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!

Friday, June 29, 2007

Wet Weekend Possible Because of the Tropical Wave

Or... just summer in general.

Either way the infamous wave that is now on Invest ..meaning the Navy site is monitoring it in infinite detail. A wave being on an invest is like getting on the Best Dressed List at the Oscars.. it gives the messy little wave a bit more press and hyped media interest. Even being on the worst dressed list still gets you attention. Look and see below:

http://asp1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/text/tropical/atlantic/ABNT20.KNHC

Meanwhile if you look you will see what basically looks like half a storm. The lowest pressures are to the west and the bad weather is to the east.

So... what does it mean?

If it sits there and doesn't move a lot than maybe something will happen.

I know not as exciting as the I Phone thing but... for trackers it's exciting.

Some discussion on how strong that trough (cold front) is and possibly it will stall out which could affect steering currents and current models. Some discussion on it catching the front and moving fast out to sea...

Either way... I'm getting ready for shabbos. Everyone will be here for dinner except for Mendy who was invited to his girlfriend's house and Moishe who is currently under siege at the Apple Store where he works and handles large accounts. I have heard more about this device than anyone can possibly imagine. He talks Apple in his sleep I think. But, he's doing well and won't complain and hey.. I like my shuffle :) even if it's the old model it works really nice. Course if we lose power in a hurricane it will only last soooo long.

Chicken and Yellow Rice, regular salads, usual suspects at dinner.

And... I'll probably get some rain.

I was at the dentist today. Hate going to the dentist. Hate being somewhere that I can't talk for two hours and have to listen to canned 80s music (long lost love hits)reminding me of things I would rather not think on .. let alone at the dentist. Funny how smells and music remain with you long after the flowers fade. Okay, the orchids are pressed in a scrapbook but they are faded none the less.

Faded memories and faded blue jeans of a time long ago... and a summer a tropical storm formed off the coast of Miami. I keep thinking on that storm, that August.. sort of formed right off the coast of Miami.. like many do.

Wet weekend while I wonder on my life and ponder whether I should go away for July 4th or not.

Good Shabbos
Megweetch.. and all that jazz and thank the lord for happier cute memories :)

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1971/BETH/track.gif

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Afternoon Update.. Still Watching

Nothing much is currently happening though some models do show a closed low forming.

Pressures are still high and I don't see any real drops anywhere.

Part of the wave is in the Gulf.. part hovering over the East Coast and Florida.

For now... keep watching. As long as it is mentioned in discussion it is worth watching.

Nice sunshower earlier. Going to go take a bath and relax and contemplate what if anything I am doing for the 4th of July.

We Got Weather - Is a Tropical Disturbance Brewing in the Bahamas?

And when I say Bahamas.. sort of mean Bimini here.. just off coast of Florida.

The Tropical Wave that they have been watching for days and talking about has finally done something.. it sort of seems to be possibly coming together as a disturbance.

Only thing I see that would stop it from developing is it's proximity to Florida... sort of hovering here on the edge of the Gulfstream. Oh.. well.. that could account for the blow up in intensity of color and depth shown on the water vapor loop.

NHC VERY slow coming out with their 11am.. waiting.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/watl/loop-vis.html

I was going to post some nonsense of fluff today but no.. we got weather, this is worth watching.

Heads up here... watch the weather developing off the east coast of Florida.

Will post later as weather warrants.

Monday, June 25, 2007

What IF the satellite wasn't there?



pic from http://www.noaa.gov/

So...this great picture of a satellite up in the air .. beaming back info to the wonderful group at the NHC who is analyzing the data when suddenly

poof... no signal, satellite goes blank... stops transmitting data

would you like to have that hurricane aiming at your town without that eye in the sky?

Write Bill: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

MJO - A Primer While It's Slow

Hey it rhymes :)

Unless you want to keep watching the poor little trailer get washed away in that video from yesterday... here's a chance to do some readign on a very relevant topic in hurricane research.. namely the MJO aka

http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/MJO/Current/ <--- excellent link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden-Julian_oscillation
(simplified version for beginners)

Current animated pics of the MJO..
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/
CWlink/ir_anim_monthly.shtml

Live and learn :)

Or.. go home tonight and watch Twister or Reap the Wild Wind if you really want to zone out until we have something to work with..

Going to lunch before it rains. Very hot in Miami and Jim in high places says nothing is gonna happen and then when it rains it will pour so get some much needed rest during the slow period before those 2am advisory feedings lol.

Or.. you can sit around like my brother Jay in Greece watching yesterday's video.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Slow Sunday, Good Short Movie to Watch Here

Just to remind you what the difference between a cat one and a cat five is...

Otherwise, very warm here.. imagine the waters in and around Florida are beginning to heat up ... Summer simmers...

Enjoy the short flick.. very educational

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/hurricanes/

Friday, June 22, 2007

Quick Update.. Fast Fast Fast

ummm nothing big happening anywhere in the Atlantic Basin

there is a system down in the caribbean that looks tropical but is sort of just a tease if you ask me.. sw carib does that a lot.. looks like its about to pop and then....................... nada

especially this year...

Why??? Acts like a El Nino but they say its not so...why is the area most favored climo wise refusing to cooperate and spin those waves

You know that great Liza Minelli song.. Ring them Bells..
Come on Chantal spin.. ring them bells..

Message boards are getting mean and extra literary lol.

So... that's it.. might spin, worth watching .. nothing else to watch in this basin.

And.. has this strange band like feature arcing up looking like its a band but there is no surface low? That band has reached up over southern florida and my sky has turned milky white like it does when some hurricane is down in the Caribbean and has an unreal massive outflow


zalmy's ear is better, i took the day off to play mommy and relax and cook for shabbos

got to run.... good shabbos, have a nice weekend.. enjoy it now while you can before things start to go whoosh and spin soon

Bobbi

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Bill Nelson Responds.. and better mood Thursday :)



Okay, I'm in a better mood. Back to sunny Bobbi I suppose.
Was just being bombarded it seems by spam from sam or too many Eddies on Harmony.com wanting to go out. Seriously? Can a Jewish Girl find a Jewish Guy on EHarmony.Com? I wonder... so many sites to choose from, so hard to figure out where to put your money.

Either way... I'm Okay! You know.. I'm Okay, You're Okay and if by chance we meet sometime... that would be OKAY too lol, giggling. Old joke, still think that was a sucky yearbook. :) Well, what can you expect from a generation Lost IN Space?

So..here I am, Bobbi's back and smiling.
You know.. sunshine, strawberries, lollipops and hurricanes.
Starbucks, Victoria Secrets and maybe go to a bookstore today on my lunch break today. Where I work Carlos makes the BEST columbian coffee any columbian I know has ever made.. heaven.

So... Bill Nelson's office has responded to people who have inquired a concern about QuickScat and Proactive Proenza's job future. He has sent out letters and released this link to his website. You see..letters help even if just a little and seems Senator Nelson writes them himself.

So.. I ask one thing of yall today.. if you can take a few minutes email a letter to him thanking him for his help and or asking him to keep up the pressure to those in high sources to take off the pressure off of the Head of the NHC Bill Proenza and let him do his job.. which is to do the best job he can with all the resources he needs to properly analyze the tropical satellite imagery and give us early, accurate warnings.

Thank you and don't fret on me.. I'll be fine, I always am.
I am never down for long..

Just have to change the soundtracks in my mind and maybe listen to some other sort of music today. Elvis? Celine Dion? The Foundations? Gloria Estevan?

Smile.. there are blue skies, sunshine and no sunspots on the face of the sun today!

Love Bobbi

http://email.capitolenews.com/html.asp?gcTAv48nEF+5Lj3f/iK6YxVruDZ2Lxviuo6sPfx4gosttrjpDOg0q4Bc0fVniqNH

summary below of the letter from Senator Bill Nelson in italics... and the email address above to give him your support and thoughts on this very important matter. You might ask him to have the Hurricane Center's Budget problems put in the dropdown line so people will see it and we know where to write. I put one letter in budgeting and another in Space. Others I know sent it in the environment. Wherever you put it.. write a letter, send him an email, call his office.. do something, you'll feel better for taking the action.

Thanks.. now Bill's words below from the letter he sent out to many who emailed him already.


"Recently, I learned from the director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) that the hurricane tracking satellite we rely on is running on a backup transmitter and could fail at any time. The satellite, known as QuikSCAT, was launched in 1999 and was designed to last just three years.

As a result, I'm sponsoring legislation to fund the development and launch of a next-generation hurricane tracking satellite to replace the aging QuikSCAT. Our nation's weather forecasters have come to rely on the data they receive from QuikSCAT to more accurately predict the track and strength of hurricanes. Should this satellite fail and no replacement is immediately available, our tracking ability will be greatly diminished. With lives and property in the balance we must take immediate steps to develop a replacement. I appeared on CNN to help bring national attention to this critical issue and get the public's help in convincing the Congress to quickly fund a replacement.

Unfortunately, the director of the NHC has been reprimanded for speaking up about QuickSCAT. I believe, as the Miami Herald reported today, that Director Proenza ought to be commended—instead of muzzled--for his commitment to public safety, and I wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Gutierrez telling him so."

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Tropical Depression



Oh.. no, sorry no Tropical Depression has formed... just talking about the song and the great CD I am listening to..

So... I heard on the weather radio that there is a tropical wave that may move north into our area (miami) and give us some rain later in the forecast period.

Okay... not a depression, but I am a bit tropically depressed I think so... posting these lyrics and maybe someone will read them and understand.

Warm and sunny on Miami Beach today. Rather be in the Keys. Rather be a few places but I am here.. working.

A few weeks or so should bring us to some real tropical depressions with chords and advisories and stuff like that but for now... this is the only one I can find.

I love Alan Jackson, I love him so much I forget I'm not listening to Jimmy Buffett lol. Go figure.

So..will dedicate this post to the once love of my life who sat with me and watched Jimmy sing his heart out at the FLICK way back when and told me that "this guy is gonna make it" and so he did because... Ed knows music. Wish I still knew Ed. How is that for honesty huh??? Huhh??

Honestly, a bit tropically depressed.. I'll kick it soon or I will kick someone or something, don't worry.. down but not out and there is always the 5pm bus to Key West as a last resort.

Love Bobbi

************** I wish I knew how to type an ampersand or whatever it's called



Tropical Depression
Artist/Band: Jackson Alan
Lyrics for Song: Tropical Depression
Lyrics for Album: Greatest Hits 2
I thought some time in the sun
Would help me get over you
But I could tell from day one
This is a place meant for two

Now here I sit on the beach
Watching the tide ebb and flow
I booked my room for a week
But now I'm ready to go

I'm in a tropical depression
I've got the blue water blues
Can't shake this loving you obsession
Can't stand this sand in my shoes
This forgetting you vacation
Is just a fool's holiday
If I can't get over you
This tropical depression is gonna
Blow me away

This should be paradise
Heaven down by the sea
Without you here by my side
It feels like hell to me

I'm in a tropical depression
I've got the blue water blues
Can't shake this loving you obsession
Can't stand this sand in my shoes
This forgetting you vacation
Is just a fool's holiday
If I can't get over you
This tropical depression is gonna
Blow me away

If I can't get over you
This tropical depression is gonna
Blow me away

Monday, June 18, 2007

Pictures of a Stormy Sky Over Miami










Funnel Cloud pic over Miami Beach moving over me.. not great shot but was moving fast.

Pics of Miami taken from the water.. actually standing in the water looking back towards an awesome sky.

Nice lunch break ;)

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Proactive Proenza! Speaks Up and Told to Shut Up??




Tonight's post is dedicated to Bill Proenza, who I personally call Proactive Proenza for his incredible job of actually doing his job and trying to stop problems BEFORE they happen and address concerns that need to be addressed in a proactive way other than trying to explain to the public AFTER the FACT that they had a little problem and make excuses. What a gem of a man, a man who works for the government trying to serve the public proactively.

In this day and age where people worry on the weather, global warming and a repeat of the 2005 Hurricane Season we need a clear, head in Paradise down here worrying on how to protect us not singing "Don't worry, be happy!"

According to a story in the Miami Herald, Bill Proenza our director at the NHC has gotten a "lashing" and been officially reprimanded for vocalizing his concerns about the QuickScat satellite problems and other concerns he has about things that need to be done to do his job and the jobs his forecasters do to the best of their ability to protect us the public from Hurricane disasters.

http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/141783.html

It's a good article, one of many. I cannot begin to say how upset the meteorological public as well as the public at large is when they read about all the money that is routinely wasted by the government and then they find out that an important forecasting tool known as QuickScat is about to break and cannot be repaired until 2016. Yes, I said 2016.. that is like a long time from now. We aren't talking 2010 which would be a little bit upsetting or 2012 but no 2016.

So, according to the Miami Herald Article Mary here... (old pic btw)




....who works for the government was given the frustrating job of having to come down here and publicly rebuke him and remind him that some people in high places are not very happy with him. He is like I suppose just supposed to be quiet and do his job ??? !!! ummmm ???? I think personally he is doing his job and doing it very well.


Mary has a long list of accomplishments. She worked with AWIPS and other agencies, programs, etc. Anyway, now she has a new job that seems to be trying to keep Proenza quiet.

So I imagine she is really not happy about having to deal with Proenza during the later days of her "good government job" as opposed to her earlier work for AWIPS. Oh right AWIPS.. I always have a funny thought when I think of that agency, I wonder if anyone else does that too.

"From 1993 to 1999, Ms. Glackin served as the Program Manager for the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) with the National Weather Service (NWS), NOAA. AWIPS is frequently called the “integrating element” of the NWS’s $4 billion modernization effort. "

Personally I am very happy Proenza is so proactive in his job and appreciates the responsibility that rests on his shoulders in the Big Job at NHC. Nice to know that he isn't happy to keep quiet and ignore serious problems and wait to retire in his "good little government job" as I have heard so many in that position say in various government jobs be it city, state or federal positions.

I think he has to the first person I can remember who begins to remind me of Neil Frank who did all he could to try and build up awareness of the dangers of Storm Surge and overbuilding along the coastline in Hurricane affected areas. When Neil Frank spoke, people listened. Why? Because they knew he cared and they knew he wasn't afraid to stand up and speak to whoever to get his message out. And, he left Miami and his "good little government job" for the private sector and those of us living in Miami and other parts of Florida felt the loss greatly. Not that others weren't good but they weren't Neil Frank.

And, you didn't have the feeling that they were YOUR protector as much as someone trying to fill his slot. Many grew into their jobs, many did not. But, it's been a long time since the public has had anyone that they felt was really willing to speak out and speak up HONESTLY and say what was needed to be said in the way Neil did and I am beginning to get the sense that a lot of people like Bill Proenza and his very proactive way of addressing problems before they become the lead story on The Drudge Report or CNN has to break into their programming to lead off with some new Hurricane Disaster or Weather Emergency.

So... Go Proenza or as I call him Proactive Proenza!

We weren't sure who you were when you were given the job but we are very happy that you are there on the Watch and watching out for all of us in Hurricane Country.

As for Ms. Mary M. Glackin, I am sure you are just doing your job and waiting to retire somewhere that you can put up all your nice, pretty awards and sit back and relax. I imagine you must have ranch land in Wyoming, sure hope you didn't buy a nice retirement home somewhere around Naples, Florida because when you are no longer having to try and explain how everything is fine and dandy in weather forecasting you will be relying on the National Hurricane Center to give you their best forecast for Hurricane Mary and I sure hope that the QuckScat and all the other satellites and forecasting tools that they need are up and running properly.

That sat is so important it is hard to explain how important. I have a friend in meteorological high circles who a while back refused to talk to me about developing waves until I sat up LATE at night with him learning how to read the site and understand all those squiggly little lines. It is truly amazing and clarifies so much. As someone on TWC (that is THE Weather Channel) tried to explain.. it is like the difference between using glasses to see something and not, you still know it's there without them but it's fuzzy and then you put on the glasses and VOILA.. everything becomes clear. Personally, I like my weather info clarified by satellites like QuickScat and when they are about to break I like a new one ready to go up and replace it by 2016 or 2017. Sort of a long period to go trying to read without a good pair of reading glasses, don't you think?

Again here is a link to Mary's accomplishment's prior to getting her name mentioned in The Miami Herald. I am sure she has done many good things in her life in that job, many she could be much more proud of than having to tell Proenza to shut up and keep quiet.

http://www.ppi.noaa.gov/mary_glackin.htm

Hope the decor for your retirement home isn't on backorder until 2016...

Rolling eyes here, no words...

Maybe we should sit down and writer her a letter. Not sure if this is her current one but you might want to explain that you are personally very happy to have Bill Proenza as the National Hurricane Center Director and maybe she can write a letter or two to her superiors saying the public wants the replacement for Quickscat ready ASAP BEFORE the tired old one breaks.

Address online: mary.glackin@noaa.gov

I mean... Mary darling, can you see well without your glasses? If you can, you must be lucky... guess those good government jobs come with good health care!

Address for Mary if you want to write her a letter, send Excedrin or something.
Guess she feels far enough inland in Ellicott City not to worry on Hurricanes.. bet she's wrong there too!

And, Mary... if you have a screen name that isn't government related, you know like MaryMarylandWxrGirl@alternativeemailadressIcanhideon.com or something like that you might want to sit down and write Senator Bill Nelson a letter covertly so and please ask him to do something about that satellite BEFORE 2016. Just in case you want to retire and live by the sea and not on a dude ranch in Wyoming.

Please Mary email Senator Nelson at: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Thank you!!!

Be well, have a nice weekend.. Bobbi


Current address to email Mary Glackin to request her to speak to her supervisors and let them know that down here in Miami.. we like Proactive Proenza in charge and we respect him greatly. Oh LOOK.. The President does too!! Photo below of the President shaking his hand looking VERY HAPPY to have him on the job ;)


Mary M. Glackin
Assistant Administrator
Office of Program Planning and Integration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
tel. 301-713-1632
mary.glackin@noaa.gov


Friday, June 15, 2007

Will A Tropical Storm Chantal Develop in the NW Carib?

Oh I don't know.

I sort of waited all day to post this so that I could have a better handle on the annoying not very picture perfect tropical system down there that the NAVY site NRL has on "invest" and the NHC decided not to fly into today.

I mean it's there..they did say it needed to simmer for 48 hours but no one in tropical weather understands the phrase simmer..they all want something to go to flash boil right away.

Not sure... it looked like crap yesterday and this morning worse.
This afternoon it looks much better....
Flhurricane has a good graphic up that does point to the real spot we are looking at.. www.flhurricane.com specifically:


This model has it pretty much hitting Tampa but as what?

http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/gfdltc2.cgi?time=2007061500-invest94l&field=Sea+Level+Pressure&hour=Animation

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/watl/loop-wv.html good view...

This loop is good to watch because it sort of slices through everything and shows the real story:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7307481&postID=8239489507907301517

http://flhurricane.com/cyclone/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=tb2007&Number=75545&Searchpage=1&Main=75545&Words=&topic=1&Search=true#Post75545

Good board, good post... make sure you donate to keeping these sites like www.flhurricane.com and www.hurricanecity.com going. They are not government sponsored but private sites helping so many people and they are not wasting ANY of your government dollars :) so make sure you donate and thank them for their very hard work and very long hours they both put in.

Bottom line.. watching. Keep watching..have a gut feeling something will happen tomorrow morning, what I am not sure.

Shaboos? chicken and yellow rice, what else? salads, challah... gonna open a nice bottle of wine and wondering on what key west will be like on sunday... or Orlando where my youngest son Zalmy is with my brother and his family.

Keep watching... I will, you will... we all will.

Over and out, good shabbos Bobbi

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Wild Thunderstorm In Miami Yesterday Afternoon



Really wild. That for a Miamian is saying A LOT. Been a while since I saw so many cloud to ground lightning strikes, a few coming down like arteries flowing out of the storm itself, most thick and straight down and very deadly looking.

This picture was snapped around 79th Street and Biscayne Blvd looking westbound. The cloud was so low people in the car insisted it was smoke... told them .."nooo" and sure that cell had rotation in it. A man sitting in the back of the pick up truck in front of us kept looking over at it nervously. People were craning their heads out windows to try and get a better look at the sky and that line of storms.

Hail hit a few minutes after I snapped the pic. Big piece of hail bounced off the window and a few more and then the heavens opened up to an incredible torrential downpour like I haven't seen for several years down here. 98 or 99 maybe... there was a spring I think before Irene that was crazy with lightning storms and flooding rains.

Streets flooded fast, copious amounts of rain, heavy wind and hail mixed into the rain ... floating in the water as it ran down the street and slid into street gutters or melted on sidewalks. Small hail, like the size of pellets.. not quite marbles.

Wild, really. Whole way home everyone thought and talked ominously about the hurricane season and their own gut feelings that we would have a storm this year. People who I haven't heard talk on weather let alone their "feelings" on this hurricane season. Seems everyone's nerves or gut feelings are a bit funky this year.

Did you write your congressman or senator today?

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ <-- link posted at hurricanecity.com
http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm <--link for the astronaut senator

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

"Washington, We Had A Problem!" Please help...



This beautiful artistic rendition of the QuikSCAT is not as sexy as a cute pair of heels nor is it as compelling as a tidal wave or Category Five Hurricane aimed at your hometown but it is breaking and it seems to be on...

BACK ORDER UNTIL 2016!?!?!

Sorry.. but we really can't wait until 2016.....and weather satellites are not a pair of Candie's High heels or a brand new fishing rod.


This is a very serious problem and there is nothing cute, funny or whimsical about it.

http://www.space.com/news/ap_070612_quickscat_failure.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_satellite;_ylt=Auf3Ay7aGt.47_Go2yWK3yZG2ocA
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/research/2007-05-17-quikscat-satellite_N.htm

IF you think cover stories on AOL and Yahoo are just fluff, think again...

Sometimes you laugh and other times you cry and people in weather circles are upset and in disbelief.

How does a satellite this important get "back ordered" on some "wish list" ??? This is not like waiting an extra month for those size 7 shoes they were all sold out of but advertised on some website as "in stock"

Shoes can be back ordered... weather satellites shouldn't be on "back order."

Like hello but Washington we have a SERIOUS problem!
Money is short and the people in charge of making budget decisions decided there wasn't enough to go around. There are sadly no Farm Aid Concerts to raise money and no Global Warming Live Aid sort of events for the every day nitty gritty, nuts and bolts pieces of equipment that help storm specialists keep you and me safe with much needed early warning. See 1935 Labor Day Hurricane for what happens when people are not warned with enough time to get to safety.

We can talk on how we want to have an accurate 7 day forecast or 10 day forecast but do we want to pay for it?

Does Washington want to pay for it?
Do I get a vote? Do you?

Where are our priorities?

I am sure if the President was told that a satellite doing military surveillance of Iran or Iraq was soon to go blind and stop working they would get something up there as soon as possible and not back burner it until 2016 but ASAP!

And ASAP is what we need here regarding this nice little satellite that worked it's butt off and needs replacement.

I bet Condi would get the heels fixed on her nice high heel leather boots if they were breaking or she'd buy a new pair darn fast. Not knocking Condi here, I like those boots and I don't think she has a say in what happens at NOAA or NASA but neither it seems do you or I.

The NHC does incredible work! They look at a wave coming off Africa, while it is over Africa still ... they watch it, they run models, they make good estimates sometimes up to 10 days out as to where that wave may end up. Yet we want them to be perfect. Well it's hard being perfect with imperfect, broken equipment when the replacement is on back order for about ten years.

You know that old saying? Garbage in.. garbage out?
I know you don't want garbage hurricane forecasts...

So...for example the NHC hypothetically decides that Florida is "under the gun" and the big, bad storm may come in from the SW and hit the SW coast of Florida as a major hurricane. Maybe Naples, maybe Ft. Myers or perhaps Bonita Beach. People want specifics, they get angry that the NHC can't tell them MORE Specifically. They want to go on google or skeetobite's site and get the exact street that will get hurricane force winds not tropical storm force winds. They want maybe Hurricane Erin should pick them up some AA batteries on her way up Tamiami Trail North in a dollar store staying open as late as it can before she makes landfall in Naples???

I think the fact that the NHC is able to look at Hurricane Condi who is cruising out in the Atlantic and be pretty damn sure she will hit Miami or Tampa vs Cape Hatteras or Galveston or Belize is pretty amazing, but the public wants them to be "more better" perfect. Could you look at a storm in the Atlantic and without the help of the proper satellite and decide 7 days out where she will hit..short of throwing a dart onto a hurricane map? 3 days out?

The government however seems to think that based on a wing and a prayer the little weather spy satellite will keep on working until
they can "get around to it" and even then the new one is not supposed to be as good as the one we already have? Hello? Excuse me? I thought we try to be better as time goes by, we improve on things lacking.. we don't settle for going down a step or two.

People online are upset, people want to know who to write to..where to go?

I'd say start with your local government officials? If you know people who work for the media, ask them to high light it in their news.

Call a radio or TV station and ask them to do stories on it? Try writing Senator Nelson, he got to go up on the space shuttle..maybe he has a vested interest? Maybe he appreciates what it's like to be able to look down at Planet Earth and see it from high up above? Worth a shot, email him and tell him Bobbistorm@aol.com wants him to please get that satellite up ASAP. Tell him YOU want it now not later. ASAP.

http://billnelson.senate.gov/

Make a bake sale to raise money? I don't think peanut butter cookies will help... you might bribe some people with them but don't think it will help here.

Weather Aid? Make a concert..couldn't hurt but will it help?

What will help?

A wise, informed public who understands the how important these satellites are (especially this one) can make a difference.

If you would rather worry on the icebergs melting and the gulf stream going kaput some day ... instead of worrying about a problem that exists here today... well then there isn't much I can say to change your mind.

It is always easier to worry on big disasters than small ones and always easier to fight over whose fault it was so that many people died in Katrina .. than to do something about it before they die. Ye Olde Barn Door Philosophy is still alive and well in Washington it seems.

And, when you are upset that the NHC didn't have their "line down the middle of the cone going due west on Sunrise Blvd" 3 days out because the last time you looked you thought it was going "due west on Flagler Street" and you thought you were a little bit safer up there in Broward County so you didn't buy that wood to board up your windows or extra AA batteries and you are upset with the NHC for not being MORE specific... you may wish that there was more money spent on Hurricane Research and less on "global warming."

The way we pollute this beautiful planet is a big problem.

The way we IGNORE a clear and present danger is criminal.

You can get a ticket for not driving with a seat belt on and yet...yet forecasters are supposed to do forecasts without the tools of their trade????

Where is our money going? There is always a paper trail and I would bet money it's not going to the NHC or the NWS.

http://billnelson.senate.gov/ start there and if you go to some political event with someone running for President in the next election you might want to ask them what their policy will be regarding proper funding for the NWS and the NHC. Then you might ask them about healthcare or any other issue that weighs heavy on your mind and heart.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Serious Post - Question on "Dust" in Hurricanes



Or what I call: Dusty Hurricanes...

The picture above is from the Dust Bowl, that is not a big afternoon thunderstorm but an explosive, rolling cloud of dust about to wipe out and cloak those poor little houses in darkness. Understand that the dust storms of the 30s were not one day events like a hurricane, they happened over and over for days, weeks.. months. It was an event that our generation cannot really fathom or compare to anything in our recent memory. Keep that picture in mind when reading this post and think on how many tons of sand, pounds... dust that was in the atmosphere the summer of 1935.

Okay so while reading some excellent articles that were posted on Hurricane City it made me wonder on the year 1935 and how the dust from the Dust Bowl *could* have possibly affected the hurricane season that brought us the very intense Labor Day Hurricane.

First I ask you to look at these 3 links and don't get lost surfing but come back to my question...

story http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/13apr_dustyhurricanes.htm

home page http://namma.msfc.nasa.gov/index.html

opposing view to first link
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/wiscengr/feb07/africandust.shtml

We see there are different opinons on whether dust from the Saharan Desert help or hinder hurricane development.

QUESTION:

Does African Saharan Dust and or the American kind from the Dust Bowl play a role in hurricane formation...and if so what role?

There was a tremendous amount of "dust" from the Dust Bowl after a few months where dust was so strong and powerful that cars in Washington DC were reported to have dust on their surfaces from the Dust Storms in Kansas and Oklahoma.

The scientists working the experiment currenly talk on how sunsets in America can be tinged with African dust and higher incidences of asthma are reported so far away from the Cape Verde Islands as dust travels far and affects many miles away.

Yet... the Atlantic Hurricane Basin wasn't all that far away from the dust of the Dust Bowl, the Dirty 30s and most specifically the 1935 outbreak.

Dust Bowl Primer Pics to take your breath away:

http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html

Note this paragraph from wiki "On November 11, 1933, a very strong dust storm stripped topsoil from desiccated South Dakota farmlands in just one of a series of bad dust storms that year. Then on May 11, 1934, a strong two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew all the way to Chicago where filth fell like snow, dumping the equivalent of four pounds of debris per person on the city. Several days later, the same storm reached cities in the east, such as Buffalo, Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. That winter, red snow fell on New England."

So..after a wild hurricane ride in 1933, a year similar to 2005..

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1933/index.html

We come to 1935 a year of feast or famine, wild and intense when a very small storm aka Labor Day Hurricane blew up quick and hard and became very deadly and considered for years to be the most intense hurricane ever. Shortly after that storm we develop a wrong way sort of storm infamous for going the wrong way for a long distance... not a common track for storms.

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1935/index.html

Does dust affect hurricane formation? IF SO.. HOW? Can it affect direction of movement? Size? Is it all about at what part of formation in the storm's creation the dust hits? Timing they say is everything..

How about Volcanic Hurricanes?

At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

1980 Atlantic Hurricane starts off with a Cape Verde storm forming into one heck of a Category 5 storm... Formed July 31st in the Cape Verde region and headed west and kept going. The "A" storm ALLEN becomes the strongest hurricane of that season and many seasons after it.

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1980/index.html

Is there a connection or is this purely a coincidence?

How does dust or sand affect hurricanes?

How much do we know really?

How little do we know?

How much is there to gain in research that can be applied...

Is it a coincidence that Earth's atmosphere was so heavily laden with dusty, dirty particles of sand and or ash that both the deadliest 1935 dust bowl storms and a few months after Mt. St. Helens we had two of our strongest, most memorable hurricanes Allen and The 1935 Labor Day Storm.

Coincidence? Or things we don't yet understand?


PS... even wierder look at all the short tracks for 34 as we were ramping up into the dirtiest of the 30s.. like they ran out of gas too soon, too fast?

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1934/index.html

Dusty Canes? Something to think on, so much we really don't know.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Pick A Pair of Hurricane Heels




Yes it is very hot.. perhaps the sun has gotten to my head or I was up too late last night lol.

So... in a hurricane you want to have proper protection against the elements. You can't go walking around barefoot you know?

So there's a hurricane. It's not a 3 and it's a good strong 1.

You want to be able to stand on the protected porch with someone and watch the trees blow by.

What do you wear?

Well, flats and sneakers are definitely out. They get wet. Yucky. Smelly. Not attractive and your feet shrivel.

You need heels, something with a small platform preferably if of course you know how to walk in them. That way... minor flooding and puddles and you will stay high and dry ;)

Straps... that way they won't get lost, sort of like Tie Down Straps for a roof, ya know..

Also.. if you are watching said storm with a cute storm chaser type you may want to do something to remind him you are there besides screaming "wow look at that awning fly by!!!" Heels usually work, just in case he looks down and says something like "damn that was a strong gust" and glances over at your very cute hurricane heels.

Also.. if you are short.. you can see more being higher up like and all.

Patent leather is always good and in this case..sort of washable.

Stay away from espadrill sort of fabric stuff .. no leather, smelly when wet and stretches.

So... the ones the model on the main ad is wearing are good if you want to protect your whole foot and still stay up above the water line but the heels here are a somewhat cuter look especially if you like to feel the air on your toes.

http://www2.victoriassecret.com/category/?cgnbr=OSSHUZZZZZZ&cm_mmc=di-_-070611SHOE-_-V01-_-24227&cm_em=bobbistorm@aol.com




Tomorrow... we cover which waterproof makeup works best. Remember, RED goes with anthing over a Category 3.. Major Cane, wear red.. you heard it here first. Possibly pink for a Tropical Storm or Cat 1. Coral Cat 2.. maybe. Have to think on it...

Like Jim Leonard is gonna give you this advice??

Bye for now.. Bobbi
wayyy too hot in Miami and not a whole lot to watch in the tropics besides my sneaky wave out there..

Will the Wave regroup & MUST WATCH Hurricane Song on You Tube :)

Enjoy the video.. more thoughts below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqZ5GeYAsZQ&mode=related&search=


im laughing too hard to figure out how to post it properly

so funny

remember.. humor is an important coping mechanism for living in hurricane country ;)

(probably will get crucified by someone for thinking this is beyond hysterical)

and no.. not all video is from andrew but is from hurricanes (i think) and well..

great video, funny...should be included in weather weenies hall of fame!!!

if i know those boys from online i may go dunk my head in a bucket of water and hide

:)

Oh... I still think the wave in the Atlantic has potential as the bottom of the wave is sneaking under the shear/trough and will emerge in an area under a high being pushed west bound and may have more chances of development than the last wave that made it to the islands... got to watch those sneaky waves, really..



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqZ5GeYAsZQ&mode=related&search=


Okay, graphic above is from the invest that is the old Cape Verde Wave ... note models didn't lose it and it bends back under the pressure of the high. If part of the wave can maintain itself and regroup.. is something to watch.

Meanwhile.......listen to the song :) again

laughter is the best medicine!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Waves to Watch Miami Is Beautiful Today

So..as my son just told his co-workers..

"sun's out, blue skies and I'm not working today"

I guess he is thinking BEACH..

Well he will work if there is some screw up somewhere with his business but short of a screw up I can smell BBQ and the Beach in his mind.

We are cleaning here ..sort of a summer cleaning. Then I am going out to dinner with a friend :) After a good long shower or bath.

As for the waves.. we are watchin' watchin' watchin'

Are you watchin' ???

http://weather.hawaii.edu/satellite/satanim.cgi?banner=uhmet&chnl=uw4&domain=crb&size=large&period=720&incr=30&rr=900&satplat=goes12&overlay=off

Beautiful link someone posted online at hurrcity, nice dark ball of moisture down in the carib, thank you mr K

and..as for the far eastern atlantic.. oh we are watchin

Wave has moved a bit WNW though which is never a good sign to make it across... the ones that make it across sort of "dip" south a bit before continuing west but what does this June Wave know about what Cape Verde Waves are supposed to do because it didn't read the user manual clearly... it ain't supposed to be there at all..

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/eatl-wv-loop.html

http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.htm

chow for now, see you later...

summer, wow... really beautiful outside
enjoy it while you can

Saturday, June 09, 2007

All Eyes Turn Towards Africa.. Cape Verde Invest in Early June?

Baby Pics?


Maybe it's just an "invest" as the Navy site watches it and maybe it's because the NHC instead of commenting on the wave by the islands, the SW Carib wave or the rain in the Bahamas decided to comment on of all things... a Cape Verde Wave off of Africa.

One picture is worth a thousand words but there isn't much to say except "oh my goodness" cause to see a wave this beautifully formed this early in June ...Bobbi stares.... makes you wonder what will roll off Africa later in the season. The structure is there and there is even worse one bright red spot of convection dead center looking a bit like an Evil Eye Cane forming.

What's that phrase about something wicked comes this way.. well you know what I mean.

IF it develops it will most likely curve out to sea and if it hangs there and lays low it could enter our side of the world as a possible threat to think on but that would be like long shots of long shots. Then again I heard a filly won the big race today so... maybe it's a year for long shots.

Either way... you can watch the SW Carib if you want to.. you can watch the wave by the islands that looked nice this morning.. if you want to.. you can even watch the wave in the Bahamas that interacts with models still wishing it to life.. if you want to ...

As for me... I'll be watching Africa.. can't help but watch and wonder and wait to see how fast she fizzles... or pulls together, if she wants to..

Remember.. it's just an invest and can go poof over night but ... "oh my" can you hear the name Chantal whispered in the wind...


Friday, June 08, 2007

Tropical Cholent

Cholent is a stew often cooked before Shabbos and put on a low flame or in an oven and keeps on cooking while you sleep on Friday night so that on Saturday when you aren't supposed to cook (the sabbath a day of rest) you have a nice hot meal. What people did before the advent of the crock pot and disposable cooking wear I don't know but in our day and age we put up things in a crock pot and let them simmer, cook and by Shabbos afternoon it comes together. Makes a great late breakfast treat and or late night snack it seems if you ask my older boys. Oh.. it's a combination of a lot of things. Like a Jewish Kosher Gumbo, no crawfish.

So.... this post is a mishmash of stuff that can sit and simmer over the next few days.

Not much happening tropically. Weather in the Bahamas but not deemed important enough to talk about by the NHC who is on their answering machine mode of "no tropical development expected..."

There is a wave some desperate people are watching but there is also an upper level low and conditions are not favorable.

Shear is decreasing.

Some models shows that system in the Bahamas works its way down to Cuba and then comes back up as something tropical.. keep watching.

The sun is playing peek a boo here in Miami, so we may dry up.

A log of gefilte fish is on the stove cooking and making the house smell very good but soon it will be put in the fridge while I go to work.

Have to make a list of what to make for Shabbos. Shepherd's Pie maybe or Sweet and Sour Meatballs..haven't decided. I do have meat for the cholent though so we are that much ahead of the game and a log of cooked fish. Need babaganush.

I'm going to work. I am going to print out some articles on or written by Kerry Emanuel because I am annoyed and want to figure out why he gets the last word on everything enivornmental. I mean is he just hawking books and building his career or is he deeply, passionately concerned about the environment. Inquiring minds want to know and my mind is very inquiring.. it is why I work as a librarian when I could make more teaching but I do love inquiring and helping students learn more, etc.. etc.

Anyways... tired, restless, not feeling great and fighting off some bug or something and at the moment better that my annoyance is aimed at Kerry Emmanuel than other residents of Boston when they aren't on the road somewhere cause I am pissed at someone right now and why?? not sure but it's usually a sign they are up to something. Either way it is no longer my concern so let them rip up someone else's world and use it as fodder for their creative fuel. My shop is closed. Hanging a sign that says "Gone Fishin" (hahaha if you are reading this)

Anyway.............. watch the tropics, enjoy the weather, stay out of trouble this weekend and don't worry, be happy...

Good Shabbos Bobbi
Ps... Redsox won last night but was very sad to have that no hitter be lost in the last inning like that, can't believe it... great game but oh what a heartbreaking inning for one of the best pitchers around.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Summer in Miami 81 Degrees @ 7 AM

That's my definition of summer.

That's when you know it's all over and humidity is going to win out.

It's some turning point in our weather landscape... happens suddenly too.

One day it's cool in the morning still..one day it's not.

You look up at the clock on the bank building on Lincoln Road that has been there forever telling Miami Beach people what time and temperature it is and it is SCREAMING "Summer" right now. As my nephew would say "stop mocking me!!!" (okay he is a little paranoid but.. that's the feeling)

Tropical Round up...

Showers in the Eastern Gulf and the Florida Straits hanging over the lower Keys and draped across South Florida (dark out there, probably gonna pour) and noticed on the water vapor loop those showers yesterday popped over Havana and flew across the Straits to the Keys... saying a lot about the Keys and less about Havana.

Models supposedly talk about something in the Bahamas maybe if you like Tim's model on HurrCity... nogaps hints, whispers..

Personally, I think the area just south of Cuba is ripe for development. Shear is less there than anywhere and if some wandering wave managed to find it's way there and sit a day or two until shear weakens more to it's north something could form but that's a long shot. Still..worth watching if you ask me.. the area already spawned Barry so it's hot to trot.

Gonu was very interesting and will be studied a lot over time, strongest storm in that region in a long time.. sure the Global Warming People will run with it for at least one touchdown this year. I'm wondering how that any wierdness there will affect the African Pipe Line of Tropical Waves as some of us are watching Africa closely this year.

Talked to my friend, my special friend... about weather yesterday, specifically Cape Verde storms.. was sort of like talking Hurricane Porn (had to be there and no I did NOT save those text messages) All real hurricane trackers obsess on Cape Verde storms and watch for good healthy, strong, wet waves but... truth is most are fickle and few and far between actually make it to the US coast as landfalling storms. But still they watch, still they wonder.. will this be the year of another Hugo, or Donna or Fran or.... some long tracking, beautifully formed hurricane with a perfect eye, perfect bands, spinning, moving wnw into a coastal region near you this September.. or August.

Stay tuned.

Redsox lost last night. I had avocado sushi for dinner with spicy sauce and I am going to work where I will on occasion peak down at the Straits and the Caribbean just in case something, somewhere pops up.

Just remember.. it's summer in the city.. hot hot hot.

Might take a thermometer over to the Ocean at lunch and dip it in and keep it there a few minutes and see what Bobbi's unofficial water temps are for South Beach ;)

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

My Two Cents Tropically Speaking for Tuesday :)

As I sit here typing this I am wishing I was somewhere like Naples, Florida.
Go figure, I know... nodding.. you can't believe that I am not thinking about wandering down some street in Key West but something about today makes me think on Naples, the pier... watching the water, the people.. perhaps looking west and wondering what the tropics has in store for me today.

There is some talk over @ The City on the message board about the BOC. No...no, no one mispelled Boca Burgers... Bay of Campeche.

Personally I think Chris or Tom just want to cheer me up and give me something to focus on today other than my mixed up, messy life. But..there is color down in the Bay of Campeche and it looks like it wants to bloom a bit more.

I try hard not to picture John Hope standing there looking curiously, interested in the area and saying it needs to hang around a little longer (he always liked to see color for at least 24 hours before buying into anything) ... I try real hard but the image of John Hope on a thousand different Tropical Updates in June staring over at the Bay of Campeche is engrained into my tropical little mind.

So...these are my links for the day to sit and ponder on

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/gmex/loop-wv.html

http://www.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/opdb/aviation/loops/realtime/atlwv_loope.html

If I had a link of John I would put it there as well.. I could find a link for John but I really do NOT like my coffee with soy milk in it and my wonderfully annoying little chiropractor really wants me to use soy not dairy and this would taste a whole lot better with half and half but I will do anything right now to give his life a little more importance (my way of praying for his good health) and the truth is YOU could google John's picture easy enough. Google, images "John Hope" probably add in "bay of campeche" lol just don't get John staring at Don Ameche tap dancing.

There you go.. Bobbi's wayward mind digressing on Tuesday.

We all obsess on something. Kids on the message boards obsess on 2005, some still obsess on 1995 which was a great year for long trackers (ie CV.. cape verde) and some obsess on 1926 like me.. great year tropically except for Castro being born :( and then there was 1935... Labor Day Cane, Dust Bowl.

We miss the past, we long for the future... we have to enjoy every minute of today because buddy that is all you really have to wrap your hand around.

My 2cents for the day.
Enjoy the present!

You wonder how I can write like this? Working full time, being a single mother with a big family, trying to juggle a love life and following the tropics?

South Beach Diet Meal Replacement Bars!! You just hand two of them to the two growing teens who hate eggs and have no time for cereal and milk in the morning cause the boy is putting gel in his hair and the girl is straightening hers... South Beach Diet Bars for breakfast.. fast, easy and they can throw the garbage out somewhere else.

Yep..that's how Bobbi manages to blog every day!
Wonderful time to be living in the USA :)

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Watch the Hurricane Kick Off Show by A Hurricane Hero



Jim is the guy in the middle at a hurricane meeting last summer of some of the gang from Hurricane City. You can find others at www.hurricanecity.com

Let me explain a little about Jim.

Jim is a real Hurricane Hero to me and many others. He provides information, explanations and an education to anyone who happens to wander into his excellent website .. to those who heard about it or those who surfed in looking for more information about hurricanes.. be it a specific hurricane or hurricanes in general.

He does a Hurricane Kick Off show ever year where he gives his pics for areas that he feels are more overdue for storms and might be prone to a landfall this particular year. He also talks about the 2007 season in general, takes calls and if you are listening live gives away prizes.. hurricane related of course. It is too late to get that generator he gave away from the nice company up in Georgia but you can still sign up and listen to the show, listen to other shows and help support someone who gives of himself, his time and his own money to manage one of the best Hurricane Web Sites online.

It is his tenth anniversary this year doing Hurricane City and to many of us who have been there for the long haul it feels like our anniversary as well. Time moves fast when you are having fun and enjoying friendships along the way.

Ten years ago.. seems like a lifetime to me in ways. Back then the internet was just filled with kids coming off a high from watching Twister and filled with wannabee storm chasers. Message boards on AOL and a few other groups like Palm Beach Post were filled with people of all ages and a whole group of kids getting their first taste of what it was to join others online sharing weather information. Why.. I think there was a whole little troop of scouts or something from Georgia trying to get their "I'm a storm tracker scout badge" or something playing online in the summer like a bunch of little busy bees bzzz bzzz bzzzing around the message boards.

Long time ago, long time passing.

And, here we are ten years later still playing weather tracker online, still learning, still improving and still sharing.

I imagine the little bees from Roswell or somewhere went off to wherever kids go when they grow up. People in Colorado moved on and followed their weather dreams. Some of the young guys moved in at the NHC and are there to stay .. some retired, some moved on. A lot of reshuffling of names and faces and places people live but...

But... one thing remains, one person... a real gem of a man, with integrity and a great smile and a busy little mind working the mathematics of hurricane landfalls each year...

He knows more about weather than many weather guys I have met who work professionally at the job and he is to be greatly respected and he is greatly appreciated by those of us at Hurricane City.

So... you might want to take this slow time to check out Hurricane City and subscribe, give him your support and listen in to his archived shows. Sit a spell, learn something, have some meteorological fun. And, know he is NOT supported by any government agency and does not spend your tax dollars having his 10th anniversary celebration. Nope... not at all.

He is the last one to ask, it isn't his style but it is mine and I am asking.

Subscribe, become a member and enjoy all the services that he works so hard to provide.

http://www.hurricanecity.com/subscribe.htm

Great show... you'll learn a lot about hurricanes and you might just have some fun.

And.. make some lists of things to do to prepare for the season... shop, organize, make a plan and then... come on and join us on the message board if you want. And trust me when he loses a bet, he pays up or whatever ... smiling, not that we gamble a lot you know but well.. in a chicken suit or out in the Florida sunshine Jim always looks great and is a true joy to know.

Happy 10th Anniversary Jim and as some long gone kids said a long time ago, "Let the Games Begin!"

Bobbi :)
BobbiCane
BobbiStorm
Just Bobbi ;)

Catch me on Hurricane City if you can...

;)

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Barry Gave SE Florida lots of Rain.. Thank you


Wish it would have given "The Lake" a little more rain and the mid part of the State sort of got robbed. Wondering if Pt. St. Lucie got any or not but they usually don't get as much as we do down here.

Rained, the wind blew. We hung out around the house, had a nice lunch and sooner rather than later the sun started to come out in bursts.

Want to say this fast about Barry, he was barely a real tropical system. I mean he was for a while.. and the recon found him to be ... and he got a name and was officially a Tropical ..Warm Core System, real bona fide Tropical Storm. And, remember most tropical storms are the garden variety ones like Barry that look messy and are hard to find on imagery sometimes.. (remember SNONUT complaining about Earl a while back, smiling remembering that) but... that is a minimal Tropical Storm and Barry was but not for most of his life...

Barry was better a very clear example of a storm going baroclinic and it had a real comma signature and Steve Lyons was right when he said it was losing it last night.
He called that one. Didn't need the sound up to know what he was saying and he was right..

But, he did intensify if even only briefly and he did pull to the right of the cone forecast like I said he would and he did come into the Tampa area not the Big Bend which was what I thought he would do. And, not sure if I said it on www.hurricanecity.com or www.flhurricane.com message board but "timing" was a real issue with this storm and Barry was moving faster than most people predicted. That was why I brought it up.. you could see he was going to come in lower (to the right.. tampa area) at the rate he was going.

Good start to the season, good wake up call ... go buy supplies, make a plan, can't pretend this season away it is here to stay and will be remembered!

Sure Barry bored a lot of hardcore storm chasers and trackers and sure many wish all 20 or so of the storms this year would all be as kind as Barry but don't count on it.

Note for people pondering what to buy tomorrow with your tax free break in Florida..

Tiki Torches are included in the deal.. I think under $20 but not sure.. check that site again.

My daughter-in-law loves tiki torches.. she used them at the wedding and uses them all the time when the guys/gang comes over to BBQ or hang out in the backyard. Really, gonna tell her she can buy some tax free and am sure she will probably go out and pick up a few more. Remember.. do not use them in the hurricane but AFTER when the winds die down and your power is out.. and while bbqing whatever you have left defrosting in the freezer with some warm Corona Extra. I'd tell her now but the guys/gang are all out at the tatoo parlor as I type.. honest, really... and they ain't tatooing hurricane sybols on their butts trust me on that one. I'm trusting my daughter-in-law has more sense than the gang of guys who hang out round here...

My life.. welcome to it...

Zalmy's home, the dog is home, sure the rest of the crew will be here soon.. maybe I'll go out for a cup of coffee .. or something.

chow for now.. Bobbi

Ps if anyone knows where I can get a small charm, silver preferably or gold of a hurricane symbol.. I would love one, please email me if you find one. NiteTNite, over and out.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Tropical Storm Barry Bursts onto the scene.. Hello 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Amazing beginning to the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Barry bursts onto the scene going straight from Tropical Disturbance status to the Real Thing after recon finds winds and pressures worthy of being a Tropical Storm born on the 1st Day of the Season!

Explosive little storm struggling to intensify.

Surprise of all surprises... instead of barely hanging in there Barry is showing convective bursts closer to the center and in my opinion pulling right of forecasted track or trying to..

Recon has found stronger winds now then earlier and waiting to see if they will upgrade Barry conservatively by 5mph at his next advisory.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/flt/t2/loop-vis.html


Look at that explosion of white just over the center and slightly to the right of it. Also, there is a bigger white ball on visible around the storm..

Good Call by NHC.. definitely not Just a Depression and very definitely Tropical not sub-tropical.

Impressive. Really impressive.

Would have been easy to laugh this off as some Tropical Storm Media Hype with nothing to support it but nah.. he's the real thing. Not a big, bad hurricane but definitely a Tropical Storm on the very first official day of the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

What a start.. what a crazy start for all of us to this season and oh what a season it will be.

Personally, a little curious about what is going on down around 82w and 20n as it looks like a secondary little swirl is down there and the moisture is hanging around.

However.. if Barry strengthens that may look different later today.

Got to admit I was skeptical. Questioned whether it was truly tropical, but as that band on the south side began to wrap and it developed a real circular tail... and the recon showed low pressures worthy of a name... well..

Barry!

Unreal, so wild.. really wild as I watch TWC... listen on the radio and watch the rain fall down outside my window and well .. it's getting windy.

If you ask me... Bottom Line? Barry is intensifying!
And...think he will come in on the right side of the Cone lower rather than higher...

Stay tuned..

Waiting to see what the big boys say at NHC.

Pouring in Miami and getting windier.

Made BBQ Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Red Potatoes and an "easy shabbos"
Salads, stuff... big splurge was making morrocan carrots..

Welcome to the 2007 Hurricane Season..hang in there, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Bobbi :)

Start of 2007 Hurricane Season - If in Florida.. BUY NOW.


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/gmex/loop-vis.html

Link to watch while thinking on what hurricane supplies to stock up on.

Hi... quick notes because I am very pressed for time and because the situation is very fluid with regard to our friendly area of convection down in the Caribbean.. or maybe near the tip of Cuba, maybe entering the Gulf.. some say they saw something on long range Key West Radar.

Getting to be like Pin the Tail on the Tropical Depression... if there is one? Or the Eye..

Right now it's rain...lots of it, pouring on my patio at work, down through ficus trees, onto the lawn furniture forming little puddles on the ground.

It's cool... way too cool for this to be summer. Delightfully cool. And, the ocean temps are not all that high .. though they may be high enough to support development. I just can't say enough how this feels more like some winter storm or stalled out front more than something tropical.

The planes are going in and the planes or rather the data the planes gather will be given to the people making the call.

So it's a sit and wait a spell period while in Miami we are watching the rain come down.

Instead of obsessing over whether this is or isn't Barry my suggestion is when shopping this weekend.. Go for broke and buy the hurricane supplies that you can.. if you can depending on your money situation that you can save money and enjoy the Tax break.

I know I am using it to buy myself a new weather radio.. not sure which one but a new one, maybe two.. Nothing as valuable in saving lives and preparing you for dangerous weather than a weather radio. And, may I add.. in a weak tropical storm you can have twisters spring up in the bands, lose power from high squally winds and a weather radio will warn you to a near by Twister going WHOOSH and coming right at you. Batteries? Buy them in increments of less than $30. Flashlights... tarps.. whatever your budget allows if you have the extra money honey spend it now and it will go further without the taxes being added on.

So.. here is the list.. here is the site.. here is some info that I can give you that is "for sure" and as for the system down below... I'll update this site later in the day.

Personally... been a long week for me. Wedding Monday night for a close friend, funeral for a co-worker and close friend Tuesday afternoon and another wedding last night for a good friend and God Bless them but Piamenta played..every time I felt sad for a few minutes I got up and danced some more. There is a time for everything and last night was a time for joy and happiness and enjoying old friends who needed a lift and watching a beautiful young couple start a new life together..

http://www.jewishjukebox.com/products/israeli_music/1290.asp

Can't wait to relax this shabbos, get some good comfort food in the house, make a big cholent and stay home and watch the rain come down. Got lots of reading to do for an article I am working on for publication regarding old Miami in the 1950s. Historical publication. Lots of reading material. Chicken, yellow rice and or sweet potatoes.. salads, and whatever I decide to cook after being inspired at Wild Oats or Walmart.

List of things to buy below.. go for it! Nice to get the tax break, we need all the breaks we can living in Miami with the high cost of living and the hurricane season upon us.

My sister in law is making my brother a cake for the hurricane season, she swears when she makes one we don't get hit. He wants to get hit and isn't that happy about the cake like usual. Well, a mild hit.. some early morning email about "Bring em on" (ohkay... hey, blame it on Ronnie not me or Jay if we get hit this year)

List below.. go shopping, the planes won't be back for hours and no one will really have info til five..

Flashlights, self-powered lights valued $20 or less.

Portable self-powered radio, two-way radio or weatherband radio selling for $75 or less.

Tarps or other flexible waterproof sheeting selling for $50 or less.

Tie-down kid or ground anchor system selling for $50 or less.

Gas or diesel fuel tank selling for $25 or less.

AAA-cell, AA-cell, C-cell, D-cell, 6-volt or 9-volt batteries selling for $30 or less.

Cell phone battery selling for $60 or less; cell phone charger selling for $40 or less.

Food storage cooler (non-electric) selling for $30 or less.
Note you can buy more, just in $30 batches ;)

Portable generator used to provide light or communications or preserve food in event of a power outage selling for $1,000 or less.

Storm shutter device selling for $200 or less.

Carbon monoxide detector selling for $75 or less.

Re-usable ice selling for $10 or less.

The tax break does not apply to any sales within an airport, public lodging establishment, theme park or entertainment complex.* Note do NOT try buying those batteries on Main Street in Disneyland or at MIA they will charge you sweet little tourist thing lots of taxes :)

Great link to the whole tax thing
http://www.floridadisaster.org/cps/2007/TIP%2007A01-04_043007.pdfPrint it and post it if you have a store or business where you want to share the info.. Thanks Chris on www.hurricanecity.com



Current track:
http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/picservice.asp?t=m&m=92&a=2