The barrier islands along Florida's east coast are a treasure. One of the best things about them is that they usually do not get the daily summer afternoon thunderstorms like most of central/southern Florida. The prevailing daytime winds on the east coast are from the east / southeast every day and the barrier islands are too narrow to cause any significant thermal lifting of the moist ocean air.

When I graduated from Syracuse in 1968 with both an engineering degree and an ROTC Air Force commission, my first duty assignment was to Patrick AFB on the barrier island between Cocoa Beach and Satellite Beach. All summer long I could see the rain clouds begining to build to the west beyond the Banana River and the Indian River over the mainland beginning at lunchtime. My normal duty hours were 0700-1600 and by the time I left work the towering thunderstorms were raging across the Western horizon while we were enjoying sunshine and a blue sky on the base. As the afternoon progressed, the storms moved steadily westward across Orlando and on to Tampa on the Florida west coast while I would be water skiing on the Bananna River or taking an Aero Club Cessna for an hour and flying around the east coast to build hours toward my next FAA license.

Patrick usually got its summer rain showers in the wee hours of the morning before dawn. Perfect weather! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />