Fay Finally Pulls It Together? Sunday Morning

Fay is down over the general area of Cuba and she appears to be finally pulling it together. I am not sold yet, it might be she just looks better over land and seems to spin up nicer than when over water. That doesn't make perfect sense but if you watch that's what you see.

This is a picture of her at 7 AM.



This is a great loop that shows you the moisture streaming westish across the Tropical Basin. We are now on the edge of the moisture and in fact it rained last night just south of here heavily.

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/tpw2/natl/main.html

This morning... blue skies, unreal beautiful blue skies.

There is a scroll my screen and I am currently under a Tropical Storm Watch. Do you know what a Tropical Storm Watch means in realease? It means... we aren't going to get much unless something changes big time but they want to cover their butts so they put up a watch. It means employers will expect people to show up for work tomorrow and school will not be canceled. It means we are meteorological stalkers watching every move that Fay makes from our cones and our computers. IF something does change they will upgrade the watch to a warning and we will have the same madness we always do when people scramble to get home and find their kids who are out playing all over the neighborhood or at the movies that haven't closed with the people forced to work at the movies who can't go home because they will lose their jobs and their day's pay. Or...the storm will breeze by to the west and we will get a nice windy day.

A watch means ...we still don't know nothing about how we are going to be affected.

What do we know for sure?

The Florida Keys are going to get this storm. That looks like a given.

Will it be Charley or Cleo is still undecided, still waiting to see.

The fact that she might be finally pulling herself together is a good sign for those who want to know because she should (sorry I said "should") now begin to feel the pull north and begin doing something.

IF you live in the Keys... prepare for a tropical event. Watch closely to make sure she remains a tropical storm and not a hurricane and hunker down and you know what to do better than most in places like Tampa and Savannah who have come to think they are immune to a hit from a Hurricane.

IF you live in Miami or Naples or Tampa... survey your hurricane supplies, make a plan and figure out where to make your stand. At what point do you go shopping, call in sick from work or go check on your older relatives or all those tangibles the NHC doesn't really go into detail on while telling you to prepare for a possible storm.

Do not panic. Do not go crazy. Just do what you are supposed to do and go about life today while looking over your shoulder south and worrying and wondering if Fay could intensify into a much stronger storm.

Be a Fay Stalker ;)

Be a Virtual Peeping Tom.

Do not turn your back on her. Better safe than sorry.

For the people who went out to sea sailing on Saturday for the weekend because Andrew was suppposed to not affect our area and who died or were caught unprepared, don't go there again.

A developing tropical event is unfolding and taking place before our eyes down here in South Florida. Enjoy it! Think of it as a Reality Show, you are the star today. Go shopping, stock up on non-perishables. Or buy a small container of chocolate ice cream if you need and eat it tonight after watching the 11 PM news if it will make you happy but don't buy the big Supersave Gallon. It's too many calories and it may melt unless you like my mother wants to eat her ice cream through the dark night of the storm.

As for me.. I'm going to breakfast after the 8pm.

Oh...and seeing as this is Miami and not Iowa... make sure you have a good weather radio and enough batteries.. even in this day and age of watching on your cell phone it's nice to have a good weather radio.

More later... wish I was in Key West. Just hunker down, go to Tom's :P and you'll be safe. As long as it doesn't get much, much stronger.

No..I'm here with a watch and expecting to be possibly in the Dirty part of the storm with no shutters and not as safe as I would be at Tom's if this developed and moved my way.

I am still not convinced this isn't an Ernesto situation but we will know better tomorrow.

And, while reading forecasts from the NWS someone sent me I saw this.. ummmm HUH?

It is for next week... Insert Jaws Music here...


ON SUNDAY...ANOTHER TROPICAL SYSTEM APPROACHES SOUTH FLORIDA AS A MID LATITUDE TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST...WHICH MAKES ANOTHER HEAVY WORK SCHEDULE IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS. THE GFS AND EURO ARE SIMILAR...BUT THE GFS SHOWS MORE A VIGOUROUS TROPICAL SYSTEM AS WELL AS MID LATITUDE SYSTEM.