June 09--FORT LAUDERDALE -- All air traffic to and from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was shut down for over an hour Sunday afternoon after lightning strikes gouged three holes in the airfield's only operational runway, officials said.
"Nothing was moving for about an hour and nine minutes," said Greg Meyer, a spokesman for the Broward County Aviation Department.
Shortly after 2 p.m., the three holes had been patched with asphalt and all flights were landing and taking off normally, said Meyer.
Meyer said the holes were fist-sized on the surface. He said he did not know their location on the runway.
The holes and the storm led to 27 flights being diverted to other airports, including Palm Beach International and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, he said.
The airport will operate with only one runway until mid-September when a new elevated runway is scheduled for completion, Meyer said.
The lightning accompanied a large thunderstorm that formed over the Fort Lauderdale area before noon, grew in size and then drifted to the southwest, according to National Weather Service radar.
Several other thunderstorms developed along the coast at the same time, said forecaster Chuck Caracozza at the National Weather Service in Miami.
Quarter-sized hail was reported in Davie, and a wind gust of 55 miles an hour was recorded at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Caracozza said.
Earlier in the day forecasters issued a hazardous weather warning that called for heavy rains, lightning and strong, gusty winds from Palm Beach County to Miami.
The formation of Sunday's thunderstorms were typical of the rainy season, forming along an inland surface boundary and the sea breeze, said Caracozza. "They came with a lot of lightning and a lot of heavy rain," he said.
The storms were expected to fade away by sunset, he said.
The forecast for the next few days calls for more of the same, Caracozza said.
Copyright 2014 - Sun Sentinel