If you were not in town this past Monday, you would not have been jolted awake at 5:15 AM by intense rain, wind, and lightning. “Must be just another localized thunderstorm blowing through…” I thought. But it sure didn’t SOUND like just another storm. And it lasted a long time. I checked Accuweathers’ radar around 5:30 AM to find a huge green blob full of yellow, orange, and red drifting over Tampa and SW Florida. But it didn’t say it was anything out of the ordinary. Finally, around 7:30 AM, I saw a News Press announcement on social media that dubbed this event Tropical Storm Emily.

The remarkable thing about this storm, besides how angry it was, was how it caught most people off guard. Usually we have a week or so to plan for an event like that, but just happened so fast. It essentially developed within hours overnight when a cold front stalled over the state and was met by a wave of moisture that had been building along the coast. It dropped 2” of rain on Spring Run Monday morning, and another 2” that night. Thankfully, there was no damage in the community as the landfall was in Tampa, and it wasn’t a big rain maker for us. But the golf course was closed Monday, and was “cart path only” on Tuesday.

And so we enter the busy tropical season with a sneak peek at what may come over the next couple months. Hopefully, the season turns mild, because the lakes are full!

Mike