Winter Storm ‘Sou’easter’ of December 2023 (dangerous, roach)

[Rumann Koch]

Exactly what type of weather event did we just have here in Florida this past week?

The so-called meteorologists just called it a ‘stalled Low front’, but I believe that just calling this severe weather event as such is very misleading and not helpful for the general populace. For me I was not prepared for this storm, not expecting a tropical storm-like event in the middle of December. But I believe that I suffered more impact than I have had with most named tropical storms and even some hurricanes: flooding, flying debris, brown outs and much inconvenience.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

a tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation. The weakest tropical cyclones are called tropical depressions.

Well this system had all of those characteristics! And them some: feeder bands, sustained winds and rain, and widespread flooding and power outages. It covered the entire State and lingered for almost an entire week!

But the meteorologists continued just calling it a ‘stalled front’. I think they should have given a more serious warning. Just as the North have ‘Nor’easters’ that indicate an approaching dangerous storm - we here in the South should have ‘Sou’easters’. I believe that this change in terminology would allow the citizens in Florida to be better prepared for a potentially-serious weather event, just like a hurricane.