We had crazy gusts here in Miami. I haven't checked the official reports, but I had pots blowing around, one went into the pool. Yuck! Scooping out dirt and what's left of a little seedling that wasn't strapped down because it's not the season for that yet.

Still, I doubt we had 110 mph winds here. That seems extreme.

You're on Planet Florida my friend.

Susannah

Still wild winds here, checked weatherunderground again.

Am I mad? Am I the only one awake?

Am I reading this info wrong? Doors are slamming in my house from the winds, things are flying off windowsills, the screens are bowing. The dogs and birds are freaking out.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Weather at 10:50

I'm not sure if you're reading it wrong, and I don't know anything about winds science beyond what we all know about hurricane strengths and cat 1 versus cat 5 and tropical storm force, etc., etc. But... it also says the windspeed is 15 knots. That's not much at all.

There's an interesting guide here:

Here is a link that might be useful: winds guide

I just looked at the National Weather Service site (www.noaa.gov) and they're talking about 11 mph winds in your area, with stronger gusts.

I'm not sure where weather underground gets their info, but it occurs to me, as someone who types for a living, that 110 mph and 11 mph are just a typo apart.

All I can add is that there were several tornados today, and lots and lots of wind damage from Tampa all the way across central Florida. Trees downed, power lines down, a couple of cars smashed, roofs torn off of porches, etc. A nasty day, wind-wise. We had quite a bit here, too, but nothing like what you are describing, Lisa. Just branches all over the yard, pots knocked over, and like that.

Hope it dies down soon and doesn't cause you any serious damage. Good luck!

Marcia

You know, we might be in tornado season. I can't remember exactly when it is. It's more of a problem north of here. But they don't always touch down, so you may have had one in the atmosphere that really stirred things up on the ground, without actually hitting.

Just another thought.

Hi Lisa, I live near you in Jupiter Farms and yes those were some extremely strong winds earlier. They had to at least be 60 mph! I was at the computer when the wall started to shake similar to the gusts from hurricane Frances. I've never seen wind gusts like that, which were not storm related. I guess it was a dry front line blowing through?

There's another freaky wind-thing I've heard of that they live in fear of at airports; it's called a downburst. I guess the way it works is sometimes even when there's no storm going on, you can get these out-of-nowhere super-powered downdrafts that smash planes right out of the sky as they are approaching the runway. They're supposed to happen so fast, and then be gone again, that they can't be predicted at all. Maybe some of those downbursts were coming & going over your neighborhood.

Willy went to Atlanta on Monday, he said the weather was so bad, planes were on the ground.
He told me it was coming to Florida and sure it was yesterday, we had bad winds around my house.
I had to go out and move the chairs and table, before they started flying.

They are also called microbursts and it sounds like that's what was going on at your house. During one of the storms two summers ago our neighborhood experienced a microburst that torn the screen rooms off 3 houses in a row and wrapped the screens and supports over the top of their houses! My house was just 2 away from the damage and we had a strong gust but nothing like what they had. The burst even picked up some fish from the pond and plastered them against the back wall of these homes!

That wind was so bizarre! I'm very sorry to hear about all the damage Lisa- I hope it wasn't too bad and you have some help cleaning up. We had a similar situation in the Orlando area. Some houses looked like they were hit with tornadoes but there weren't any in the immediate area. If any of you all in the Orlando area got hit bad and need some help cleaning up let me know; I would be happy to pitch in. I was very lucky my container garden is in a fenced in courtyard that blocked the worst of it. I live in a very woody neighborhood and there are limbs and branches everywhere! The clean up crew was already working on it when I left for work.

What the heck is right! Downburst or micro burst do not last for hours like the stuff we had here tues night about 20 miles north of Lisa. It had to be gusting to 40, but I did not call the AWOS at the local airports to see what gusts they were recording. It certainly was not a hundred but was too dang much for my plants or bats to be happy.
bernie