with four of these instances all within the last four years. Average temperatures for August 2019 all ended up warmer than normal, but ranged from 0.4 degrees above normal at Orlando to 2.1 degrees above normal at Melbourne. Daytona Beach, Sanford and Melbourne were the only sites to have average temperatures rank within their respective top ten warmest on record. Melbourne was also the most notable of these, with their August average temperature ranking as 4th warmest. Daily Record Temperatures for the Month: Daytona Beach: - August 9th: Record high of 96 degrees. Previous record was 95 degrees last set in 2014. - August 11th: Tied record warm low of 78 degrees last set in 2017. Sanford: - August 4th: Tied record warm low of 78 degrees last set in 2004. - August 9th: Tied record warm low of 77 degrees last set in 2017. - August 10th: Tied record warm low of 79 degrees last set in 2007. - August 21st: Tied record warm low of 76 degrees last set in 2017. Orlando: - August 11th: Record warm low of 78 degrees. Previous record was 77 degrees set in 2017. - August 14th: Tied record warm low of 77 degrees last set in 2016. Melbourne: - August 13th: Tied record warm low of 78 degrees last set in 2011. - August 23rd: Tied record warm low of 81 degrees last set in 1978. - August 31st: Tied record warm low of 83 degrees last set in 2018. This not only tied for warmest minimum temperature for the month of August, but also for all-time on record for Melbourne. Vero Beach: No daily temperature records set. Fort Pierce: - August 23rd: Tied record warm low of 80 degrees last set in 1954. Average temperatures for August 2019 at the primary climates across east central Florida are as follows (rankings provided if in the top 10): - Daytona Beach had a monthly average temperature of 82.9 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.4 degrees above normal. This ties as the 7th warmest average temperature for August on record at this site, also set during August of 2014, with records extending back to 1923. - Sanford had a monthly average temperature of 84.0 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.9 degrees above normal. This ranks as the 6th warmest average temperature for August on record at this site, with records extending back to 1948. - Orlando had a monthly average temperature of 83.2 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.4 degrees above normal. - Melbourne had a monthly average temperature of 84.0 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 2.1 degrees above normal. This ranks as the 4th warmest average temperature for August on record at this site, with records extending back to 1937. - Vero Beach had a monthly average temperature of 82.3 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.6 degrees above normal. - Fort Pierce had a monthly average temperature of 82.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.9 degrees above normal. ...Rainfall... A tropical wave pushed westward across Florida early in August ushering in deeper moisture that lingered across the area for several days. This increased coverage of convection, with scattered to numerous showers and storms developing across the area each afternoon. This higher coverage of showers and storms generally persisted through mid month as a predominant offshore flow focused sea breeze and storm outflow boundary collisions across east central Florida. Coverage of this activity then decreased toward the end of the month. However, isolated to scattered showers and storms still developed each afternoon and evening through the remainder of August. The scattered nature that is typical of showers and storms during the wet season, and highly localized heavier rainfall from this activity, led to significantly different precipitation totals across the area. Monthly rainfall totals as low as 3 to 4 inches occurred across portions of Volusia County, while other locations had amounts as high as 15 to 20 inches, especially along coastal Martin County and portions of northern Brevard and northeast Indian River counties. The Cooperative Observer site at Stuart actually had near 19 inches of precipitation for the month, which was its second highest total ever on record for August. Overall though, rainfall amounts around 6 to 10 inches were common across east central Florida, which is near to above normal for the month. Daily Record Rainfall for the Month: Daytona Beach: - August 6th: Record rainfall of 1.25 inches. Previous record was 1.05 inches last set in 2004. August 2019 rainfall totals for the primary climate sites across east central Florida are as follows (ranking provided if in the top 10): - Daytona Beach received 7.92 inches of rain for the month, which was 1.52 inches above normal. - Sanford received 5.87 inches of rain for the month, which was 1.26 inches below normal. - Orlando received 7.28 inches of rain for the month, which was 0.15 inches above normal. - Melbourne received 8.18 inches of rain for the month, which was 0.50 inches above normal. - Vero Beach received 10.20 inches of rain for the month, which was 3.17 inches above normal. - Fort Pierce received 9.74 inches of rain for the month, which was 2.44 inches above normal. Cooperative Observer Station Rainfall Rankings: - Stuart received 18.77 inches of rain for the month, which is the 2nd highest rainfall total for August on record at this site, with records going back to 1936. Below is a list of observed precipitation totals and rainfall statistics for select sites across east central Florida for August 2019: Station August 2019 Normal Departure Percent of Rainfall Rainfall From Normal Normal Daytona Beach 7.92" 6.40" +1.52" 124% (DAB) Orlando 7.28" 7.13" +0.15" 102% (MCO) Melbourne 8.18" 7.68" +0.50" 107% (MLB) Vero Beach 10.20" 7.03" +3.17" 145% (VRB) Clermont 5.08" 7.71" -2.63" 66% (CLRF1) Leesburg 9.78" 7.37" +2.41" 133% (LEE) DeLand 5.74" 7.82" -2.08" 73% (DELF1) Sanford 5.87" 7.13" -1.26" 82% (SFB) Titusville 9.90" 7.88" +2.02" 126% (TITF1) Fort Pierce 9.74" 7.30" +2.44" 133% (FPR) Stuart 18.77" 8.69" +10.08" 216% (STRF1) For more local climate information, please visit our web page at http://weather.gov/mlb and click on the "Climate" icon toward the bottom of the page. $$ Weitlich