Climatology of South Florida (mid-troposphere to the lower- stratosphere)

Dr. Paul A. Newman (NASA/GSFC) has put together this climatology to provide a broad meteorological context for the CRYSTAL/FACE mission. In particular, we wished to document South Florida region (via the zonal wind or the total wind), the regions of cold temperatures, and the regions of upwelling.

The plots have been standardized to Orthographic projections centered on Central Florida. Two basing sites are also indicated: Jacksonville (30.5N, 81.7W), and Key West (24.6N, 81.7W. A circle with a 667 km radius is drawn around each of these sites to illustrate the distance covered for 1-hour of flying from Jacksonville.

1. Zonal wind averages

2. Total wind averages

3. Temperature averages

4. Velocity potential and stream function averages

5. Florida Regional Sondes

6. Florida GOES-8 movies

The met data used herein are derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis fields. NCEP and NCAR cooperated to produce a 40-year record of global analyses of atmospheric fields in support of the needs of the research and climate monitoring communities. This effort involved the recovery of land surface, ship, rawinsonde, pibal, aircraft, satellite and other data, quality controlling and assimilating those data with a data assimilation system which is kept unchanged over the reanalysis period 1957 through 2000. This eliminated perceived climate jumps associated with changes in the data assimilation system. Further details can be found at the NCEP/NCAR CDAS/Reanalysis Project homepage.

1. Zonal wind averages

These zonal wind time averages (color) are derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1979-2001. Contours are indicated for every 2.5 m/s (black line). Dashed line indicate easterly winds. The thick solid white lines are the non-divergent wind stream lines derived from the zonal and meridional wind averages. The stream line values have been normalized by dividing by the Earth's radius.

  • May
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • August
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1997
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1998
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1999
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2000
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June 1-9, 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB

    2. Total wind averages

    These total wind time averages (color) are derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1979-2000. The total wind is derived by averaging the zonal and meridional winds for the 22 year period, and then Utotal = sqrt(u^2+v^2). Contours are indicated for every 2.5 m/s (black lines). The thick solid white lines are the stream lines derived from the zonal and meridional wind averages. The stream line values have been normalized by dividing by the Earth's radius.

  • May
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • August
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1997
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1998
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1999
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2000
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June 1-9, 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB

    3. Temperature averages

    These temperature time averages (color) are derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1979-2000. Black contours are indicated for every 1 K. The thick solid white lines are the stream lines derived from the zonal and meridional wind averages. The stream line values have been normalized by dividing by the Earth's radius.

  • May
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • August
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1997
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1998
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1999
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2000
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June 1-9, 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB

    4. Velocity potential and stream function averages

    The velocity potential time average (color images) is derived from the divergent part of the wind field, while the streamlines (white solid contours) are derived from the non-divergent part of the flow field. The divergent wind is calculated by taking the gradient of the velocity potential. Hence, air is diverging away from lows (blues and purples), and towards the highs (reds and oranges) in the color image. The divergent wind is proportional to the color spacing, and perpendicular to those color contours. The non-divergent wind is calculated by taking the curl of the streamlines. Hence, the non-divergent wind is proportional to the contour spacing, and parallel to those color contours. The stream line and velocity potential values have been normalized by dividing by the Earth's radius. The arrows indicate the direction of the divergent wind and the strength of this divergent wind is indicated by the color scale on the RHS of each figure.

  • May
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • August
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1997
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1998
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 1999
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2000
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • July 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB
  • June 1-9, 2001
    • 1000 MB 925 MB 850 MB 700 MB 600 MB 500 MB 400 MB 300 MB 250 MB 200 MB 150 MB 100 MB 70 MB 50 MB

    5. Florida region sondes

    The following are the 8 radiosonde sites that relatively consistently report over a region that extends from Central Florida outward about 900 km. There are 3 color panels on each plot for Temperature (top), wind Speed (middle), and wind direction (bottom) as a function of altitude (0-20 km) and time (May 15 to July 15). The time-mean profiles are shown on each plot on the right hand side. The tropopause is indicated by the white line on each plot. The red ticks just above the temperature plot show the actual sonde launches. The color coding on the wind direction is indicated by the compass rose on the just below the wind direction chart (note that westerlies are red and easterlie are green.

  • Peachtree City
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Charlestown
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Eglin AFB
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Tallahassee
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Jacksonville
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Cape Kennedy
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Tampa Bay
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Miami
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02
  • Key West
    • June 97 98 99 00 01 02
    July 97 98 99 00 01 02


    6. Florida GOES-8 movies

    Convection over south Florida is typically tied to the sea breezes that develop during the day on the east and west coasts. As a result, particularly on days with weak synoptic-scale forcing, thunderstorm activity and the associated growth of thick cirrus shields tend to maximize in the afternoon and decay at night. This diurnal variability is evident in the GOES-8 IR image animations here. These are QuickTime movies and animated GIFs of hourly magery over the greater Florida region from GOES-8 channel 4 (centered at 10.7 microns). Animations were created for each of the four Julys 1997-2000; to keep them to a reasonable size, each July is broken up into 4 separate .mov files spanning days (A) 1-8, (B) 9-16, (C) 17-24 and (D) 25-31. The imagery was extracted from reduced-resolution GOES-8 data files kindly provided by Dennis Chesters, Code 910, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center.

    July 1997 (A) July 01-08 Quicktime (12,363 K) Anim. Gif (6,329 K)
    (B) July 09-16 Quicktime (19,061 K) Anim. Gif (6,076 K)
    (C) July 17-24 Quicktime (20,826 K) Anim. Gif (6,796 K)
    (D) July 25-31 Quicktime (16,737 K) Anim. Gif (5,331 K)
    July 1998 (A) July 01-08 Quicktime (  5,335 K) Anim. Gif (1,643 K)
    (B) July 09-16 Quicktime (  7,131 K) Anim. Gif (2,356 K)
    (C) July 17-24 Quicktime (  6,033 K) Anim. Gif (1,944 K)
    (D) July 25-31 Quicktime (  4,595 K) Anim. Gif (1,504 K)
    July 1999 (A) July 01-08 Quicktime (16,972 K) Anim. Gif (5,512 K)
    (B) July 09-16 Quicktime (16,760 K) Anim. Gif (5,294 K)
    (C) July 17-24 Quicktime (15,956 K) Anim. Gif (5,092 K)
    (D) July 25-31 Quicktime (11,106 K) Anim. Gif (3,616 K)
    July 2000 (A) July 01-08 Quicktime (17,466 K) Anim. Gif (5,767 K)
    (B) July 09-16 Quicktime (15,809 K) Anim. Gif (5,336 K)
    (C) July 17-24 Quicktime (11,359 K) Anim. Gif (3,830 K)
    (D) July 25-31 - n/a - - n/a -

    To aid in interpretation, brightness temperatures were enhanced at -35C (238K) and below; a color bar is provided at the bottom of each frame. We have also superposed on the images the 925mb wind barbs (in knots) and 200 mb geopotential height fields (3-dam contours in red) interpolated to time of the image from the 00 UT NCEP 1x1 analyses.

    Minimum brightness temperatures achieved over the center portions of the larger cirrus shields typically reach -65C and lower (green on the enhancement curves.) Assuming that these minimum temperatures are over optically thick cloud, these are comparable to the cloud top temperature and equivalent to a pressure level of 150 mb or higher. At this time of year, the tropopause is close to 15 km and the highest shields are clearly approaching this level.

    Particularly interesting is the contrast in day-to-day variability of convection between the northern half of the Florida penisula and the south. To the south, as mentioned above, the diurnal variabilty is particularly pronounced, and is often evident when tropical disturbances are in the vicinity. Over the northern peninsula, synoptic scale influences are more pronounced and the diurnal variability accordingly weaker in comparison.


    Dr. Paul A. Newman
    Code 916
    Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch
    Laboratory for Atmospheres
    NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
    Greenbelt, MD 20771

    Building 33, Room E320
    (301) 614-5985 fax: x-5903

    Last Updated: 2001-06-22
    Author: Dr. Paul A. Newman (NASA/GSFC, Code 916) (newman@notus.gsfc.nasa.gov)