Hurricane Harbor

A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Living in the Promised Land...

we are the multitudes.. lend up a helping hand
is there no love anymore
living in the promised land
(unreal guitar part... soulful, beautiful.. he makes that guitar sing)
living in the promised land
our dreams are made of steel
a prayer on every... (kid talked) room for everyone
living in the promise land

Happy Almost July 4th weekend..

Such a beautiful song.. soulful, deep.. true.

Give us your tired and weak.. we will make them strong
................sing along................time to mend
there's still alot of love.. living in the promise land

oh i feel so good in ways..
there is a winding road.. across the shifting sands..
:)

shifting sands..
beautiful song

staring..
yes..shifting sands..

Waiting for storms to form
watching clouds climb high
pondering the things we don't undersetand
about life and love and things things we don't understand

and America... July 4th

Tore my room apart looking for a CD with Pancho and Lefty on it...
friend on hurricanecity mentioned Willie..
all day I heard lyrics to Pancho and Lefty in my mind...

found it.. found Living in the Promised Lands and Mendocino County Line

ill be back
just marking time...
on the eve of the 4th of July... 2 years.. 3?? losing track
is that wierd or what?

Bobbi

Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boys
His horse was fast as polished steel
Wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him hang around
Out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old

A few gray federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong
Out of kindness I suppose

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Misc. Links to Key West and "stuff"

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/eyw/HTML/Jims_Pics/OPTSUN/Sun.html

check out the sunrise photos by the airport.. nice, course most are taken from their eye on the sky at the airport/bus station looking out over the Atlantic :)

African Wave Train beginning...

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/europe/images/xxirmet7n.GIF

African Safari

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/europe/images/xxirmet7n.GIF

Look at that there beautiful wave :)

Color, shape... even has those little eyes thing going on that real trackers know what I'm talking about. Trackers.. Meteorologists.. amateur or professional. We recognize the eyes of a Cane when we see it. Not talking about trolling geologists waiting for the next big Quake. Talking about real meteorologists.

Know who they are?
Big guys like Beven. My good Friend Howie who owes me something. I should remind him :) Ghosts of John Hope. Jim Williams of HurricaneCity.. my city of choice. SNONUT (big smile) ...where is SNONUT???... My partner in crime in Pt. St. Lucie.

Jim Cantore
Joe Bastori
Dr. Landsea

All rhyming away in the breeze.

Dr. Gray, if I may..
Weaver the Weatherman
Dr. George from Old LA

We all have our favorite weatherman.. or girl.

Weather is sexy.
When was the last time you knew the name of a geologist???

Not even the New Madrid Fault is not as well known as the San Andreas even though more people should probably worry on it.

But this is the land of the ocean... the blue seas and deep blue skies
Clouds clustered together way across the ocean...
Cape Verde Islands ...
Puerto Rico or Bust

Bust.
Weather is sexy.
Sure ESPN is fun to look at but... every sport is a winner
Killing time, wasting time..
Watching men of all colors jump high
Football fever coming soon.. guys in pantaloons..
I'm watching, every year.. every summer.. fall season fever football madness
And.............last but not least.. the redsox.. lost last night :(
Watched it on a 30 second ticker on yahoo.. pathetically watching it update

So..........back to the weather.
Bret is gone.. or pushing into Mexico... way down, deep below
Oh oh oh oh Mexico...

Anyway, digressing..
Hey Jay? Back from the lecture tour? Welcome back, kiss the cable and light me a candle and say a prayer for St. Barbara.

So... Bret bit the dust in Mexico.

Where's Charley?
Great movie... oh yes, stupid idiot liked the great movie.
Well.. let it go.. like Mexico.

Anyways.
Take a look at the Atlantic there... there is color..
Where there is smoke there is fire.. except in dreams.. lots of smoke out there.

Saharan Dust too.. drying out those beautiful waves.
By the time you click on those links they will be gone.
Eaten by the Dust Monsters... hope they enjoyed it
Their time on the scene... on the sats... on the boards.

I wanted to go to Key West yesterday in the worst way.. just couldn't run away.
Needed to stay here.. had to... didn't want to...
Wanted to wake up in Key West...smell the air, walk over to the water
Stand there round South Beach or at the end of Duval and stare out at the beauty
Nothing like a Key West sunrise...
Rays of the Sun breaking out from behind tropical clouds...
Like messages from God.. magestically shining on the water below
Sandpipers dancing at the waters edge, running in and out of holes in the sand
Rocks.. wind, waves.. a passing shower..
Cuban coffee in one hand
Salt spray on your face
Memories of Havana and a ghostly ferry that used to cross the road

How many times did my great, great grandparents make that trip?
To Cuba .. to buy seed tobacco or real tobacco
To do what down there?
To find a Rabbi to come across the water for services at the end of the Road

I have a map in my house that needs to be looked at...
Has Florida on one side... shows where you catch the seaplane or the ferry to Havana
Has a map of the island.. Varadero Beach..

One of these waves... one of these days.. will come across from Africa
draw a beeline for Havana... and ruffle the feathers of the once great Cuban Friar who studied weather.. Infamous in his time.

So.. instead of touching base, walking the streets of Caroline Street
or Simonton.. on Whitehead where I used to walk in generations ago
Under the red, red poincianna tree.. waiting for men to come home from Havana

Fleming.. oh Fleming
I love Fleming

The library..Faustos.. oh oh oh Faustos..
all the way in the back.. Rainforest Green Mountain Coffee
oh oh Faustos..

So.. did the next best thing.
A girls got to do..what a girls got to do.

And, slept while Bret
danced in Mexico
*
**
***
****
*****
Wonder in Tarot who is the Prince of Tides or the Prince of Weather
This little princess is signing off...
Thank you my partner in crime for the music that rocks my soul
All the way back down Useless US1 to the Flick
From the beginning...to the end of the road..


song for the day :)
JIMMY BUFFETT lyrics - "Prince Of Tides"

www.OldieLyrics.com
African drums are silent and the Wingos
are poets at last
Out on Dafuskie Island, the bulldozers
bury the past
And the low country sinks, she cannot swim
the dogwood feels the hurt
While the foursome plays on borrowed days in
their alligator shirts

Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

One night they put a price on the sunset and that
got the whole earth shakin'
Those rose from the grave both the weak and the brave
'cause history was there for the makin'
And the winos surrounded the condos forming
a frail human fence
And they shouted out loud to the roar of the crowd
"Same old story, more dollars than sense"

Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see
Paperback novels make young girls dream and
Judy's spending quieter days in the stream
With Giovinno, Goodman, Phil and Mac D, they were
such good friends to me

Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

Heaven knows but God decides
When to kill the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

Nothing left to see
And beach music beach music beach music
just plays on

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

songs for the day..

Song: Send in the Clowns Lyrics

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

and figures in my life... looked for the song i was thinking of..
from a great movie
figures Sweet Georgia Brown would be on that CD
my life..

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005Z5Z/104-5568766-9602346?v=glance
should buy the movie, or get it from a friend
dont you think we should have the things we love? enjoy?
Running wild.. running free lol with the ukeleleeee

1. Runnin' Wild
2. Sugar Blues/Runnin' Wild
3. We Could
4. Down Among the Sheltering Palms
5. Randolph Street Rag
6. I Wanna Be Loved by You
7. Musical Family
8. Park Avenue Fantasy
9. Down Among the Sheltering Palms/La Cumprasita/I Wanna Be Loved by You
10. Fuzzy End of the Lollipop
11. I'm Thru With Love
12. Sugar Blues/Tell the Whole Darn World
13. Rough, Hairy Beasts
14. Play It Again Charlie
15. Sweet Georgia Brown
16. Very Interesting
17. By the Beautiful Sea
18. Park Avenue Fantasy
19. Real Hot
20. Some Like It Hot

Tropical Storm Bret...Tampico or Veracruz..

The second tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.. 2005.. has now formed off the coast of Mexico. Like Jimmy sings..way down in Mexico..

Where and which city will he hit though? Sort of a replay of the last Bret but what can you expect for a June storm?

Reading the posts, emails from Seahorse at the NHC telling us what we already knew.. storm had formed. Recon confirmed it.

So while trackers half-heartedly track Bret.. most are lusting after waves in the Atlantic. Models are love sick.. big wave... heard Bastardi was busting a gut over it. HAHA made my first Bastardi joke of the season. Sorry, bad habit. Personally, really I love Joe. How can you not love someone born on July 18 in Rhode Island???
Had a boyfriend.. still a friend. Great birthday. Even if born in the RI :)

So.. announcing Bret.

What else?

Was going to write a poem today about Jack and Tony. Never finished it though.

Sort of like...

Jack sat on a railroad track
staring down at rocks
Tony had dreams and schemes
writing screenplays
for big bucks
Jack sat around like Capricorns do
Sullenly sulking and reading the news
While Tony worried on Jack
sitting on the railroad track
Well whats a big brother going to do?
Just let Jack play with his rocks or...
share the dough with baby bro
So.. now they are stuck
like two peas in a pod
Jack with a frown
Tony with a smile and eyes
and that stupid little grin
when he turns his head this way
or that way and wins
Worrying on Jack who looks back too much
and doesn't appreciate Tony and all that he's done
Jack sits on his computer and types all night
studying rocks and earthquakes and ducks
Tony runs around in robes of red and purple
like a mystical sorcerer working his wonders
And Mary watches from the sidelines
playing her flute and saxophone
never a clarinet because Fred too it back
This poem makes no sense
But neither does my life
Someone should let Jack go back to rocks
with his fortune made, he can buy a lot
Someone should let Tony loose.. let him out of those robes
wearing a spice girls tee shirt is really what he wants
Sexy spice, any spice, tropical spice
Karmatically spice..
Let Fred play soulful songs on teh clarinet
Let Mary run away with Tony..
maybe he'll share his wardrobe lol
No heels.. funky toes
Thats the story
the way it goes

Tony has such cute eyes when he turns his head
at that angle and steals Mary's heart
What will Jack do when Tony has fled?
What will become of poor old Fred?

Such is the way of the world in the land of dreams
make believe and other worlds.. never to be seen
Some like it cold and Some Like it Hot!

Thats the way the story goes.. all the way down
to Mexico :)

Bobbi, not rhyming.. not really musing.. just being a clown
missing Tony a lot

1935 Hurricane by Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Good article posted on www.hurricanecity.com about the 1935 Hurricane. Note it constantly mentions one wave and knowledge at the time that the way the tracks had been laid it contributed to the disaster.. most likely. Quote below highlighted. Good article, many of us that love Florida History and its beautiful Biscayne Bay are intriqued by the words of Marjory .. weaving her magical spell as she writes about another place and time.

Also.. great link given for Earthman, Lanny Smith's many CDs and life work on educating people about the Earth, water recycling and the ecosystems that make up our beautiful world.

www.earthman.tv


"The ruined ten miles of Keys lay like a leprous scar on the silky blue and green sea. The damage was done by the extraordinary winds and the hurricane wave. But the losses were increased by the rock embankment of the railroad that had dammed up the natural channels into Florida Bay. No one can say today whether the greatest damage was done by the piling up of the hurricane water, by the 30-foot rock fills, or by the undertows created by the irresistible force of its going out, that sucked everything away with it: men, wreckage, and the very sand under toppling concrete walls and foundations."


Marjory Stoneman Douglas
By Jerry Wilkinson

Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 7, 1890 and brought up with her mother's people in Massachusetts, went to the public school of Taunton, and graduated from Wellesley College, Massachusetts in 1912. Her father's people were Quakers and pioneers. He, Frank Bryant Stoneman attorney and judge, and went to Florida (circa 1909) before she did. He was founder-editor of The Miami Herald following an earlier paper he had started. When Marjory decided to go south circa 1912, as a result of an unworkable marriage, it was wonderful to find a new country with all the excitement of the tropics, a beginning city and a job on a newspaper. She lived with her father and stepmother, Lilla B. (Shine), who was her first and best friend.
She went overseas in the WW1, doing Red Cross publicity out of Paris and came back after a year to be an associate editor for her father. She marched for suffrage in the 1920s while writing books, magazine articles, drama, fiction and poetry.
She always wanted to write fiction. Another new life began when she started selling stories to the Saturday Evening Post, in 1924 and for other national magazines. She built a little house of her own in Coconut Grove for a work shop where she lived the rest of her live.
Her acclaim to fame was The Everglades, River of Grass first published in 1947. She received many honors, awards, commendations, orders of merit, honorary positions, not to mention nine honorary degrees.
Her book HURRICANE from which the below (Hurricane number 3) is quoted was published by Rinehart & Company in 1958 is the best account that the author has read. Another, but a fictional story of the 1935 Hurricane was published in the Saturday Evening Post on December 7, 1935. It is a story of a WW1 veteran who made friends with a Matecumbe "Conch" family with whom he endured the hurricane. J.W.

- - - - - -
"The Florida Keys, 1935
-
" It was hot white and mosquito-y all that summer of 1935 on the Florida Keys. There was always the threat of hurricanes like the one in August that whirled up the Atlantic and destroyed the fishing fleets of Newfoundland. But it was not the weather that was making the summer strange to the brown-faced, quiet people of the Keys, whose ancestors from over in the Bahamas or up from Key West had known more about hurricanes than any people on the American coast.
They knew exactly what was meant when a Bahaman said of the clouds before a hurricane, 'See how they do send, low, low, low.' They had known what the old Key West fisherman described when he said of a hurricane center, 'And then there come a glistening calm.'
Their seagoing ancestors had built the first stout small frame houses among lime and guava trees, under coco palms, near their boats pulled up in coves among the mangroves or along the shelly infrequent sands. They still lived as they always had, the people of the villages, Rock Harbor, Tavernier, Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key; and Matecumbe on Lower Matecumbe Key [Matecumbe was the lower portion of Upper Matecumbe Key], and all the others, independent and close-mouthed. It was nobody's business whose people had been wreckers in the great days of wrecking or rumrunners in prohibition. Mr. Flager's railroad had brought construction jobs. Now fish guiding and charter boats, bait shacks, boat docks, stores, juke joints, fish-and-lime-pie restaurants were making good profit. They never liked the high rock embankment down the middle of everything, where the railroad ran, that blocked up all the old channels between the Keys so that a man had to take his boat all the way down to No. Five trestle to get into the sheltered waters of Florida Bay. But now they were more bitter at the invasion of 716 very strange men.
There were, after all, only about four hundred Key people, closely related and clannish, like Captain John Russell, postmaster at Islamorada, and his seventy-nine kinfolks. By the beach lived Captain Edney Parker; his wife, who was one of the big family of Pinders; his ten children; his son-in-law Jack Ryder and their relatives. At Tavernier, Judge Lowe, the justice of the peace, was the head of the smaller Lowe family. He was called Doe in Miami, where he had been a deputy sheriff. There were Becoms on Windley Key, Sweetings on Lignum Vitae, and Alburys everywhere. They were keen-minded, intelligent, often well-read people, with a great deal of pride and much respectability.
The 716 strangers on the Keys were broken-down army veterans, forlorn stragglers from the bonus army that had marched on Washington. Some were drunks. Some were shell-shocked and half-crazy. Some were hard, useless characters. All of them, one way and another, were misfits.
They had been rounded up for the government by the FERA and sent down the Keys to get their misery and uselessness out of sight. They were quartered in three shack-and-barrack camps in the sun-blasted scrub between Snake Creek and the south end of Lower Matecumbe. They were supposed to be building a road but in nearly a year only two hundred feet were done. They worked only if they wanted to, got thirty dollars a month and all the food they could eat. They went fishing. Saturday nights after payday the saloons of Key West roared with the drunkenness of the alcoholics. There were fights in the camps. Many of the Key people, especially the women, were scandalized.
Yet some Key people (like Captain [Edney] Parker, who worked at Camp Five), who had found many veterans to be lonely and friendless, were glad to befriend them. All that summer, there was talk about the veterans.
The Key people did not have to talk about hurricanes. Every man knew just where he would run his boat to shelter it, or even sink it with the engine out. All the frame houses had shutters, extra kerosene, extra food, were reinforced. Grandfather Becom, on Windley Key had built a house on quarried stone, that had stood through twenty years of storms. Some men had built special hurricane shelters, like Doc Lowe's, a small poured-concrete house set on a solid poured-concrete foundation, and over the whole thing two great chain cables flung and bolted into the concrete.
The State Veterans' Administration had set up a plan for evacuating them in case of hurricane, at the urgent request of Grady Norton, the head of the U.S. hurricane warning service; then in Jacksonville. The chief of the Key camps was ordered by his boss, the commander of the state veterans' corps in Jacksonville, to keep in constant touch with the Weather Bureau in Miami, and when it was necessary, order an F.E.C. train down from Homestead, the last mainland town, to take the men to an emergency camp north of Miami.
A hurricane, first recorded on August 31 northeast of Turks Island, had an unusually small center. It reached Andros Island with winds of phenomenal violence. But there was no one who could send proper reports of its progress. For a while the the hurricane was not even heard of. On the first of September northeast storm warnings were posted from Fort Pierce to Fort Myers, across the state. Caution was advised for the Florida Keys.
Everybody in Miami now gave the presence of a hurricane in the area a startled respect. By the holiday of Labor Day, the second of September, Miami streets resounded with hammering, as people boarded up. By nightfall, the sky was overcast, the rain came in blasts, and the gusty wind increased. Yet in another hour the rain had stopped and there was hardly wind enough to scuffle the bushes. People opened up doors and looked out of rooms lighted by lamps and candles and said, 'I guess we're not going to get the hurricane after all.'
About 350 veterans from the Keys camps, who had been brought up to Miami to see a Labor Day ball game, ranged the streets happily. But down the Keys people were already dying.
All that day Ray Sheldon, chief of the FERA veterans' camps at Upper Matecumbe had been calling the Miami Weather Bureau from Captain Ed Butters' hotel [Matecumbe Hotel]. Everybody on the line listened anxiously. The barometer was dropping and they knew the hurricane must be coming nearer.
The Miami Weather Bureau told Sheldon it might hit the Keys.
At 12:15 Sheldon told Captain Edney Parker to telephone the Florida East Coast Railroad to send down the train that they had been told would be ready and waiting at Homestead. The train was not there. Orders were relayed to Miami. A train was made up and left Miami at 4:25 p.m. arriving in Homestead after five.
By that time down the Keys, the light was cold and gray with wind hurling whitecaps among the mangroves from a gray sea and whipping the sand until it stung the faces of men boarding up their own houses and the neighbors. Boats were moved up coves. Men and boys ran barefooted through the smarting rain to buy candles and kerosene and canned goods at the little stores. Women peered out fearfully from shuttered houses at the streaming palms and the few cars driving the wet road, rain and spray scattering from their wheels. Children and chickens were inside.
The barometers were still going down. The narrow land shook a little with the waves' heavier pounding. At the veterans' barracks the men packed up and moved out to huddle along the railway embankment, waiting for the train. They had to cover their faces because the stinging sand began to draw blood. Every once in a while one would say, 'It's coming. I hear it.' It was the wind coming in faster and faster over the bent trees with the high shaking hurricane rumble that sounds exactly like the never-ending passing of a freight train.
Captain Parker had started to drive his truck home from Camp No. Five, after he had boarded it up. The men hung around disconsolately. He and his son-in-law, a man of 240 pounds, a fifty gallon drum of insecticide and the truck, crossing the exposed Whale Harbor fill, were picked up by a blast of wind arid hurled down toward the water. Struggling with the wheel, he got home in time to board up and sit down to supper by lamplight, with all his children around him. Like everybody else, he stopped constantly to listen to the wind.
In the veterans' camps most of the men, with their bundles, still sat by the railroad tracks, waiting. Some had gone back into shelter. Some lay on their bunks and got drunk. Some tried to play poker.
The train had left Homestead after five o'clock, backing down slowly. Sometimes the train crew had to stop and clear the tracks of broken trees. A few Key people with their children, on signal, boarded the train and went south with it into the storm darkness.
After eight o'clock, J. A. Duncan, the keeper at Alligator Reef Light, who had been clutching the rail of the lower platform to steady himself, caught the gleam of light on a black mass of water looming over. He jumped for the ladder and held on as tons of salt water crashed over him. 'Ninety feet high,' he said afterward. It was the nearly twenty-foot hurricane wave. The lighthouse men clung all night halfway up to the light itself, the cold iron jarring in their scalded fists. Wind or spray or both shattered the 3/8-inch glass around the light, and the lenses themselves. One of the sections of the lens was carried six or eight miles away arid picked up on the beach unbroken.
The mounded wave reared across The Hawk Channel. The hurricane smashed down on a narrow ten miles of Keys from Tavernier to Key Vaca. The wind was flung like knives, 150 to 200 miles an hour with unbelievable gusts at nearly 250 miles that took everything. The people in the small houses saw black water bubble up over floor boards as roofs were sliced off and chaos crashed down on them. People hung on as they could, clutching children, heaping pillows over children in floating beds as houses tilted and spun off their foundations. Captain Parker's house with his wife and ten children, roofless, was swept south by the northeast wind into the welter of sea.
Doc Lowe, in his well-built house, buttoned his daughter's baby in his coat, tightened his belt, and got his family started out by lantern light for his hurricane shelter. The water rose up behind them. They stayed huddled in the small strong place that could not shut out the howling of the wind or the water. Something was lifting the whole place, the cables, the poured concrete. It trembled, tilted, cracked, tipped.
They got out into the wind and water, hanging on to each other, holding the children out of the smashing waves that pulled terribly at their legs, so that they staggered, bent over. Doc Lowe, ahead, groped for something, anything to hang on to. He found something that he could get his fists around. It was a little tree, its top bent almost level but its roots deep in rock. They huddled and held on while he took his belt and fastened it around him and the tree, too. The men, his son and his nephew, held the children's heads above the water and held on to him and the women clutched them. In the pitch blackness they had to fend off boxes, boards, floating things the wind and water hurled at them, every wave nearly drowned them.
A timber smashed down on Doc Lowe's head, knocking him insensible and into the water. They held him up, held each other up, held up the children. The tree stood.
There was a lull in that narrow ten-mile-wide hurricane. The Parkers found their wrecked house grounded on a beach a mile south. On Windley Key seven of the Becom family huddled in their car after their house had gone, kept the headlights shining through the rain over the waves that piled the debris high up the car's windward side. Five refugees saw the light and crowded in with the Becoms.
At 8:30 the ten cars of the train had been shoved backward as far as the Islamorada water tank. When the great wave struck, they were flung on their sides by the uprooted track. Only the engine was left standing. The thirteen people in the cars held themselves and their children out of water all night long.
All the buildings at Camp Five were smashed up and washed away.
The hurricane's narrow calm center lasted at Lower Matecumbe Key for about forty minutes and at the ruins of Long Key Fishing Camp, from 9:20 to 10:15, before the winds started up with even greater violence, up to 250 miles per hour. The barometer reading, corrected to 26.35 inches, was the lowest yet recorded in the histories of West Indian and Atlantic hurricanes [over land].
By daylight, in that ten miles, there were only a very few people left alive. Everything was gone - roads, buildings, docks, viaducts, trees, the railroad and the bridges.
Of the innumerable dead, many were washed away and never seen again. Bodies were found hanging among overthrown and stripped mangroves, buried in sand and debris, rolling in sunken wrecks of boats. One hundred and twenty-one veterans were killed, 100 seriously injured and ninety were missing. One hundred and sixty-five Key people were killed and hardly any survivors were without injury. Out of seventy-nine Russells only eleven, and old man Russell himself, were left alive. The total, death list mounted, in weeks of dreadful search, to 400.
The ruined ten miles of Keys lay like a leprous scar on the silky blue and green sea. The damage was done by the extraordinary winds and the hurricane wave. But the losses were increased by the rock embankment of the railroad that had dammed up the natural channels into Florida Bay. No one can say today whether the greatest damage was done by the piling up of the hurricane water, by the 30-foot rock fills, or by the undertows created by the irresistible force of its going out, that sucked everything away with it: men, wreckage, and the very sand under toppling concrete walls and foundations.
It was a strange and lonely tragedy. The Keys were completely cut off from the mainland. The bridge was out over the swirling current at Snake Creek. In Miami, nobody knew what had happened, as in the Keys the injured, hung up in trees, died of thirst, without help. It rained hard all Tuesday so that the living people, crawling about dazed, could collect rain water in buckets. The cisterns were choked with debris and fouling salt water.
Men in boats got to the mainland, walking up the roads to Homestead with the news. Homestead people hurriedly organized to go down and help. By Wednesday, with the white hot sun bringing stenches out of the ruins and the rot, the Key people had begun to organize their own relief. They groped in the ruins of stores for canned goods. The women cooked coffee and food for everybody over open fires. Others bandaged and gave first aid. Men under Captain Parker already were searching out the dying and bringing them to shelters. Drying clothing hung on the slivered bushes.
The boats from Homestead came down and the injured were moved to the hospital there, crowding the beds and corridors. Gangs of Negroes were brought down to work.
The first doctor to get down in a boat to ravaged Camp Five was Dr. G. C. Franklin of Coconut Grove. He found the bodies of thirty-nine-men in a windrow, just as the last waves had left them. A man sat calmly against a broken wall with a piece of two-by-four run completely through him, under his ribs, out over the kidneys. He refused the shot of morphine the doctor offered him, before he pulled it out. The man said that when it was pulled out he would die. He asked for two beers, drank them and said, 'Now pull.'
Dr. Franklin pulled, and he died.
There was no organized relief yet from Miami, except for a steady drift of volunteers, who went to work under Captain Parker discovering bodies. The Coast Guard sent supplies by five amphibian planes and a number of cutters. The National Guard was called out and regulations were imposed. There was friction between the officers and the haggard men of the Keys, going on steadily about their work of finding the dead. Boys, much too young, were sent down from the Miami CCC camp. Miami police helped identify veterans for burial in a Miami cemetery.
Then orders came down that the dead were all to be cremated. Captain Parker pulled a pistol on the National Guard officer who tried to stop him and Ed Albury from putting the bodies of Ed's wife and child in caskets. They were let alone as the smoke of pyres lifted into the mild air.
By the end of the week, the Red Cross arrived to set up an office in Tavernier, complete with trained workers and forms to be filled out. People who had been left with nothing were told now that to get help they must submit 'plans for rehabilitation.' There was a rising storm of complaints and bitterness, even more than there had been in Miami after the 26. But slowly, with Florida help as well, the people of the Keys who survived made something of their lives again. The veterans' group was broken up and those who had survived were quietly sent somewhere else.
Indignation for the veterans led the national WPA to open an investigation to settle the blame for the tragedy, especially for the fact that the train did not arrive until too late. But when it was realized that a state organization would be brought to question, the inquiry was dropped.
The hurricane had worked one good thing. The Overseas Railroad was abandoned. The channels were open into Florida Bay at last, and stayed that way, when a new roadway was built with bridges in place of solid rock causeways.
But while the Keys were still enveloped in the pall of their greatest tragedy, in little more than a month the fourth hurricane of that year of 1935 had made a strange hairpin turn up from its origin in the Sea of Colombia toward Haiti and Jamaica and down again to be dissipated against the mountains behind Honduras. It caused great land damage and 150 deaths. Florida paid little attention, however, until an a even more, freakish hurricane, October 30 to November 1, started up east of Bermuda where no hurricanes have ever, been known to begin. Perhaps it was a storm that grew into a hurricane as it came crazily south past the Carolinas to the Bahamas, and then on a straight line to Florida where it scared the wits out of Miami before crossing the state and, out in the Gulf, looping back to Tampa. Its damage was not great but Florida people took toll for the wear and tear on their nerves, so soon after the Keys disaster, by calling it 'the Yankee hurricane.'"

Monday, June 27, 2005

Great Quote on Writing...

Great quote that walked in on the footsteps of some writer's fake name at the library today.

James Joyce has used it in interviews and it is supposed to be an Old Irish Saying.

"A writer is a failed conversationalist"

I would add if that is so... a muse is a great conversationalist..

However.. then the writer.. who is usually more an observer and loner goes off alone somewhere to ..........write great writing :)

Tropically speaking watch the wave at 40w that is managing to keep its head above water still.. see if it stays above 10n and keeps its color and momentum.

More later.. busy day at the old corral.. saloon.. whatever the hell we are running here.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Anal or Anis or Hurricanes or Anouists, Freaky Friday

Hi there. To all my friends and enemies :)

Nah.. don't got no enemies. Even Rob Boy loves me today.. somewhere. Sorry bout that little comment, no hard feelings Rob. Hey hey.. San Antonio won the game. Maybe some year soon the Lakers will be winners again. Someday.

The good news is...the Red Sox are winning :) Home teams wins .. home boys?
Anyway... enjoy the idiots and the madness..
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=bos
My son checked out the new book by Johnny Damon so he'll read it and I'll look through it for pictures. Teasing.. yes, I will read it. And, yes yes yes as always my forever friend is right.. he does look a bit like young Kurt Russell.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/030723763X/qid=1119628055/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-9321114-2772956

Next... the sun is shining. Won't last long. Clouds are climbing.
Skies will be darkening. Clouds will be colliding. Next will be thundering.
Miami in June.. summering.

Okay..silly.

Hurricanecity is doing what we do in the city during the slow part of the season.
Simmering and BSing.

Looked around some of the boards. Always updating changing formats. Same old gang, here and there and everywhere looking for something to talk about.

I don't see how a tropical wave out about 40 could do anything but crash into South America. I mean I see the wave but... I also see a big high pressing down, pushing everything on the ITCZ bout there down.. upon the mouth of the Amazon. Maybe it will lift quick? Who knows. Will see. Keep watching.

Meanwhile down in the basin...lots of color..orca/rsmas/anis site..one of my favorites

http://orca.rsmas.miami.edu/wximages/jet/1_05/anis.html
look at all that color

Somewhere, someone I know is trying to convince himself that the weather in the ULL off the coast of Florida could wrap and work its way down to the surface.

Probably because he can't quite yet believe in what he really wants to believe in.. no.. not bad things happening to the Bee Man.. nah... the Cape Verde Waves. Too early to be a believer. Just sort of watching them out of the corner of his beedy little eyes.. shhh did i say that?

Wondering on what Bastardi is talking about but not enough to sign up yet, not really the season.. waiting for the football drama to kick in and see his college pics and read his thoughts on the CV waves.. Curious... not going to look. Nope. He can chow for now without me.

And, on another front.. far far away, over the ocean and across the sea someone working with Anousim or Anouists is making me laugh today. As always. But, more seriously this is not about Anouk Aimee or any old Amy.. its about Anousim, not Iniki tribesmen.. (come Jay ..stick with me here. I know I lost you somewhere. You are off drifting down 87th Avenue back in 33155).. Hey Rev..you with me here? Okay...so... this makes for great reading if anyone is interested in Jews and the Cape Verde Islands. One of the first hiding places and jumping off places to the New World to escape the Inquisition. Canaries and Cape Verdes.. and then on to Cuba for so many who have returned to their heritage and roots.

What a world. Genetic testing of the maternal lineage.
Isn't it great to be living in 2005?

http://www.kulanu.org/cape-verde/capeverde.html

As for Friday.. its a freaky sort of friday, good vibes, good times.. summertime and the living is easy.

Shabbos Menu..
Challah, round
Gefilte Fish Log
Babaganush
Morrocan Carrot Salad
Babaganush
Matbucha
Chummus
Cole Slaw

Chicken and Rice, not yellow..not this week.
Baby Carrots

Maybe I'll make banana cake.. will see.

Good Shabbos.. Have a great day!
Sorry Steven on dissing Rob, know how protective you are of him.. and everyone else.

Love Wednesday ;)
hey the trip Oscar Weekend was better than any old tee shirt any old day :)

Stay safe, be happy.. smile.. Musing.. Bobbi
smiles
sort of singing to myself its only a paper moon, hanging over a cardboard sea
but it wouldn't be make believe if you believed in me..
poor old Billy Rose. Great songs.. really.
http://www.answers.com/topic/billy-rose

oh and lastly.. no I didn't leave yet.. this is my harbor remember, no winnebagos allowed

I met this really nice man today on the bus. Nice guy. And, guess what he talked a blue streak about?? Weather. Tsunamis. Discovery Channel and National Geographic. And, he even watches.. (ready for this Marc?) The Weather Channel. Isn't it amazing how many people there are out there watching, reading and loving Mother Earth and it's various Earth Sciences? Weather lovers think they are alone.. but they are not. They are everywhere. Not just for playing golf or for fishing but for the love of the amazing things that happen when clouds collide and go bump in the night.. or the rains down in Africa. Bet he watches Twister ;)
Go figure. Hey Yaffah.. his name was Edward. Just like your brother ;)

Now I'm going .. fast... chow for now Bobbi
not Amy

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Hurricane History..

So, today I decided to take a walk down memory lane and bring up a topic few today know much on... and those who do don't say much.

The Labor Day Hurricane and Hemingway's coverage of that storm in the media.

As he was living on Key West during that period he was spared the storm itself but was one of the first journalists on the scene during the immediate aftermath of the storm. Infact, he helped bring supplies to the survivors on his boat Pilar.

He was appalled and angry at the terrible loss of life of Vets and Government workers who were being housed in poorly built "fishing camps" while working for the CCC. Being the journalist he was he used the pen to start a campaign to make an investigation of what happened and why they were not evacuated earlier.

Of course as legend has it (I mean I wasn't there.. we don't have the data we would have today, satelite imagery and all) this little tropical storm POPPED up out of nowhere and one day later.. just one day.. became a small missle sort of Cat 5 Storm that barreled across the poor little Keys and there was no time to even think.. let alone get them off the keys any faster than they did. Though there is a lot of discrepancies as to who and what knew what and something about getting a message from Garcia.. or whoever who had to give the order. You know what it's like when news happens on a weekend. Seems only Drudge works Sunday night.

Since there was no Drudge. No internet. No text messages.. the train was sent but sent late to evacuate them off the Keys and it went "whoosh" into Florida Bay when a great tidal wave hit and a good majority of the Vets were sent to their watery grave.

Excellent discussion on the storm is in many books. Florida Hurricanes for one.. is excellent though somewhat gruesome in discussion of the poor girls from the restaurant left dying and drying out their bodies caught up in trees for people below to gawk at.. very gruesome tale. Would make Stephen King shiver more than a 3 game loss to the Yankees would I am sure. Well, I think. Who really knows when talking about Stephen King.

Anyway.. my point in this all is that because the storm was considered a Cat 5 and classified as such it was an "act of God" and in ways this saved them from the blame game. As we know even governments are not responsible during an Act of God.

Now what do we have to base this upon? Well... there was a wind reading or two. The equiptment was blown away after reporting that gust.. of course. There weren't a lot of survivors with little wind devices like Jim Cantore holds up during every passing hurricane. Observation and a few recordings. Do we have any other storms to compare it to??? Noooooo, not really. The 35 Cane was it seems a total rarity... never happened before in recorded history and never happened since. And, was for years recorded as the strongest wind recording ever.. lowest barometer.. A legend among meteorological legends.

No one mentions that prior to this spitfire of a Cat 5 there was another hearing held after another hurricane. The famous writer who lived in the Grove area.. Munroe testified in court that the way they were building the train route down to the keys was a poor plan and unlike the current Overseas Highway that is built differently.. there were long expanses where the tracks would create an effect that would be like damning up a bay and that if a hurricane was to come in (any old large hurricane, didn't have to be a Cat 5) that it would create a funnel like effect for the water... build up strange tides that would eventually flood out the tracks and possibly create a great loss of life. This is all in government testimony on the previous hurricane years earlier.

Ralph Munroe was a conservationist early on. He complained about spoil islands being built in Biscayne Bay that would also change the tidal flow and damn up the bay in the event of a strong hurricane. His theories were later played out in the 1926 hurricane. He testified against the way the railroad had been built, was being built and testified that in his opinon it would SUCK a WAVE over across it .. not so much from Storm Surge but from the problems not taken into consideration in planning it.

A case could be made that the 1935 storm was a weaker storm and that it was easier for the Government and powers that be to go with the Cat 5.. Killer Storm and a once in a lifetime great, rapid intensification from simply a tropical storm than to go with the fact that because of the design of the railroad itself and the delay in waiting for proper approval from supervisors on vacation ... they waited too long and were in fact culpable for the deaths in some part.

Meanwhile.. when we have another small tropical storm turn into a deadly Cat 5 in less than a day and do the same thing.. I'll believe it. And, no Andrew did not go from a small tropical storm to a Cat 5 in less than 25 hours. It did intensify dramatically but nowhere near the legend of the 35 Cane.

And, doubt few meteorologists working for the government would like to take on that theory and downgrade it to a smaller storm in intensity.

Have read many reports..

A major storm.. yes.
A Cat 5???

Who really knows?

Definitely not the two pretty girls left high and dry in the tree to become corpses for people to gawk at down below.

Something to think on...
My own thoughts ... just common sense .. something doesn't sit right with me on the 35 Storm and though I am more a Fitzgerald girl than a Hemingway girl I will give the Old Man his due.. he knew the Sea.. and I think he was right.
Bobbi

from websites online... the following quotes..
*******************

"On Labor Day in 1935—an irony that was not lost on Hemingway—a hurricane struck the Keys, destroying a Civilian Conservation Corps work camp. Hundreds of veterans drowned. After rushing supplies to the survivors on his own boat "Pilar", Hemingway wrote an angry article for the Marxist The New Masses, under the title "Who Murdered the Vets?"

In it, he demanded to know why the homeless and ill-paid veterans had been stranded in the camp despite advance hurricane warning. In effect, Hemingway was accusing the federal government and state bureaucrats of manslaughter."

******************************
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/amlit/hemingway/newmasses1.jpg
***********************************************************************
"...and the high wall of water rolls you over and over and then,
whatever it is, you get it and we find you, now of no importance
stinking in the mangroves. You're dead now, brother..."
Ernest Hemingway, "Who Murdered the Vets?" in _New Masses_
after the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Hispanola, again...

Seems like this season is an instant replay of last season as once again we have a west bound tropical wave caught a bit too close to Haiti and being ventilated by an upper level low to its west. Early in the season.

Already had an Ivan replay with Arlene. As close as close gets in June. Not too soon this year.

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/omd/ops/weather/plots/storm_94.gif

Now mind you (as pointed out online by someone on www.hurricanecity.com ... the plots... follow the dotted line (NHC line) are based upon the presumption that there is a low in there, a center.

Sort of a big make believe game. A crap shoot meteorologically speaking and the NHC will err on the side of Climo on this one. Climo takes it wnw...

Time will tell as Jimmy Buffett says and every weather person out there says..

Will see.

We will see tomorrow.

Was going to write some long post today but I decided against it.

Possibly even thinking every reply .................that could be made and thought better on it :)

Well, let it just go at that :)

Bobbi

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Honesty in the Hurricane Season

Okay... so Jim is always telling me people like to read honesty. Well truth or just honesty in emotion. Truth in my writing. The whole reason I have the blog is to write and not feel "off topic" because some people on other boards have big issues with you not writing exactly on the topics they want you to.. Control Freaks.

Jim is not a control freak. He is a rare breed of human... a hurricane tracker.

Giggling so much I can hardly type.

Face hurts from smiling.

So.. I sit here at lunch, barefoot and listening to a JIMmy Buffett CD that a good online friend sent me..also a rare breed of human.

So... its like this.. this is cut and paste from something I wrote to a friend about the reality of life... relationships and love.

Since its a slow day in the tropics as we gaze upon the waves rolling off of Africa and the one close to home entering the Caribbean and while we prepare in Miami for our second round of tropical rainstorms coming up from the Yucatan..

********************

i use the word "love" a lot
what i mean is i want someone i cannot live without in my life

someone just to talk to them... breathe their air
hear their words
watch them smile
watch them work
know they are coming home at the end of the day

with affection...

builds love

yesterday is gone
so is sharon, ed, linda, joe, zelaya, jason

either through death or just distance, double Ds

today i am here
tomorrow i may die, i could... in an hour or a day

you dont know me
you cant unless you have looked deep in my eyes
today to see who I am

my mind changes a lot
my soul doesn't
chemistry makes you want to touch the person, reach out to them, talk to them even when they piss you off (sharon)

makes you want to never walk away

chemistry is demanding
its compelling

So maybe I don't want "love" and I for sure don't want a friend.. I want Sharon to be my friend.. even if its on the phone to Maine or Macon..

My old friend, gone but not forgotten..
only memories remain
so far away
Mr. Ed was wrong... its not about Alegebra or Geometry
You don't suddenly just GET alegebra
I am a writer
I don't mix metaphors..
Letters are for novels and poetry

I am not a mathematician, I am an amateur meteorologist
Wonder if father was ever upset with the son but i am..
digressing

Chemistry is what I hunger for in my life when it comes to relationships.

Chemistry is what makes Storms form..

you need all the ingredients
other wise its just rain on a hot tropical humid muggy day

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Father's Day and Thunderstorms

Today is the type of day that makes you love living in Miami.

Fathers Day and Thunderstorms
by Bobbi Schwartz

Raincloud upon raincloud
appear in the Southern sky,
turning darker and darker
as deep dark gray
turns to purply blue
and they each climb higher
way up into the sky

Low rolling clouds that block out the sun
long trailing plumes that look almost
but not quite
like
a twister or two

Unreal day, the colors are so intense.

Purple, blue...mottled grey
Bright sunshine on ficus trees that look intensely green against the purple sky
palm fronds flying about in some 1960s modern dance routine
wild winds, carrying cool down drafts blow across my skin
my skirt tugs about a bit
I feel so alive

Mangoes fall off the tree
and bounce about onto the roof top..
down onto the ground
mango orange sunrise
lying on the ground
about to be poured down upon

Rain, glorious, glorious rain
Distant thunder

A big fat frog appears at my feet and flirts with the raindrops.
We watch, together. Cute happy ugly toadlike frog
blinking his eyes, he wont let me into his mind
nor will i let him into mine

Rain, Summer Rain
in the South
Deeply Humid

You can feel the kiss of the tropics upon your skin
My father watching from heaven
thinking outloud
"WHOO HAH" he would have said,
"look at that rain come down."

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Redundantly Bobbi

Hi.. cutting and pasting this from Jim's board that is stuck on rants about things we talk about when there is nothing happening in the basin.. anywhere.

Nice ULL.. upper level low spinning, pretend its a cane and there are problems in cuba, well..there are always problems in cuba politically but no its just an ULL spinning.

Posting from www.hurricanecity.com .. cute post, said it well..why write something else?

Posted by Bobbistorm on 6/16/2005, 8:15 am
User logged in as: Bobbistorm

Don't you just LOVE the way that sounds?
Oh come on.. Westbound tropical wave..

Come on.. say it a few times. Don't you just smile?

Don't you just love the way it sings.. it has this ring..

Westbound tropical wave...

Oh i love it. I do.

Don't you love it?

In a mood, should have gone to Key West today, what was I thinking?

ULL has shut down the basin for a while.. its making things look better than they are by enhancing every drop of rainfall out there but as whats his name I like so much on TWC just before 8 said.. still a lot of stuff down there so I imagine he figures when the ULL moves out... something may pop.

Do you get the feeling its July in the Tropics.. we sort of lost June and are about midway through July climo wise.

Anyway.. just saying hello. Sharing my enthusiasm for "westbound tropical wave" with all of you on Jim's great board and.. I don't like the word Land Cane unless its over South Africa about to water the SW Carib but that John guy does..

Westbound Tropical Wave..
focus on that
noticed there was one about to enter the caribbean. Not much of a westbound wave but it was moving west.. into the basin.

Have a Good Thursday
Bobbi
meegweetch

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Couldnt resist..song lyrics :) Toto

Africa

I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She's coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way,
Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies.
He turned to me as if to say,
'Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you.'

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serangetti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

[ instrumental break ]

Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa, I passed some rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa, I passed some rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

There's a Wave Over in Africa...

Yup. Someone left it's greeting card on www.hurricanecity.com in the form of a post, with a link... a link to a model developing the wave..

Everyone's heart beat a little faster on the board as the model slowly loaded.

Bottom line would be this wave... over the middle.. nicely formed, round, still too early probably but this is my friends what the storm trackers lust after...
The Real Thing..

Cape Verde Waves.

Like that fish that great fisherman chase for years... the one that got away (recurved too soon)....

Something about a Cape Verde Wave that will get any real meteorologist, professional or amateur going... SNONUT, oh SNONUT... he loves Cape Verde waves. Do I email him or don't I? Do I call my brother to look?

Whoever Mr. Maher is who interviewed Jim Williams at HurricaneCity... there is one thing I know about him. He knows tropical weather because he couldn't write about Jim the way he did if Mr. Maher didn't.

And as the great Dr. Gray told someone.. who did he tell who? There are two kinds of people.. those who know tropical weather and those who don't. I may have gotten the exact words wrong but I don't want to go through old email to find it.

So.... Jim, SNO... Jay in Greece traveling around the country and lecturing and anyone else here... go figure, a wave on some over anxious model being developed in June.

Probably won't happen. Can see John Hope sitting up in Weather Heaven, looking down, shaking his head... too soon, too far, too early... somewhere in the back of his head where he won't worry any longer on saying it outloud he is thinking "oh come on you can do it"

Either way... a Cape Verde Wave this early would be a safe bet on recurvature early out somewhere.. a fish storm.

A fish storm.. but a sign of things to come..

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/europe/images/xxirmet7n.GIF

I was relly excited watching the loop. Really.

As for me.. going off.

Got my about 3 cheesecakes made not to mention little cupcake ones, fruity bbq chicken and blitz souffle and tons of fresh fruit and cottage cheese and yogurt and I bought ice cream. Real ice cream. Seems for a change the kids aren't dieting this holiday.

Happy Shavous.. yes Jay in Greece, it's Shavous. Go eat some ice cream.

Congratulations Jim for a job well done, unreal well done during Arlene. Hope you get some rest and relaxation.

And to my friend who sent me the ideas for recipes.. thanks it helped get my mind working.

Oh and having mexican tacos tonight...

adios everyone
wow... cape verde season, probably just a teaser, the models do that a lot but its a sign of things to come

bobbi

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Arlene Wrap Up... deja vu...

So, I never got a chance to write a post yesterday between work, some problems I had to take care of and......getting ready for shabbos. Could barely follow the storm at work, seriously that was bad.

So... again "so" am so redundant today yet... so is this year's hurricane season

Deja Vu..
What can you say?
This year's season picks up where last year ended and Arlene makes landfall where Ivan did.. Ivan's stomping ground. I'm sure Arlene was just checking out the I-10 reconstruction to see how it came out.. scoping out the area for future storms? Don't know, who knows... time will tell, not Jimmy Buffett. Though... Mobile Bay is his old stomping ground too isn't it?

Beautiful little tropical storm, sort of classic shape... look on radar and satellite imagery. Even now on radar imagery as it moves its way through Alabama it looks like a tightly wound storm.

Think it was borderline hurricane. The last several images it seems were definitely that of a minor hurricane, very visible "eye" like feature on long visible links that I am looking at and this report a friend sent me to look at would also make you think that possibly, when the Best Track team of Best Forecasters get around to it.. they might upgrade it, time will tell... or the best track team.

Shabbos was nice. Just what the doctor ordered... rest, relaxation...most of the kids were away and only the younger ones were around. And, nothing like watching tropical rain come in fast ... blow hard against the windows and move on all day long, off and on.. which is what happens when you are in the long, dirty tail of a tropical storm.

Bobbi..
online looking for ideas for shavous, reading round up on message boards and thinking i may just give up and serve ice cream and cake :)

....................
000
WTNT41 KNHC 112020
TCDAT1
TROPICAL STORM ARLENE DISCUSSION NUMBER 14
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 PM EDT SAT JUN 11 2005

THE LARGE CENTER OF CIRCULATION OF ARLENE CROSSED THE COAST JUST
WEST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA AROUND 1900 UTC. THE MINIMUM PRESSURE
REPORTED BY THE AIRCRAFT JUST BEFORE LANDFALL WAS 991 MB...WHICH IS
ALSO SIMILAR TO THE PRESSURE REPORTED BY THE PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR
STATION AT THE TIME OF LANDFALL. THE MAXIMUM WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH
ARLENE HAVE BEEN DECREASING DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS AND THE
INITIAL INTENSITY AT THIS TIME IS 45 KNOTS. THESE WINDS ARE
CONFINED TO THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT OVER WATER. SINCE ARLENE IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING NORTHWARD AND FARTHER INLAND AT ABOUT
13 KT...IT IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN.

IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATED
THAT THE CLOUD PATTERN ASSOCIATED WITH ARLENE HAS BEEN MORE
SYMMETRIC TODAY...WHICH IS MORE TYPICAL OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE. IN
FACT...T-NUMBERS TODAY WERE UP TO 3.5 ON THE DVORAK SCALE...THE
HIGHEST OBSERVED IN ARLENE. THIS COINCIDED WITH A CONTRACTION OF
THE WIND FIELD.


FORECASTER AVILA/KNABB

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 11/2100Z 30.7N 87.4W 45 KT
12HR VT 12/0600Z 32.5N 87.5W 30 KT...INLAND
24HR VT 12/1800Z 36.0N 87.5W 20 KT...REMNANT LOW

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Flood Watch in Forecast.. hmmmn

So.. we are sitting in soggy Miami with winds picking up from a pressure gradient between the storm and the high (common for the season) and there is no way to know exactly *where* the weather from Arlene will go. Winds are in a small area near the confused center and in areas far from her center so.. will see.

Officially though we are far from the line depicting the path or the ever popular *cone* so.. officially we aren't worried.

Some of those NWS writers are real playful with their words :)
a teaser at the bottom on another Caribbean Low forming.. maybe ...
********************************

New forecast out of NWS...
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
222 PM EDT THU JUN 9 2005

.DISCUSSION...PRECARIOUS POSITION FOR SOUTH FLORIDA THROUGH FRIDAY
EVENING IN THE EXTENDED RIGHT FRONT QUADRANT OF TROPICAL STORM
ARLENE...A QUADRANT FAVORED FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE AIDED TORNADOES AND
TRAINING ECHOES WITH HEAVY RAINS. WILL EXPAND THE FLOOD WATCH
AREA TO INCLUDE ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA SINCE THERE IS NO WAY TO
PINPOINT EXACTLY WHERE TRAINING ECHOES COULD SET UP AND PRODUCE
SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN IN A SHORT TIME. CATEGORICAL POPS THROUGH
FRIDAY AND SLOWLY MOVING BACK TOWARD CLIMATOLOGY OVER THE
WEEKEND...MENTIONING HEAVY RAINS.

WILL BE VERY WINDY ALSO ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT BETWEEN ARLENE AND THE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM CENTERED OFF
THE MID ATLANTIC SEABOARD. THIS SCENARIO COULD FAVOR QUICK MOVING
FAST DEVELOPING SMALL TORNADOES WITH ANY SPIRAL BANDS THAT MOVE
ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA SO MUST BE ALERT FOR THAT POSSIBILITY AS WELL
THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.

HAD TWO DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FROM THE NAM AND GFS...WITH THE NAM
SHOWING DRIER AIR ADVECTING INTO SOUTH FLORIDA FROM THE EAST
BEGINNING FRIDAY AFTERNOON. WITH CENTER OF ARLENE 250 MILES OR SO
WEST OF COLLIER AT THAT TIME...DECIDED TO TAKE A MORE CONSERVATIVE
ROAD AND GO WITH PERSISTENT WET PATTERN.

..... ANOTHER TROPICAL LOW IS SPUN UP BY THE GFS
IN THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN ON MONDAY MOVING NORTH ACROSS HISPANIOLA
AND INTO THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS TUESDAY. FACT OR FICTION STILL
UNKNOWN.

Arlene... or so Bevensays

Well here it is..the unofficial updating of TS1 to Arlene.

Beven playing peek a boo or "kiss and tell" whichever works... little "oh look..she's Arlene, news at 11" sort of update that the NHC does to get everyone's pulse racing.

Official advisory confirmed it.. Arlene!

Thoughts of Allison and Alma dance through our heads..

more later...Bobbi
good morning :)


000
WTNT61 KNHC 091048
TCUAT1
TROPICAL STORM ARLENE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
650 AM EDT THU JUN 09 2005
A 09Z SHIP REPORT 130 N MI NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER OF TROPICAL
DEPRESSION ONE INDICATES THAT THE SYSTEM HAS BECOME TROPICAL STORM
ARLENE WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 40 MPH. A SPECIAL ADVISORY ON
ARLENE WILL BE ISSUED BY 8 AM EDT.

FORECASTER BEVEN

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Go For Liftoff.... TD#1....First of the Season

Well... here we go again.
as noted by some poster on www.hurricanecity.com all storms formed in this area in a similar period hooked northeast.. but who knows, will see..

Either way... here's the first advisory of the season:

Tropical Depression One Advisory Number 1


Statement as of 5:00 PM EDT on June 08, 2005



...Tropical depression forms in the northwestern Caribbean...
At 5 PM EDT...2100z...the government of Cuba has issued a tropical
storm watch for western Cuba for the province of Pinar del Rio and
the Isle of Youth.

Interests in the northwestern Caribbean should closely monitor the
progress of this system.

For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.

At 5 PM EDT...2100z...the poorly-defined center of Tropical
Depression One was located near latitude 17.2 north... longitude
84.0 west or about 235 miles... 375 km... southwest of Grand Cayman
and about 315 miles... 510 km...south of the western tip of Cuba.

The depression is moving slowly northward as it organizes...but is
expected to begin moving toward the north near 7 mph...11 km/hr
tonight and Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph... 45 km/hr...with higher
gusts...mainly in rainbands to the north and east of the center.
Some strengthening is forecast...and the depression has the
potential to become a tropical storm during the next 24 hours.

The minimum central pressure measured by a reconnaissance aircraft
was 1004 mb...29.65 inches.

Heavy rainfall...accompanied by squalls...should begin to spread
across the Cayman Islands and western Cuba tonight and Thursday.

Repeating the 5 PM EDT position...17.2 N... 84.0 W. Movement
toward...north near 7 mph. Maximum sustained winds... 30 mph.
Minimum central pressure...1004 mb.

An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 8 PM EDT followed by the next complete advisory at 11 PM
EDT.

Forecaster Knabb/Avila


historical tracks below
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200501_climo.html

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Question: How Low Will The Low Go??

How low will the low go and where will the low go..
That is the question..

Or so stated in the NWS out of Miami this afternoon.
Tells a story in fragments of various models developing a low and bringing up into the gulf or more likely towards Florida in the next few days. Timing is always a question with such systems, especially when they haven't as yet developed.

Talking fairy dust here and moisture laden clouds...circulating in just enough of a way to make the boys in Miami sit up and plan out a possible road trip for the big seasame street noaa jet. What is it's name this year?

So...here is the NWS.. and below that the water vapor loop..
You tell me where the moisture is going these days?

Hi from wet miami... gray and dark out... people scurrying around trying to avoid the rain. Lots of luck.. looks to be a continued soggy pattern.

loops and discussion below... for more info
www.hurricanecity.com go to message boards
************************************
http://orca.rsmas.miami.edu/wximages/jet/1_05/anis.html
************************************
http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html
*************************************

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:XS1J6NsF0s4J:weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html+atlantic+unisys+%22water+vapor%22+loop+12&hl=en
*******************
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
228 PM EDT TUE JUN 7 2005

.DISCUSSION...GFS PERSISTS IN DEVELOPING A SFC LOW OVER WESTERN
CARIB...AND SO ETA AND UKMET DEVELOP IT TOO. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN GFS AND THESE OTHER GUIDANCE IS THE MOVEMENT. GFS HAS THE
DEVELOPING CYCLONE MOVING NORTH TO WESTERN TIP OF CUBA BY THU
EVENING WHILE ETA AND UKMET MOVE IT TOWARD YUCATAN PENINSULA. GFS
HAS THE SYSTEM ABOUT 300 MILES OR SO SW OF SOUTH FLORIDA BY FRI
MORNING. A CONVERGENCE LINE/TROUGH MAY DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA
WHICH WILL RESULT IN ABUNDANT MOISTURE BEING ADVECTED OVER OUR
AREA WITH A RATHER WET PERIOD STARTING THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
WILL GO CLOSER TO GFS AS EXPECT DEEP LAYER TROUGH DIGGING SOUTH
ACROSS CENTRAL GULF WILL HELP STEER THE DEVELOPING LOW NORTHWARD
AS OPPOSED TO MOVE IT TOWARD THE WEST. SO WILL KEEP HIGH SCT POPS
THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THE BIG QUESTION IS HOW DEEP THIS LOW WILL
GET? GFS DEVELOPS A TS OUT OF THIS...AND ALTHOUGH IS CERTAINLY
POSSIBLE...CLIMATOLOGICALLY SPEAKING...AND UPPER LVL CONDITIONS
ARE BECOMING MORE FAVORABLE...WILL GO WITH A WEAKER LOW AND KEEP
WINDS OVER LOCAL AREA IN THE 15 TO 20 KTS RANGE THU THROUGH FRI
NIGHT.

**************

Sunday, June 05, 2005

June 5th

Graduation Day all across parts of America.

My older younger daughter is graduating. A big day for me. Bigger for her but I have been waiting for her to graduate for a long time.

Oldest of my younger ones... no longer a minor but done with highschool..
The youngest of my younger ones graduated..been waiting a long time.

Today is sort of a milestone.. impt.. a step in a process.

Spoke to my best friend in Maine.. about hurricanes, men and children (that order) and on trying to be more positive.

:) I am positive.

We both had the most incredibly beautiful shabbos.. good vibes.

Wind is coming in from the E at 9..

no storms, just rain
beautiful rain
stood in the rain today

rain is pure... totally pure
it fills up a mikvah ... they wait for rain
crops wait for rain

rain purifies
can destroy... can purify...

we all can take anything and raise it up high..
or dunk it down low...

choices...

Why do I think RFK was shot today? Have to do that math..something sticks tho think mostly am thinking of my uncle who died a week later... big funerals, cars that stretched for miles on the freeways..miles of headlights turned on... a snaking line of headlights turned on and what seemed a million people at the funeral all staring at me and my cousin wondering how we were going to go on..., i always get wierd this time of year, the american flag on his coffin.. mourners kaddish, his picture sits at the cemetary in the office...helped start that cemetary...

we went on... not the way we would have been
but was meant to be

distant thunder and am wondering if it had rained that day
think it did...

but today is 2005...
kids playing baseball outside in the rain
droopy palm fronds, water logged
message boards talking on 2005 hurricane season

how can you speak of something that hasn't happened yet?
how can you know???

i think we get a threat from a storm out of the south...sse...s... ssw...
think the high will not dig in as far west as last year...
we are in trouble but not from the ese
not in my opinon
no jeanne or frances storms...
variation on charley maybe

is charlie a girl or a guy? teasing.. being silly
was last years storm
the past...

silly sunday
serious sunday

so much going on this sunday

going off to daven.. to pray... morning prayers not mourning prayers

it is time to move on with our lives

going to ask all the souls of the dearly departed to help
to help make today a day of beginnings, beautiful ones
not endings..

graduations... celebrations...
beautiful moments in a daughter's life..

mazel tov indeed

rain should be a blessing

bobbi

Saturday, June 04, 2005

West Bound Tropical Wave

Tis the season for such wording in the TWOAT... tropical update from email from Ye Olde Hurricane Center.

Go on after shabbos and confirm what I thought Friday afternoon... "west bound tropical wave" nearing the islands.. around the islands.

Radar is dotted with small green showers. All streaming ssw to nne

Woke up this morning to rain drops still clinging to my bedroom window and gray skies. Walked to shul under a threatening sky, walked over to Bais Menechem through scattered raindrops and stayed for fahrbegen... saw old friends. Nothing like sitting with old friends, just being yourself... relaxing, hanging... fahrbregening. Walked home later, tired... drip drops of rain falling on my brain. Okay, sort of poetically minded today lol.

Anyway... wild line beginning to snake its way through Kansas, Missouri... Hiawatha Kansas.. go figure there would be a Hiawatha Kansas.

I once stood in a hot sunny summer day in the middle of Hiawatha Falls.. well, wasn't much water, really not any water and now that I think of it was a hot summer day but was sunrise. We were out all night, buying stuff to make this big breakfast. Bayerly's or some all night grocery store and stopped to watch the sunrise. Remember thinking... how I couldn't really be standing in the stream that was written in some poem... but I was, was funny.. was fun. Great summer, teaching in the afternoon, talking all night and sleeping just before the sun came up. Those were he days my friend.

Anyways........... big storms out west.. midwest in the land of you know who and in my neck of the woods... "West bound tropical wave"

Excellent Shabbos... old friends, light rain, cooler temps... said tehillim, slept, rested, didn't eat too much.. didn't sleep too much.

Was Goldilocks just right!

Need a few more west bound tropical waves before taking them more seriously.

Stay tuned...

Friday, June 03, 2005

First Shabbos of the Season

Thank you Burns.

Anyway....
So... great imagery to look at if you want to live in dreamland and ponder on the interesting choice of wording in the "IF ANY" in today's discussion does make hearts beat faster and ponder on the very slim possibilities held out for even slight development.

Some trackers and researchers watch every word, every innuendo... grasping straws but then again as John Hope would say... anything with that much color that has hung around for a day or two needs to be watched. So we are watching.

As for me I have Shabbos Reading from the library. A hangover from too much Starbucks in Library meetings all day. Someone was nice enough to go get a big take out paper jug of Yukon Gold (???) and... want to go home and finish making Shabbos.

Menu...
gefilte fish
babaganush
chummus
turkish salad
salad
chicken with roasted potatoes and vegetables

no soup, almost made it... too hot

some cholent tomorrow... more salads..
not much to do when I get home

But ... will check in before Shabbos to see if by any chance conditions have become better for very possible development. Either way that trough sure has a deep, deep tail doesn't it?

How am I doing now detaching, huh???
lol..

good shabbos everyone
happy tracking
happy trails
etc...
Bobbi

see discussion below...
ha! should have known it was a BEVEN term.. "if any" indeed...
**************************
"249
ABNT20 KNHC 031520
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1130 AM EDT FRI JUN 3 2005

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM THE NORTHWESTERN
CARIBBEAN SEA NORTHWARD ACROSS CUBA...FLORIDA...AND THE EASTERN
GULF OF MEXICO ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH AND A WEAK
SURFACE TROUGH. UPPER-LEVEL WINDS REMAIN UNFAVORABLE FOR TROPICAL
CYCLONE FORMATION...AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT...IF ANY...SHOULD BE
SLOW TO OCCUR.
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE OVER THIS
AREA FOR THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

A WESTWARD-MOVING TROPICAL WAVE IS EXPECTED TO BRING CLOUDINESS AND
SHOWERS THROUGH THE WINDWARD ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT DAY OR
TWO. UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE CURRENTLY NOT FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL STORM FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH
SATURDAY.

FORECASTER BEVEN/KNABB

$$ "

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Good Article About Jim Williams @ www.hurricanecity.com

Really wonderful article about a very good friend, Jim Williams, who knows his stuff. Believe me.

Honest :)

Very nice.. very true..
Bobbi
from Miami cloaked in darkness from dark clouds, flooding rains and occaisional thunder... moisture from the tropics, blowing kisses to Miamians reminding them that the Season is upon us. Wet sloppy kisses :)

Douglas Maher - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Hurricane Season 2005: A Look In To The Eye of The Storm

It has arrived. It is here.

Welcome to Hurricane Season 2005, also known as "Sigh Season". Sighing became an art form in the 2004 hurricane season whether it was watching countless hours and days of weather forecasts and releasing a long collective sigh at what was coming at Florida or sighing perhaps during the storms themselves. Maybe even sighing during the clean up or waiting for FEMA to arrive with a check.

Florida...Welcome to "Sigh Season 2005", where the names are different but the feelings remain the same.

A recent trip to "Hurricane City" headquarters in Delray Beach solidified the truth for all of us Floridians.Hurricane season has offically arrived and this season looks to be just as bad as last season, if that is not bad enough news for you then you probably will want to stop reading right here.

IT COULD BE WORSE THAN 2004

Oh yes. Let the introductions begin as you will surely be hearing the following names in the coming months from all of the local media and Jim Cantore on "The Weather Channel". Meet Arlene, Bret, and Cindy. They will be the first three named storms this year. They don't stop there as there is Dennis, Emily, and Franklin right behind them.

"Sigh"

Hurricane season is not bad news for everyone though. There is a rare breed of human species that actually lives and breathes "The Cane". One such person is Jim Williams, owner of HurricaneCity.com . Williams,(although not an offical meteorologist) has become one of the most respected men on the Internet when itcomes to Hurricane knowledge and forecasting. A quick glimpse into the studio where he runs the operation gives us a glimpse into the mind of a man whose passions for these storms is something of a science in itself.

" I never wanted to be an OCM" (On Camera Meteorologist),Williams said. "I find reporting weather on TV rather boring. I find connecting to the real people via the Internet or webcam or telephone before, during,or after a Hurricane is much more informative than what I am going to see on TV. I am into everything coming to a complete stop when it comes to the storms. I understand people pretty well and the one thing I have learned over the years is that people love to talk about Hurricanes. They love to talk about their personal experiences through a storm or after one, they all are truly interesting to listen to and discuss."

Williams' office is filled with tons of maps, multiple computers, a poddcasting center, and everything that a Pro-Amateur Hurricane Hunter could and should have at their disposal. Williams discussed his views on Hurricane seasons of the past, the present, and the future as if he was a NOAA Meteorologist from the National Hurricane Center down in Miami. But went on to be clear that his opinions and research were in no way to be taken as gospel.

This may be true but if history proves anything, it is the fact that Williams was almost dead on correct with his predictions for 2004 and that should be sending a chill up the spines of readers everywhere at this point. Why?Williams see's this season as not only being active for Florida but he has put Central Florida in his Top 5 of locations to be struck by a landfalling Hurricane this season.

"Research finds that Florida gets hit more in slow seasons. Where seasons that have say ten or less hurricanes Florida statistically gets slammed, last year being the true exception to this rule. Florida tends to get less in the way of Hurricanes in busier years where there are fifteen or more storms. However, the panhandle of the state tends to get in higher years where the rest of the state does not suffer as badly."

Williams' Top 5 list contains cities that he believes due to research are at a higher risk than usual to be struck in 2005. Those cities are ranked in order with number one being the Mississippi coast, 2.Elizabeth City, N.C.,3.Norfolk, Virginia, 4. Vero Beach to Melbourne, Florida, and 5.South Yucatan.

"A lot of Floridians are mistaken when they believe that since 2004 was such a busy year for Florida that it means we are off the hook for this year. It couldn't be further from the truth actually. There are plenty of cities through out history that had repeat years of 2-3 storms for 3 years in a row. Cape Hatteras, N.C. comes to mind immediately when historically speaking about consecutive hits. People would be foolish to let their guard down during any hurricane season let alone some silly myth that since last year was so busy, we couldn't possibly be cursed with another bad season like last years."

The truth is although Central Florida did indeed have plenty of damage from 3 of the 4 Hurricanes that struck the "sunshine state" last season, it did not experience anything above a weak Category 2 and in most cities a Category 1 by the time it arrived near them. The thought of what damage could be done if a strong Category 2,Category 3 or even Category 4 could do to the region is something that has yet to be even close in this area and statistics show that most in the area are not prepared for what could happen if a storm of that magnitude hit Central Florida.

" This is something I really wish for the media to become better at. I mean weather data today shows that winds were less at the surface than forecast to be last season. Ivan was only a CAT 2 technically but you could see all of this incredible damage that was done by the storm. That was not wind. That was all storm surge and that is something to keep in mind. When you see an OCM on television saying the winds of the Cane are at 140 mph, more than likely the storm has winds of 115-120 at the surface."

Williams continued-"We saw that with all of the storms last season, as we had people out in each of the Hurricanes videotaping and recording data through the storms. Hurricane Charley was brutal but he was no Andrew. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise."

"I agree with Dr. William Grey's forecast and NOAA's forecast this year. They are pretty similar to be honest give or take a storm or 2. El-Nino is not what people thought it was going to be 6 months ago and the oceans are already 3 or 4 degrees warmer in spots than they were last year at this time. That spells trouble early and often for not just the islands out in the Atlantic but the mainland U.S.A. as well. The "Saharan Air Layer" (the amount of moisture coming off of Africa), is wet this year and that usually means an active season for sure."

Williams' website offers forums for "Amateur Hurricane Hunters" to discuss satellite imagery, projections, and all kinds of science to do with Hurricanes that are active all across the globe. HurricaneCity.com was pounded last season for 2.5 million hits in just a 4 month span of time, a very impressive number for a website that is not linked to any official state websites or television networks.

There is a massive database of video footage of Hurricane seasons of old including tons of raw and exclusive footage of last season's storms including landfalling footage of Hurricane Charley where you can actually see Hurricane Hunters in the brunt of the storm and then in pure daylight when the eye of Charley passed over them, truly stunning material.



"I am bringing something new to the table this season." Williams added. "I am going to have live webcam broadcasts from the Carribean, all over the Gulf coast, and East coast of the U.S.A. and members of the site will be able to access any location that is going to be struck during the actual storm. Plus, I am linking up with actual hunters out there and they will be feeding me real time video that I will be able to stream live as well so it is going to be epic at times."

When asked what it is the media could improve on as far as public relations wise Williams expanded on many ideas that should be referenced for future consideration if facing a storm this season.

"I really want the media to talk about the things that happen to you during and after a Hurricane. I think they do a nice job of talking about Hurricane prep kits and all of that stuff, but they need to brush up on the important issues such as what it is going to be like in detail to have no power for a week or even a month, the damage that will be left after a hurricane, divorce rates after the storm, suicides, and other realistic issues that face people after these things hit."

Williams adds that:"They are quite devestating to everything in your life whether you know it or not at the time it is happening. The media has the tendency to calm the public and that is fine and all but don't baby us. People need the facts and sometimes the facts are not pretty."

"Everybody wants to be part of the the big media event and I can understand that.You have people who throw "Hurricane Parties" and think it is one giant rush to be involved in. There are people out there that we call "Wishcasters", who literally become obsessed while watching this huge event on TV and on the Internet for days and weeks at a time and go against all logic and actual numerical facts of a storm and start claiming things that just are not true and it's not just the amateurs who are guilty of it, it is the people on TV as well."

"You can see them widen their error cone to still keep the story alive, keep the fear going, wish the storm into their direction so they can experience it first hand. It's this big build up and then for it not to hit? Well, that is when you see their demeanor change like lightning. They become depressed and sad until the next storm hits because theywanted to experience this massive display of power that mother nature puts on and a lot of the time they are left with a storm that became a "Fish Storm", (aka a storm that goes out to sea), it is amazing to see human beings get this rush for destruction."

Williams believes Central Florida might be in a bit more of a danger zone this season due to the Bermuda High being weaker this year and storms should hit further up the coast versus southern where last years Hurricanes came from.

"1 Hurricane in 116 years for Vero Beach. That is a landfalling Hurricane I am talking about and 12 Hurricanes have come over or through Vero since 1871. I am concerned for this area for good reasons, not hitting the panic button but just saying historically speaking "we are due".

Jim Williams can be contacted at www.hurricanecity.com and live webcam and video tracking of hurricanes connected through www.hurricanetrack.com.

Day 2 - Hurricane Season

It's 7:49 am and am waiting for the Tropical Update to come on The Weather Channel.
With my 10 year old son who is now a total offical hurricane freak. I suppose if I moved up north he could get into snowstorms.

Logo comes on.. smile... so familar. I miss John Hope.
Friends with a sweet man who used to share an office "the size of a broom closet" with John Hope. He missed John Hope too. Hard to forget such a man.

Stuff in the Caribbean moving this way, no signs of circulation or formation. Just tropical rain.

And a typhoon by Yap Island...yeah yeah yeah.

Another day in the neighborhood.

Trying to stay busy with the hurricane season, redsox baseball and dolphin training camp.

Work on my novel. Yeah right.

Trying not to fall in love online. Listening to my big girl in Philly who says I shouldn't get emotionally attached to people online (jewish dating services) because it happens and detach. So, yes little Shayna...we will detach. If anyone knows anything about flirting online and falling in love its Shayna, so I should listen. Of course she fell in love w/o meeting him first in person (her husband) but we will listen to Shayna. Boy, she'd be so excited I was writing about her. Giggling.

Well going to stay mellow, detach while mr. interesting man is busy with some things and wait and see if when he is ready to write ... if we will write. Hard to stay detached but well George should be at the library today (sweet old man who turned 70 something yesterday) and will want me to find things on Lacrosse players. Vincent will be there (of indeterminate age or credentials) playing chess on the computer and calling me for help. Kids on vacation will be in early... looking for love and the perfect music video. I can dream of patrons long gone but not forgotten.

I have this great need to be in Crown Heights for a long Shabbos weekend but I can't go right now. Have to arrange tickets for kids for sleepaway camp in NY ..they get the tickets. I have a round trip bus ticket paid for in my drawer to Key West but I don't have the time to go... not just yet. My emergency ticket but brother Ronnie gave me for my birthday present.

Day 2 of the Hurricane Season. No mail from who I'd like to see mail. No storms. Will work on my novel today and see what trouble I can stay out of today.

Bobbi

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Walking through Brooklyn... in my mind

So, I'm walking through Brooklyn in my mind most of the day. Online, offline.. easier online and yet they don't have the pictures I want and am too tired to figure out how to best google them.

I know, you thought I would be talking about the obvious but I'm never totally normal am I? Well, normal.. very but not very predictable.

So, yes it is the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. Most definitely!

I wish I was in Crown Heights. Why? Can't say, don't know.... just this ongoing feeling for the last few days like if I could just walk up Kingston, sit in the bagel shop ..stare out at people passing by. Walk up Montgomery..or rather down that I would be almost okay. Just.. sort of a need. Sit at the kitchen table and watch stuff, I don't know. Just a mood. Like to see my older daughter but would rather be in Crown Heights today than Flatbush.

I don't know.. somehow in my mind it's always Fall in Crown Heights.. almost winter... tulips in the snow.. early spring. Cold, bitter sort of wind sometimes flies up Kingston.

So..today.. I'm in Crown Heights in my mind.. not Key West, not the tropics..

So far away

wishing I could go in the old Stationary Store on Union and get a notepad and a pen and see the sweet old man who ran it who came from Russia.. way back when.

Bobbi

http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/brooklyn/crownheights/kingstonave/
index.htm