Latest news with #SammyHadi
Miami Herald
06-07-2025
- Climate
- Miami Herald
High wind gusts and heavy showers lash much of Miami-Dade and Broward counties
Sunday was a washout for much of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, influenced by the tail end of far-away Tropical Storm Chantal leaving the area with high winds, thunder and heavy rainfall, according to forecasters. Although the third named storm of the season made landfall in South Carolina, Sunday's wet weather in South Florida was the result of the system, said National Weather Service meteorologist Sammy Hadi. Wind gusts were measured in both counties between 30 mph and up to 45 mph, she added. Although it rained throughout the day, Hadi said accumulation averaged less than 1 inch in South Florida, with some areas getting between 1 and 2 inches. The nasty weather was expected to taper off into the late afternoon as Chantal moved into eastern North Carolina. While it is rainy season, and afternoon showers and thunderstorms are expected daily throughout the summer, Hadi said the bulk of the heavy weather on Monday is expected to move inland toward the Everglades and north to Lake Okeechobee.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Lightning injures 8 in Florida, kills one in different events as summer storms roil the state
The storm grew along a Gulf Coast breeze, a swelling cumulous cloud with a fog of cold June rain and shivers of lightning sparking toward the white sands of Marco Island. A warning siren wailed and some beachgoers sought cover under the thatch of a tiki hut — one of several at the JW Marriott Beach Resort — and, ultimately, the one where a bolt of electricity hotter than the surface of the sun would strike. Four women were knocked unconscious by the random punch from Mother Nature at about 3:45 p.m. on June 21. They were among 8 people injured and one killed by lightning strikes in Florida during the waning days of June, according to police reports and the National Weather Service. 'It wasn't necessarily severe that day but that goes to show you that any thunderstorm can put out lightning strikes that can hurt someone,' said Miami-based National Weather Service meteorologist Sammy Hadi. 'You may think a tiki hut is a safe location, however, if the lighting hit the tiki hut and the current went into the ground, you can get shocked.' Florida ranks consistently in first or second place as the state with the most lightning deaths per year. Between 2015 and 2024, 50 people were killed in Florida by lightning, compared to second place Texas, where 20 people were killed. This year, Florida has so far had just one death, a 29-year-old Colorado man who was struck June 20 while standing in shallow water at New Smyrna Beach. The man, Jake Rosencranz, was on a delayed honeymoon after getting married in 2023. 'They were visiting our beaches to celebrate their marriage,' Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood posted on social media. 'In one terrifying second everything changed.' Two people were injured on the Venetian Bay golf course the same day Rosencranz was killed. On June 23, there was a lightning injury in Navarre Beach when a man was struck at a restaurant. A person was also taken to the hospital on June 23 after lightning struck a cabana in Holmes Beach where several people were waiting out a storm. More: West Palm Beach taps its emergency groundwater wells as drought continues into rainy season 'The challenge with lightning is it can come from miles away without anyone knowing it,' said Marco Island Police Captain David Ennis, who was about a mile from the beach when the lightning struck June 21. 'I saw the storm coming and when I went inside, it was overcast, it was a dark sky.' Florida's geography makes summer one of the more dangerous seasons meteorologically, with spiking daytime temperatures that trigger invading sea breezes from both coasts of the peninsula. Those breezes force hot air over land to rise. Depending on the conditions higher in the atmosphere, especially if it's particularly cold, ice particles form. Colliding ice transfers electrons and separates electrical charges with negatively charged ice falling toward the bottom of the cloud where it can discharge lightning to Earth. A lightning strike sends an electric pulse searing through the nervous system causing concussion, temporary loss of hearing or eyesight and, sometimes, brain injury. The heart may stop beating entirely or pump erratically. Electricity also travels on top of the skin, causing burns by turning sweat or rain to steam or heating up a belt buckle, for example, to singe exposed skin. 'Florida is certainly the lightning death capital of the country,' said John Jensenius, lightning safety specialist for the National Lightning Safety Council. 'Our recommendation is that you get inside a substantial building that has wiring and plumbing. There is no safe place outside.' Lightning can strike from 10 miles away with a blue sky overhead and tends to hit the highest object in an area. It is not attracted to metal — an enduring myth — although metal is a good conductor of electrical current, which is why lightning rods are used on tall buildings to direct the current into the ground. More: Lightning kills randomly, know myth from fact People can also seek safety in a closed car with a metal roof where if lighting strikes the charge will travel around the outside car and into the tires or ground. Hadi, the meteorologist, was working the afternoon of June 21. The NWS Miami office forecasts for Collier County and he began noticing signs of potential trouble three hours before the lightning strike that injured the four women. The air aloft was cooler that day, meaning more energy could be produced by rising warm air from the surface. The office issued a special weather statement at about 3:30 p.m. as a strong thunderstorm approached Marco Island. A radar loop speckled white with lighting bolts was posted to social media at 3:31 pm, about 14 minutes before the strike. Danielle Sturgill, who was one of the women injured on Marco Island June 21, told CBS affiliate WINK News in Fort Myers that she and her friends went under the tiki hut to get out of the rain. 'The next thing I know, we were all four knocked unconscious. We didn't even know what happened. We didn't hear the boom,' Sturgill said. Three of the women were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The group, who were visiting from Kentucky, later got tattoos of small lightning bolts on their ankles to commemorate the event. 'They were lucky,' Jensenius said. "Everyone constantly reminds us of how blessed we are, and it's not luck," Sturgill told WINK News. "We're just thankful to God." No place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area. Schedule outdoor activities when there are no thunderstorms in the forecast. Check the latest forecast and cancel or postpone activities if thunderstorms are predicted. Monitor weather conditions via radar or lightning app. Keep a watchful eye on the sky. Listen for thunder. Lightning can strike outward 10 miles from a storm. If you hear any thunder, even a distant rumble, you are likely within striking distance of the storm. Head quickly to a safe place at the first signs of a developing or approaching thunderstorm. (A safe place is a fully enclosed substantial building with wiring and plumbing or fully inside a hardtop metal vehicle.) Remain inside the safe place for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before returning outside. Source: The National Lightning Safety Council Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@ Help support our local journalism, subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lightning injures four on Marco Island kills man in New Smyrna Beach
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
A Saharan dust cloud is headed to the U.S.: How does this occur?
After making its way across the Atlantic Ocean, a massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert is expected to reach the U.S. on Wednesday afternoon. The cloud of dust, which is believed to stretch 2,000 miles west to east and 750 miles from north to south, will first hit Florida and then spread to other states, according to USA Today. When it reaches Florida it will have traveled over 5,000 miles from North Africa. This is the largest Saharan dust cloud so far this year to travel across the Atlantic. It is expected to have little effect on air quality, as it will remain high in the atmosphere, but Floridians should see hazy skies or colorful sunrises and sunsets midweek. 'Typically we have nice blue skies, but with the dust, the whole sky looks soft and warm because the particles themselves are red,' said Joseph Prospero, professor emeritus at the University of Miami Center for Aerosol Science and Technology, according to The New York Times. 'Everything looks muted,' he added. This dust is technically known as the Saharan Air Layer, or SAL, and is a relatively common feature, according to The Washington Post. It is more unusual to see the SAL stay so strong after journeying across the ocean. The SAL is a very dry and dusty mass of air that forms above the Sahara Desert in late spring, summer and early fall, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Every few days the dust clouds move over the Atlantic Ocean. According to The New York Times, the dry layer of air that makes up the SAL hovers around a mile above the Earth's surface and can be up to 2.5 miles deep. The SAL is carried west by the same winds that kick up hurricane season. These dust events can happen year-round but the largest occur from mid-June to late July and after early August the plumes of dust tend not to travel as far. Earlier this year a few smaller SALs crossed the ocean but this is the first significant plume of the year. 'It happens every year; some years have more dust transportation across the Atlantic than others,' said Sammy Hadi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Miami, per The New York Times. 'It's like rinse and repeat every year, it's part of a normal cycle of Earth's oscillations.' Since the SAL is brought on by the same winds that drive tropical disturbances, excessive levels of dust can suppress and stifle tropical storms. This happens because the dust clouds are so dry and tropical storms require moisture to grow, per The Washington Post. The dust cloud is formed by light dry sands and other minerals, but they require a jet stream positioned correctly to send them westward. The SAL can also be shot northward toward Europe. This particular cloud that will reach the U.S. stirred up over Africa near Chad in late May. Meteorologists get plenty of notice for when an SAL is headed to the U.S., since the dust storms are visible by satellite developing over the Sahara seven to 10 days before reaching the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, per The New York Times. Earlier this week, the dust cloud covered the Caribbean islands on its way to the U.S. The cloud was dense and caused hazy skies in Puerto Rico, and early Wednesday morning the cloud was affecting Cuba, per USA Today. The plume of dust should reach south Florida by Wednesday afternoon or evening, and then on Thursday it is expected to spread to the rest of Florida going north into parts of Georgia and South Carolina. By the weekend, it is predicted to reach other Gulf Coast and Southeastern states such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, reported AccuWeather. It is then expected to dissipate. Jason Dunion, a meteorologist who monitors Saharan dust and hurricanes, has been in Puerto Rico during a Saharan dust event before, per The New York Times. 'There's a lot of dry air, and you don't feel that dry air, but the clouds feel it because as they grow and form thunderstorms, they run into that dry air and they just collapse,' he said. 'They get stifled. So as this comes through to a place like Puerto Rico, you're going to tend to have fewer thunderstorms. It's going to probably be one of our hotter days. And very hazy. The haze is incredible.' It is possible that the Saharan dust could collide with smoke which made its way to the U.S. from wildfires burning in Canada, per USA Today. The smoke has caused unhealthy air quality in several states over the last week, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. It has also caused moderate air quality across most of the eastern half of the country. Later in the week, there could be a small area where the smoke and dust come together over the southeast, per USA Today. It should not cause health or safety issues, except for sensitive groups.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Florida on alert after massive Saharan dust cloud clobbers Caribbean — air quality will suffer, experts say
Florida's about to get a free shipment of dust — straight from the desert. A mammoth cloud of Saharan dust, roughly the size of the continental U.S., is barreling across the Atlantic and expected to smother parts of the Sunshine State in a rusty haze this week. The gritty gift from North Africa has already blanketed the Caribbean — and now it's Florida's turn to breathe it in. 'It's the biggest one we've had so far this season,' Jason Dunion, a meteorologist who monitors hurricanes and Saharan dust, told the New York Times in an interview over the weekend He likened the thick layer to a 'London fog' with a 'brilliant orange glow' at sunset. By the time the 5,000-mile trans-Atlantic traveler reaches the Gulf Coast — from Florida to Texas — it'll lose some of its bite, but residents can still expect surreal sepia-toned skies, muggy heat and a spike in allergy attacks. The dusty invasion may look apocalyptic, but it's all part of Earth's strange seasonal ritual. Between mid-June and late July, massive waves of superheated air over the Sahara launch particles sky-high, where winds from the African Easterly Jet blast them westward. And it even has a name: the Saharan Air Layer, according to Fox 35. 'It's like rinse and repeat every year, it's part of a normal cycle of Earth's oscillations,' Sammy Hadi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Miami, told The Times. Although this isn't anything for people to fret about, the Saharan Air Layer weakens air quality, which will make going outside especially difficult for those with asthma or breathing issues. However, the surrounding dust does make for stunning picture-worthy sunrises and sunsets. And while Saharan dust may coat your car like it's been parked in a construction zone, it will make for fewer rain storms — which can be both a good and bad thing. 'There's a lot of dry air, and you don't feel that dry air, but the clouds feel it because as they grow and form thunderstorms, they run into that dry air and they just collapse,' Dunion dished to The Times. 'They get stifled.' Dust suppresses tropical storm formation by robbing the atmosphere of the moisture it needs to spawn serious weather. In other words: it's not just dirty — it's doing duty. That's good news for hurricane-watchers but not great news for everyone else, because typically the rain helps wash away all the sand and dust. So, without it — all of it just lingers in the air. Experts say the dust storms typically die down by August and September.
New York Post
02-06-2025
- Climate
- New York Post
Florida on alert after massive Saharan dust cloud clobbers Caribbean — air quality will suffer, experts say
Florida's about to get a free shipment of dust — straight from the desert. A mammoth cloud of Saharan dust, roughly the size of the continental U.S., is barreling across the Atlantic and expected to smother parts of the Sunshine State in a rusty haze this week. The gritty gift from North Africa has already blanketed the Caribbean — and now it's Florida's turn to breathe it in. 'It's the biggest one we've had so far this season,' Jason Dunion, a meteorologist who monitors hurricanes and Saharan dust, told the New York Times in an interview over the weekend He likened the thick layer to a 'London fog' with a 'brilliant orange glow' at sunset. 3 A monster cloud of Saharan dust the size of the U.S. is stampeding across the Atlantic — and Florida's about to get hit with a face full of rusty haze. RAMMB / CIRA @ CSU By the time the 5,000-mile trans-Atlantic traveler reaches the Gulf Coast — from Florida to Texas — it'll lose some of its bite, but residents can still expect surreal sepia-toned skies, muggy heat and a spike in allergy attacks. The dusty invasion may look apocalyptic, but it's all part of Earth's strange seasonal ritual. Between mid-June and late July, massive waves of superheated air over the Sahara launch particles sky-high, where winds from the African Easterly Jet blast them westward. And it even has a name: the Saharan Air Layer, according to Fox 35. 3 The gritty gift from North Africa has smothered the Caribbean — now Florida's next in line to choke on the dusty takeover. FOX 35 'It's like rinse and repeat every year, it's part of a normal cycle of Earth's oscillations,' Sammy Hadi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Miami, told The Times. Although this isn't anything for people to fret about, the Saharan Air Layer weakens air quality, which will make going outside especially difficult for those with asthma or breathing issues. However, the surrounding dust does make for stunning picture-worthy sunrises and sunsets. And while Saharan dust may coat your car like it's been parked in a construction zone, it will make for fewer rain storms — which can be both a good and bad thing. 'There's a lot of dry air, and you don't feel that dry air, but the clouds feel it because as they grow and form thunderstorms, they run into that dry air and they just collapse,' Dunion dished to The Times. 'They get stifled.' 3 Two waves of airborne grime are duking it out over the Southeast — caught between Sahara dust and wildfire smoke, locals are stuck in a gritty showdown. Jim Schwabel – Dust suppresses tropical storm formation by robbing the atmosphere of the moisture it needs to spawn serious weather. In other words: it's not just dirty — it's doing duty. That's good news for hurricane-watchers but not great news for everyone else, because typically the rain helps wash away all the sand and dust. So, without it — all of it just lingers in the air. Experts say the dust storms typically die down by August and September.
