Blue Hole over Boynton August 26, 2010

The Bermuda Triangle may be more famous but the Blue Hole over Boynton is just as mysterious. When I moved to Boynton Beach, Florida 12 years ago, I heard somebody tell me about a weird phenomenon in the skies over my town. It seems the entire area can be being pounded with rain and thunderstorms—a near daily occurrence during the summer rainy season—but the skies over Boynton Beach mysteriously remain clear.

Case in point. Yesterday, before I headed off to pick up my daughter from school, I checked the radar. A huge mass of rain was developing south of me and was tracking north. The colorful blob on the radar screen was so big I knew we were in for a nice, prolonged, needed soaking. As I headed out the sky was inky black to the immediate south and west confirming the radar. My trip took me west, then north. Not one mile from home the rain started. I ended up following the storm north driving the 12 miles in a building rain. After I had picked up daughter dear, we headed south, back into the thick of the maelstrom. I wondered out loud if it would be raining at the house when we got there. My grass certainly needed the water. The storm had indeed tracked from the south to the north. The further south we traveled the larger the pools of water in the road. However, as soon as I turned east off the turnpike the pavement got dryer and dryer. By the time I turned into my neighborhood, the road was bone dry—we had had nary a drop.

This weird phenomenon has happened time after time. What looks to be a sure hit on radar turns into a sure miss. I haven’t kept stats but I would bet storms mysteriously part as they pass over Boynton Beach more than 70 percent of the time. Many people might ask why I don’t embrace this phenomenon as a blessing—“it’s always sunny in Boynton….” It may be sunny but my watering bill is way too high.