AquariusRadar Radar Rain Shadow
Home January thru October 2020 10 year average rainfall for Jackson and surrounding counties.
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10 year Average January through October rainfall 2011/20
Ideal Candidate Radar The 10 year average January thru October rainfall total for Jackson County and the surrounding area has increased to near normal conditions. Ponce De Leon, Bonifay, Euchee Valley, Graceville and other areas under the Radar rain shadow remain in drought condition despite the intense summer monsoon of 2013, 2014, and 2015. October 2016 and 2017 proved very dry with most stations reporting zero or below normal amounts of rain. The rain gage readings ranged from a high of 66" at Argyle in Walton County and a low of 41" at Bonifay in Washington County. The abundant rainfall at Fort Walton Beach, Eglin AFB, and Niceville Valpariso was the result of the positive mode of AquariusRadar as explained on the Radar Rainshadow page. The striking ability of microwave heating to transport moisture is illustrated by the 25" difference between Argyle and Bonifay. Summer monsoon storms are completed and the storms of fall have begun to re-define the rain shadow line. The radar rainshadow boundry emphasizes the dry conditions, resulting in permanent drought in the Euchee valley whose average may be as low as 35", although there are no rain gages in the district to record these dry conditions. The regional drought conditions are the result of the reoccurring domes of high pressure which now dominate the region. A quick glance at the globe shows Jackson County in the area near 30degrees north, the "horse latitudes, and the same latitude as most major desert regions. Historically, the Southeast US maintained a strong agriculture base with abundant rainfall because Gulf moisture collided with the unstable air of Temperate cyclones that were forced in a Southern arc by strong Polar high pressure systems. Global warming has weakened the Polar highs and strengthened "horse latitude" highs, forcing cyclones on a distant Northern track. Ambitious politicians who fight every attempt to restrain global warming have doomed Southern agriculture to a hardscrabble and unprofitable future. Texas and Southeastern state governments must build irrigation systems much like those of the desert Southwest built decades ago by the Federal government. Viable agriculture will soon end for many Southern farmers of North Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, because they can't produce without salt free irrigation water. Data sources can be seen here.CoCoRAHS, NW Florida Water Conservation District, and at Florida Department of Forestry.
Hail Suppression Learn more about downwind rainfall patterns of powerful radars by veiwng the RadarRainShadow pages at the left.
Radar Rain Shadow Jackson Still and Prosperity, two important Department of Forestry rainfall reporting locations, have been closed due to state budget cuts. This is unfortunate as these two reporting stations previously demonstrated the extremes of the Radar Rain Shadow effect. Prosperity still reports occasionally. Other area stations continue to document the long term rainfall disparity between upwind and downwind counties. The 26" disparity between Argyle and Bonifay is an example of the rain shadow effect. Positioned within 25 miles of each other, these reporting stations show the impact of microwave heating operating in a negative mode. Both Florida Forest stations use exactly the same equipment and methods to measure the rainfall. This negative mode is abetting the drought conditions which currently limit Chattahoochie flow and impacts oyster production in Appalachicola Bay. The documentation attempts to show that microwave energy can impact local weather. While the Radar Rainshadow is a negative for downwind counties, the impact can be readily mitigated. For use as a tool to alleviate urban flooding, picture a large city located in the area between Bonifay, Prosperity, and Ponce de Leon and also envision the area immediately west around Argyle and DeFuniak Springs as the green belt storage area for the city. Competing clouds in the storage area take up the moisture that the clouds in the rain shadow cannot because the growth of the rain shadow clouds are inhibited by the microwave energy of the large DoD radar.
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