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Pat Shingleton: "Tires on the Reef and Record Lows..."

4 years 7 months 5 days ago Friday, August 23 2019 Aug 23, 2019 August 23, 2019 9:00 AM August 23, 2019 in Pat Shingleton Column
By: Pat Shingleton

The Miami Herald reported that in 1972, 2 million tires were unloaded onto the sea floor off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. The purpose was to create a giant reef that would act as a habitat for game fish.  The fish never inhabited the tire dump because the pile of tires made the water too shallow. Also, metal clips, designed to hold the tires together, corroded and intense tides scattered them. The runaway tires slammed into coral reefs causing damage while other tires washed ashore. The U.S. Navy in Broward County, Florida, teamed up with environmental groups to remove the tires.  At a cost of $5 million, the clean-up was completed in 2012.  In review of weather past,  on August 23, 2009 we slipped to 63 degrees, tying a record set in 1997.  The next morning we dipped to 63, shattering a record dating back to 1957.  In 2004 we enjoyed an August spoiler with a stretch of six consecutive days of record cold.  It started on Friday, August 13 when our 61 degree overnight low broke the 65, set in 1931. The next day we set another one with 59, breaking the record in 1931 at 65 degrees.  The coldest days of the stretch occurred on Sunday, August 15 with a low of 58, whacking the previous 65 in 1967. August 16,17, 18 broke records going back seventeen years. 

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