The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has the potential to be an even bigger disaster than the 1989 Exxon Valdez, and could threaten nearly anyplace along the Gulf Coast over time. The reports seem to vary, but up to 200,000 gallons of oil per day continues to leak into the Gulf, and no quick solution to the problem is in sight. The slick, composed of a thick, tar like crude oil floating mostly below the surface now appears as if it will reach environmentally sensitive and seafood rich areas of the Louisiana coast within days. It may also already be too late for other locations, unless some drastic measures are taken to contain, collect or otherwise deal with this oil it is almost certain that the complex currents and winds will spread the damage over a large area. It is even a real possibility that oil from this spill could eventually end up in the Gulf Stream, which may spell disaster for the Florida Keys, an area already hard hit by the extremely cold winter. In fact, no coastal area’s in the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of Florida and beyond are really safe.

An explosion and fire sinks the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

The Southeast US, especially Florida, experienced March temperatures far below the seasonal norm. No revelations there for the Floridians who had a record cold winter… Damage from this extreme cold spell includes the loss of large numbers of fish, trees and tropical plants. Even the reefs of the Florida Keys have been affected. On the other hand, overall, the US was warmer than average, with the cold in the south being more than compensated for by nearly the entire northern half of the country having temperatures well above normal.
 
Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoku Volcano continues to erupt and create problems for air traffic… However, things are expected to improve for air travel, the winds are forecast to switch direction, which should allow traffic to start moving again, at least in the short term.
 
Oh ya, the weekend outlook for South Florida… With any luck, the rain forecast to move in near the end of the weekend will hold off until late on Sunday. If it does, we should have a few days of warm and sunny Florida weather.
 
Today is also Earth Day, just in case you missed that… Until next time, take care and stay safe.

There you have it, weather news in one sentence…
Florida does seem to be slowly warming up, and with hurricane season now just 6 weeks off, my focus will begin to shift toward the tropical over the next several posts. With that in mind, one might think we will start to enter our cycle of warm and humid weather with a lot of sun, but also a chance for rain on any given day, especially in the late afternoon. It also looks like that actually will be the case, at least until early next week. Expect low 80′s and a 30% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Other things you might be following would include the 6.9 earthquake in China, though I have to be honest and admit that I have little to offer on it, other than continuing to wonder if earthquake activity does actually seem to be increasing and when one might hit the US west coast. We also have Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoku Volcano erupting again, causing flooding, evacuations and disrupting air traffic. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Posting a quick outlook one day early this week as I will be unavailable Thursday… The weather in Florida has improved considerably over the last few weeks and with any luck the nasty winter we had is now behind us. It also looks like the pleasant weather we have been having will continue through this weekend with the only chance of rain in our forecast expected Thursday night into Friday morning as a front passes though. For the weekend we should have mostly clear skies and highs of around 80 each day. Take care everyone.