Florida's Severe Weather Awareness Week kicks off. Are you ready?

Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week is here, and there are several things you need to know to stay safe. A new topic is featured daily about some of the hazards that Floridians face each year, from afternoon thunderstorms to hurricanes and what to do during a tornado warning.
The week was designed to increase awareness of and preparedness for severe weather hazards. Each day will focuse on a specific weather event.

Here’s a preview of the week:

Monday’s focus is on lightning. Florida is typically home to the most lightning fatalities every year in the United States, with about seven people a year killed by a lightning strike. During the summer, strikes across the state can eclipse 1,000 bolts in just a span of 15 minutes. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area sees the state's highest amount of lightning strikes per square mile. Lightning can strike up to 12 miles outside the nearest storm cell. Lightning strikes in the U.S. about 25 million times a year on average, according to the National Weather Service. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors.

Tuesday focuses on marine hazards and rip currents. Although tropical cyclones, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are often the first that come to mind when thinking of “most dangerous weather phenomenon in Florida,” there is another weather-related hazard that ranks as the deadliest: rip currents. Rip currents claim more lives in Florida than hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and lightning. Florida’s beaches attract millions of residents and tourists each year. However, while there may be beautiful weather in the sky, there are unseen dangers in the waters.

Wednesday’s focus is on thunderstorms and tornadoes. Thunderstorms occur frequently across Florida. In fact, Florida has the greatest number of thunderstorms in the United States. Florida averages over 70 thunderstorm days per year with much of the Gulf Coast experiencing over 80 and even 100 days a year. Thunderstorms come in different forms. Sometimes a storm has only one thunderstorm cloud and sometimes thunderstorms have a family of clouds, or cells, associated with them. Also, thunderstorms may go on for a very long time or be as brief as just a few minutes.

On Wednesday, the weather service will issue a statewide tornado drill. The practice tornado warning will be transmitted by NOAA weather radios at 10 a.m. This will help you make sure that you have a plan in place to prepare yourself and your home if you are ever under a tornado warning.

Thursday’s focus is on hurricanes and flooding. No other state in the country has more hurricane landfalls per year (on average) than Florida. Nearly 40% of all hurricanes that strike the United States make landfall in Florida. The most feared weather phenomenon throughout Florida during the summer and early fall is the tropical cyclone. Close to the tropics and surrounded on three sides by warm water, the unique location of Florida makes it particularly vulnerable to these systems as they develop across the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. The relatively flat terrain of Florida can also make it susceptible to flooding. Some hurricanes can produce tornadoes on the outer bands when making landfall. Storm surge can cause inland flooding up to 100 miles away from the coast.

And Friday is all about temperature extremes and wildfires. Though Florida is known as the Sunshine State, it could also qualify as the “Hot State.” Each summer, numerous tourists come from all over the world to enjoy the warm weather and sunny beaches, but most are unaware of just how hot it can get in Florida. Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the state is always influenced by tropical moisture, especially in the summer. When hot temperatures combine with high humidity, our bodies feel like it is hotter than it really is since the increased moisture in the air limits our body’s ability to cool off through sweating.

DID YOU KNOW??? The hottest temperature ever recorded in Florida was 109 degrees on June 29, 1931, in Monticello. In 2010, a heat index of 124 was observed at the Apalachicola airport.

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