Powerful NE winds rake Florida a fourth consecutive day Wednesday, threatening to worsen beach erosion already being characterized as extreme in Palm Beach County by the National Weather Service. Winds topped 40 m.p.h. on the state’s east coast Tuesday, sending 6-8 ft. breakers into area beaches while generating 14-18 ft. swells offshore. Pounding waves collapsed a retaining wall on the coast at Lantana, just south of West Palm Beach, and the relentless gales pushed tides at Jacksonville Beach 4.6 feet above sea level, sending sea water across backyards near Oak Landing. The winds were not directly related to Tropical Storm Noel, which churned along the north Cuban Coast Tuesday. Instead, the huge variation in air pressure between Noel and a sprawling high pressure to the north, produced an environment for a huge swath of easterly winds which swept much of the Southeast coastline–not just Florida.
———-
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
