Page 120 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind
P. 120
On the night of May 19-20, 1959, downtown Jacksonville and San Marco had up to 15
inches of rain that submerged cars up to rooftops at the State Board of Health near
Hogans Creek, The roof of a downtown furniture store collapsed from the weight of the
water.
In 1964, the heaviest rain from Hurricane Dora fell well west of the city where extreme
amounts of 17 and 23 inches of rainfall were recorded at Live Oak and Mayo
respectively. The worst flooding I witnessed was the 200-year flood in April 1973
when the Suwannee River crested at a record 40 feet at White Springs and closed
Interstate 75 as the crest passed.
Freezing rain seldom occurs in Jacksonville. The first recorded event was on January 4,
1879, when sleet turned to freezing rain at 8:30 PM. Ice continued to form on trees,
wires, and shrubs until 9:30 AM on the 5th leaving a thick coating of ice. Eighty-three
years later, on January 11-12, 1962 nearly 16 hours of freezing rain caused
Jacksonville’s worst glaze storm.
On the evening of December 22, 1989, rain started turning to ice on bridges. It turned to
sleet during the night and to snow off and on during the day of the 23rd when afternoon
temperatures were 26 degrees. The Hart and Dames Point bridges were closed for 4
days. While the official snow for Jacksonville was less than an inch, winds caused
drifts several inches deep in sheltered places. Fernandina received nearly 2 inches, and
across the state line in Georgia, Folkston had up to 5 inches.
A surprising non-rain event occurred in Jacksonville on April 30, 1971. The bright
morning sunshine gave way to a darkening overcast that made the city dark as night.
Street lights came on and the birds went to roost. There was no thunder or lightning, but
an eerie quiet fell over the city. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning
for our area. I quickly handed our telecine operator a Tornado Warning slide, and since
there was no one in the announcer’s booth, I turned the switch to “on air” to broadcast
the information. Oddly enough, after nearly one-half hour of darkness, daylight
returned with no thunder, lightning or rain!
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