Weather and me
Memorable weather events from places I've called home
As much as I love roads and travel, I also have a passionate interest in meteorology. I was an avid fan of The Weather Channel growing up, and loved learning things such as where is the warm sector in a frontal system and how a pressure gradient results in strong winds. Seeing mother nature at work occasionally leaves me awestruck and I am especially intrigued by severe weather and hurricanes. I'm also still like a kid when it comes to snowstorms!
Coinciding with places I have lived, this map tour shows some of the significant weather events I have experienced or witnessed the aftermath. I grew up in Delaware, but did not really start paying attention to the weather until Hurricane Gloria in 1985. More memorable from my time in the First State were snowstorms, especially the Blizzards of 1993 and 1996. First moved to Florida in 1996 to Pensacola, where the effects of Hurricanes Erin and Opal from the previous year were still evident. Then lived in Mobile, Alabama from 1999 to 2004. I relocated out west to San Diego, California just before Hurricane Ivan ravaged the Gulf Coast.
I returned east to St. Petersburg, Florida for my first job in mapping in 2006, where I also met my eventual wife. We moved to Northwest Florida just after Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and lived in Navarre until 2013. Seeking advancement in her GIS career, job opportunities lured us back to Tampa. Following a quiet period of tropical weather, hurricane season is now a way of life here, with impacts from Hermine in 2016, Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Idalia in 2023.
Blizzard of 1993
I shot this from a pedestrian overpass within walking distance of home on March 13, 1993 and eventually I helped those motorists push their cars out of the snowdrifts. The Blizzard of 1993 inundated places like Birmingham, AL and Chattanooga, TN with snow the likes they had never seen before. Snowfall was even observed as far south as Mobile, Alabama! 14 inches of snow fell over northern Delaware.
Aftermath of Hurricane Erin
While I was not in Pensacola for either Hurricane Erin or Opal in 1995, my Dad was. I spoke with him during the height of Erin when he was in Gulf Breeze. While the damage where he was located was minimal, the same could not be said for Pensacola Beach. I went there in January 1996 and saw many buildings with extensive damage such as this condominium complex.
Hurricane Gustav 2008
Hurricane Gustav was a category 2 storm that made landfall in southern Louisiana on September 1, 2008. While the bulk of the storm was well west of Pensacola, the wide wind field caused coastal flooding along Escambia Bay, including at the condo complex where my Dad lived. This video stillshot is from that morning. There is a 3 foot or so sea wall that is normally visible there!
Hurricane Irma 2017
Hurricane Irma came ashore in Collier County on September 10, 2017. The storm tracked inland from that point northward across the Florida peninsula. We had northerly winds from Irma, so water in area bays was blown out to the Gulf of Mexico. We also lost power for 35 hours, but there was no damage, just a lot of yard debris to clean up. Irma produced significant rainfall and strong winds further east, including Lakeland, which is where this scene of a flooded road was taken.
Hurricane Ian 2022
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida on September 28, 2022. We were spared the brunt of the storm here in Tampa, save for power outages. The track of the storm took the storm center across Central Florida, giving us a long term fetch of northerly winds. The result was that coastal waters from Tampa Bay north to the Nature Coast were blown out to the Gulf of Mexico. This photo was shot along upper reaches of Hillsborough Bay across from Davis Island in Tampa. Normally the bay is several feet deep here, and the exposed barnacles on the bridge supports show the extent.
Hurricane Idalia 2023
Hurricane Idalia stayed west of Tampa Bay, making landfall in Florida's Big Bend on August 30, 2023. The wind impacts from Idalia were minimal in Tampa, but the prolonged south to north wind direction piled water into low lying areas, such as along Westshore Boulevard, pictured here.
Blizzard of 1993
I shot this from a pedestrian overpass within walking distance of home on March 13, 1993 and eventually I helped those motorists push their cars out of the snowdrifts. The Blizzard of 1993 inundated places like Birmingham, AL and Chattanooga, TN with snow the likes they had never seen before. Snowfall was even observed as far south as Mobile, Alabama! 14 inches of snow fell over northern Delaware.
Aftermath of Hurricane Erin
While I was not in Pensacola for either Hurricane Erin or Opal in 1995, my Dad was. I spoke with him during the height of Erin when he was in Gulf Breeze. While the damage where he was located was minimal, the same could not be said for Pensacola Beach. I went there in January 1996 and saw many buildings with extensive damage such as this condominium complex.
Hurricane Gustav 2008
Hurricane Gustav was a category 2 storm that made landfall in southern Louisiana on September 1, 2008. While the bulk of the storm was well west of Pensacola, the wide wind field caused coastal flooding along Escambia Bay, including at the condo complex where my Dad lived. This video stillshot is from that morning. There is a 3 foot or so sea wall that is normally visible there!
Hurricane Irma 2017
Hurricane Irma came ashore in Collier County on September 10, 2017. The storm tracked inland from that point northward across the Florida peninsula. We had northerly winds from Irma, so water in area bays was blown out to the Gulf of Mexico. We also lost power for 35 hours, but there was no damage, just a lot of yard debris to clean up. Irma produced significant rainfall and strong winds further east, including Lakeland, which is where this scene of a flooded road was taken.
Hurricane Ian 2022
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida on September 28, 2022. We were spared the brunt of the storm here in Tampa, save for power outages. The track of the storm took the storm center across Central Florida, giving us a long term fetch of northerly winds. The result was that coastal waters from Tampa Bay north to the Nature Coast were blown out to the Gulf of Mexico. This photo was shot along upper reaches of Hillsborough Bay across from Davis Island in Tampa. Normally the bay is several feet deep here, and the exposed barnacles on the bridge supports show the extent.
Hurricane Idalia 2023
Hurricane Idalia stayed west of Tampa Bay, making landfall in Florida's Big Bend on August 30, 2023. The wind impacts from Idalia were minimal in Tampa, but the prolonged south to north wind direction piled water into low lying areas, such as along Westshore Boulevard, pictured here.