Prospero

Bertha has been beautiful, and fun. I was awakened at 3:11 AM on the 17th to a lightning show and rumbling boom and rumble thunder. It was intense and still an hour before a drop of rain fell on my house. All day Friday we had periods of rain and breeze from the mid-level swirl, lots of lightning. I wonder if the Sahara Dust that had been in our sky helped make circuits for Earth's static charge releases! One person told me they never experienced lightning like that here in Florida. And we are sometimes considered the "Lightning Capital" of the world. Yesterday the breeze got stronger, and a few TD bands came through. Today was about the air moving in the big swirl, respectable winds that were steady and the sky just kept moving by. It felt so good to be out in it. Three and half inches of rain since the initial 3 AM storm party on Friday. It's not a drought breaker by itself, but sure helps. Tonight the trees look full and happy for the first time since 2024 (Debbie, Helene, and Milton), and I see them twisting and dancing to the wind which I imagine helps them suck up rain from the ground and push into their limbs and leaves. We need these tropical systems every year to maintain ground water in Florida. Last year we had no tropical systems in the Gulf. Remember: Bertha is drifting away from us in the Tampa Bay area, but what a welcome and desperately needed system to come by and visit. Whew. Its possible next week everything will be wilting again crying for rain. Storm damage in my yard? Yes, a dead rotten Live Oak branch fell on my Key West Lime tree breaking it off at the base. The branch I had not noticed hanging in the tree was a thudnest*. I heard it thud when it hit the ground in the rain yesterday. While it was still raining several species of birds appeared to have a feast on what I suspect were ants who had a nest in the branch. It was not the wind that brought the branch down, it was the weight of the rain and the thudnest was like a sponge soaking it up. *Thudnest – A heavy dead limb filled with insect nests.

I am jumping the gun a bit, but also realize once Bertha gets named my silliness is way less acceptable here. LOL TS Two conditions here in Gulfport FL is a nice breeze, beautifully wet, and the most comfortable weather outside in a good while. Thank you Bertha even if you don't get named!

COD: Satellite and Radar (Friday July 17, 2026 at 17:56 PM EST)

As far as Gulfport, FL, this has already been the most exciting weather event since Milton.

Is the swamp hot enough to feed a low over some land? The breeze feels good, we've had rain up here so not complaining for this year. Last year was a nightmare right now.

33 mph gust in Gulfport, FL a few minutes ago. That's more than Imelda brought which was a very nice steady breeze. I looked at NOAA and was surprised to see a lemon!

Winds are picking up here in Gulfport. This is my front yard cam: https://thegabber.com/gulfport-49th-street-south-web-cam/

This is a very handy website to find out your elevation. It appears to be right on accurate. https://whatismyelevation.com/map?lat=27.7443&lng=-82.6999

No, sir. We should eventually see a very clear and symmetrical eye as a major hurricane while favorable conditions allow. That will be different for a Gulf storm, until just before landfall.

Will an eye be elusive in this one?

If the surge is as high as it was last week with Helene, and with so much debris piled up on street after street, I assume the surge would build up during the approach to a high level sweeping up everything that is mostly small broken pieces of whatever is in those piles. If the eye passes to the south and we get strong offshore winds all of that stuff will be washed out to sea. There could be trash washing up on the beaches for a very long time.

Pinellas County issued a mandatory evacuation for long-term, healthcare facilities, and assisted living facilities in Zone A. https://thegabber.com/zone-a-evacuation-begins-milton-update-5/ The Assisted Living facility where my Dad lives in Zone B is evacuating tomorrow "to be safe."

For those with older homes, if 49% destroyed will need to rebuild to modern requirements which for many places means raising the homes up which is extremely expensive.

Helene, she came with a sea-born roar, A 6-foot surge upon the shore. Gulfport braced, the waters high, The tides rose up to kiss the sky. Yet rumors tell of Milton’s might, With fiercer winds and waves in flight! “Twice the surge!” the whispers say, As Milton eyes his stormy prey. But hear me, friends, though winds may bite, Though waves crash loud in darkest night, Thy strength, like oak, shall stand unbent— For Gulfport’s heart’s not easily spent. So huddle close and hold the line, The sun shall break, the stars shall shine! For storms will pass, as all things must, And hope returns, as sure as dust.

Here is a clip from 7:00 pm in Gulfport, Florida which was still over 5 hours and a few feet to high tide. This was the beginning for us.

The observed tide is higher than the predicted and we have a few hours to go in Pinellas County. https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/inundationdb/cidstorm.html?stormname=Helene

Structure Fire on a block downtown Gulfport that the fire department cannot get to due to storm surge. On no! https://mygulfport.us/pc/

This will be remembered for a long time. I have concern for everybody in a storm surge vulnerable location. I'm at 15 feet in Gulfport and getting a little concerned even this high. https://clearwaterbeachcams.com/ We are in for a very nasty surprise tonight in Pinellas County.

Storm surge is way past Idalia and still several hours before high tide and we are not even getting "the push" yet. It will be pushing ten feet in Gulfport, I will bet. I have never seen a storm surge in Tampa Bay like this since I moved here in 2003.

Already solid TS force winds at Surfside Condos on Clearwater Beach and still not the strongest they will see. https://www.sailflow.com/map#27.962,-82.745,13,1,!172594,7

Low tide was over about a half hour ago and we have along ways to go to high tide after midnight. Already the water level is rising. Here in Gulfport we are used to seeing downtown flooded, but tonight could be the first time it will be too deep for people to wade in and around. It could be over everybody's heads in a few hours. I notice the cameras are slow to load and that is because so many people are watching them. But after a moment or so you can see a live stream: https://thegabber.com/gulfport-casino-web-cam/

I have no doubts we will be breaking records tonight with the surge. I've been through enough here to recognize the signs. Downtown Gulfport and areas of Tampa Bay will be inundated beyond what we have seen before. Hopefully our cameras will stay up as long as possible. They stayed up in Idalia and Debbie even when water was inside the locations. But the winds were not that strong and electricity and internet stayed on. Tonight both could go down early. Our home is at 15ft so we should be OK for this one. There has not been a 15ft storm surge in our area in modern history. But it is always possible... Debris is already falling into our yard. Hold on! Woohooo! We gotta storm!

Its not raining yet in Gulfport, FL but the breeze is quite stiff. It feels really good right now on the skin, but we know we are soon to be having a little white-knuckle ride coming up. I think most accept we will lose power by midnight, so preparing for that inside so everything is easy to get to.

Except 25 of the area Publix's are closed this morning. But it did look like that yesterday...

That will make for a longer more stressful night here in Tampa Bay.