We've had a few beautiful days - like this one with a record number of jet skis passing by, but mainly grey and cloudy - sort of British weather  ... very weird all winter!

9th January and another 'no-name' storm treated like a hurricane in terms of wind, flooding & tornado warnings.  Hurricane shutters rattling. Schools and events cancelled. 

Some parts of Florida will see temperatures drop into the 30s Tuesday (30 Jan); some cities hit record highs in the 80s Saturday, (27 Jan) forecasters said.

Boules on the beach

Apparently this December/January period is the cloudest in Florida for the last 84 years, I think since they began records! T​ampa had only three days characterized as "clear sky" days in December and January combined, according to National Weather Service statistics. These statistics consider a "clear sky" day as one with 30% cloud coverage or less averaged through the day. Tampa averages 20 such days each December through January.

Historically warm surface temperatures contributed to an increased likelihood of an El Niño for the record books, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center.

"Based on the latest forecasts, there is now a 54% chance of a “historically strong” El Niño during the November-January season.  In most El Niño winters, Florida is wetter and warmer than normal from January to March. With a stronger El Niño winter expected and the southern jet stream track pushing down further south, though, Florida will likely see wetter and cooler conditions this winter.

During the evening of February 7th, a 'rare' earthquake that registered 4.0 was recorded in the Atlantic about 100 miles from Florida's Cape Canaveral, the U.S. Geological Survey said. We didn't feel a thing.

Seen on the beach - big flyovers and washed up -- small hammerhead shark!

Below you can see the groins/groynes that protect our beach, along with the new sand dune (partially washed away!) and how high the tide got to the new duene (long line of light colored sand with small amount of wrack).

Groin is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English ( en-US ) while groyne is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) ( en-GB ). In the United States, there is a preference for "groin" over "groyne" (100 to 0). In the United Kingdom, there is a preference for "groin" over "groyne" (99 to 1).