Video of the Farce Going on in NY Blizzard... Snow Plows Don't Work... and When they do...they smash up cars...

Mind you it came out during press conferences one of the problems was that many of the snow plows did not have snow tires... only so much money to go around I suppose.

In Crown Heights there has been a Snow Plow stuck in the middle of the street...a busy street that now looks a lot like Siberia in NYC. Of course, considering how badly the police have been of late in responding to a crime way in Crown Heights, why anyone thinks the city would do a better job of getting rid of the snow then they did the crime wave that they have been unable to stop.

What a joke... a farce really which would be funny ...except its not so funny if you are the family of the young man shot and killed in the laundry mat just before the blizzard started or the owners of the cars with no wheels .... or if you were snowed in for THREE Days in a city up north that should have snow tires on their snow plow trucks.

This is NY... not some freak snow storm in Jacksonville, Florida.

Can someone call in the cavalry?

Blizzards And Oil Spills. Any Connection?

We don't usually get frost this thick on wind shields in Miami....especially near the Ocean.

Day THREE of the SNOWSTORM in Brooklyn....



There is a theory being spoken on by many that this year's freaky winter temps as far south as Miami and the early winter that has crippled Europe could be connected to the Oil Spill in the Gulf.

It's easy to knock these theories as politically based or as "alarmists" and "crazy people" and yet in reality the science behind the theories is very sound and very sane.

More so there is a lot of data to support the theories.... satellite imagery of the Gulf Stream and the Loop Current show that there have been severe changes, unpredicted and not expected in the flow of the Loop Current. Those changes coincide with the oil spill and more than just the spill itself but the manner in which BP "cleaned up the spill" mainly the billions of tons of solvents that were dumped into the Gulf. Even BP admits that they were not sure of the long term effects, but they felt it was safe. If it had never been tested...how do we know?

What do we know ...for sure?

We know that the best scientists out there predicted it was very possible for the oil to get caught up in the Loop Current and land on beaches in the Florida Keys, South Florida and then the Carolinas before it veered off for the white cliffs of Dover. We hoped that would not happen... the loop current can be a little unpredictable and a bit loopy and nothing is ever a given.

Luckily..... that did not happen and the spill damage was "contained" to the once beautiful and pristine beaches of the North Florida Panhandle. In our celebrations we never really asked "why" and saw it as a gift we were happy to receive.

Now.... after the strongest series of early winter storms that have affected both Europe and the parts of the United States that are normally kept warm by the Gulf Stream.... we have to wonder if there is some correlation.

With the theories of "butterfly wings" everything that happens in one place can change things in a place further up stream.

Well...one of the largest rivers on Planet Earth IS the Gulf Stream and you screw up one part of it and there is always some correlation to a change in another part. Hopefully, a short term change.

Some excellent arguments out there...

Mind you science is about theories being tested...

You don't have to like the messenger or his politics or where he delivers the message. You have to take the theory, look at it.. put it up on the shelf labeled "theories" and begin to test it... along with other theories.

All I know is that there was frost on the car in Miami this morning............ and we in Miami are not used to keeping things around to scrape off the thick layer of Frost. It was ten degrees colder in Coastal Carolina than it was in New York this morning. Snow fell on the beaches of Wilmington. My son in NY cannot get his four wheel drive more than four blocks. My daughter in Flatbush can't get to her car and another daughter in Crown Heights is unable to leave her basement easily.... Europe has been pounded relentlessly by historical storms all in one year...

Daughter's Car... buried... looks more like Chicago than Flatbush...



Something does not make sense, especially when you consider this is a "La Nina" winter and supposedly we are waiting for that flip to milder conditions in this region...

So...until we know why...one reason is as good as another.

Where ever you are ....may you stay safe, warm, dry and keep a good sense of humor.

Besos Bobbi

Links below....

http://yowusa.com/earth/2010/earth-0810-01a/1.shtml

http://www.associazionegeofisica.it/OilSpill.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXUifNpnpfQ&feature=related

Snow Showers Illusions & Miami Dreamin

They say you should live in the moment and I am trying to do that this year. Take one day at a time and enjoy the journey not just rush off to the destination but I am dreaming of Miami and more so... the Keys.

Not that I don't like the snow and the timing of this snow storm during the holidays... I'd have been sad it I had missed it. Then again, I could wake up every morning of my life in Key West and never wish I was anywhere else but home sweet home or the home of my conch ancestors.

The sun is out there, bright blue skies and the snow is falling. How can that be? Winds gusts estimated to be in the 20s (to match the morning temps mind you but not the wind chill) and every time a gust of wind comes, the snow flies out of the tree tops and down onto the already covered ground in clumps and flakes and occasionally there is a profusion of white spray like mist and then it stops until the next gust of wind comes by. An interesting illusion that makes what seems like sunny snow showers.

What's real and what is an illusion?

They have something up here called "Black Ice" which sounds a little odd but dangerous and dark not bright and beautiful. Sounds like a good name for a perfume.

My kids in New York are buried under over a foot of snow... close to two in some parts. My daughter told me that people were stuck on subways for nine hours last night leaving me to wonder...why...do they run them until they get stuck? My grandchildren (oh my gosh I have grandchildren lol) are home for a snow day. One daughter's toes are cold and one daughter's window AC is pushing through the window with snow that is now in her basement. My son is Iowa is making Pineapple Chicken, he's used to snow. Kids in Miami are "friggin freezin" from the frigid temps and the cold wind chill. My brother is very lucky that he is walking the dog by the canal and not out in the snow and icy street.

It snowed in Wilmington from what I heard, Wilmington NC and supposedly Johnny Mercer Pier got snow for the first time that they can remember. Nice pier, nice beach. It's not Miami Beach but well... it's a beach.

http://www.wect.com/global/Category.asp?c=66683

Years ago I used to watch the sunrise every morning with a crazy weather friend online as we watched the sun rise over Tempe Arizona from a weather cam there. I feel like I almost lived there and yet we never spent the night... but watched a lot of beautiful sunrises. What is real? What is an illusion?

A friend of mine who loves Asbury Park said during the eclipse to me the other night that the last big eclipse he watched from the beach...brought a massive storm the next day... so watch out for the weather. He was right...though he's in LA now there was a big blizzard after a winter eclipse. Note all of New Jersey is under a Winter Warning and State of Emergency. Of course... the instructions for what to do are borrowed from Hurricane Preparation Guides.

http://www.state.nj.us/njoem/soe_faq.html#1

So we have a Snow Cane again in the North East... snow in the Carolinas and snow flurries in Jacksonville, Florida.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-12-26/story/weather-service-jacksonvillecom-users-report-snow-flurries-across

The sun is out...it's bright and sunny and white and if I didn't know better I'd think it wasn't that cold out there... but I'm not crazy... will watch the snow falling off the trees and when my toes are cold... I'll smile down at my ticket home and remember that I was lucky to enjoy the beauty of this holiday weekend snow storm and enjoy the beauty of the moment from my window on the world.

And, I'll be sitting here enjoying today and dreaming of home...



Besos Bobbi

White Winter Wonderland I95 Travel..Don't even think about it

"Travel is strongly discouraged" and they have stopped forecasting snow totals in the Triangle saying only, "snow totals will be impressive"

Boy, am I glad I stayed up here and didn't go back to Miami yet... or I would have missed this. Then again... I did watch the 10 day... but I'll be back in the land of the sunshine soon and for now am enjoying watching the snow falling, wish it would keep falling all day though it's supposed to stop in a little while. Awesome...beautiful, like a picture postcard. Currier and Ives. Looks like Vermont or Maine.

So white, so peaceful. I love it.

Also, love that the Euro was right and everyone had reasons for ignoring it and refusing to believe this storm would bomb. Well, bomb it has and it aimed it's fury at the I95 corridor which has to be a mess from South Carolina all the way to New England by the time this is over.

Getting snow pics from the kids in NY already...

I'd write more but I am staring with my mouth wide open, smiling like a little child... cuddled up in bed in my purple flannel pajamas and listening to the weather radio and I have the TWC o mute... Adam Berg is in Raleigh covering the storm. It's almost like having a white hurricane with the strong wind...

The hype was real... wild...really wild.

So... got a few days before my birthday, still debating where to go or where to stay before I'm back home in Florida. Home Sweet Home... blue skies, flowers on trees, technicolor beauty and walks on the canal in my sandals.

I've only seen snow fall a handful of times in my life. Seen it on the ground piled high or woken up to a dusting of snow but been a long time since I watched this much fall from the sky.

It's relaxing to watch... sad to see it stop.

Not like standing on the beach in a hurricane or sitting on the porch with my daughter-in-law sipping coffee (I miss her) and well... you can't be everywhere all at once so you got to enjoy where you are when you are...

Besos Bobbi

White Christmas

Okay, I suppose for a good little Jewish girl to admit "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies says a lot about me... or not. But, I do so love that movie. I love it so much that I have probably memorized it by heart.. a long with every step of the dance routine Sisters. Great movie. And, such beautiful music by Irving Berlin. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB1ZD6JKxes&feature=related

Snow is always the icing on the proverbial cake for most people and for those who are into the holidays... it definitely is in late December. All those great movies made mostly in New York City where the snow comes down Christmas Eve or just as the main characters find themselves staring into each other's eyes, bodies pressed against each other..everything perfect and voila it snows!!



Gotta love snow ;)

So... just going to sit back and let this whole weather show unravel the way it's intended. People are arguing models... waiting for snow or brisk, cold, fresh air in Miami and I'm making Indian food for Shabbos. Tandoori Chicken ...using non-dairy Sour Cream and other exotic delights.

A friend who lives in Raleigh, told me today she is hoping for snow late on the Day on Christmas.. after she goes to church, after the presents are opened and played with and everyone is fed...she can sit back and relax and watch the snow fall with some good coffee or hot chocolate. What could be better she asked me.


It seems the crew from Teal will be flying into this winter storm to help give the forecasters a better handle on just who gets how much and where it goes.

000
NOUS42 KNHC 231515
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHTS
CARCAH, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, MIAMI, FL.
1015 AM EST THU 23 DECEMBER 2010
SUBJECT: WINTER STORM PLAN OF THE DAY (WSPOD)
VALID 24/1100Z TO 25/1100Z DECEMBER 2010
WSPOD NUMBER.....10-023

ATLANTIC REQUIREMENTS
1. FLIGHT ONE -- TEAL 70
A. A63/ OTTNG/ 25/1200Z
B. AFXXX 04WSA TRACK63
C. 25/0445Z
D. 10 DROPS ON TRACK AS PUBLISHED
E. AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE/ 25/1400Z

2. SUCCEEDING DAY OUTLOOK:
A. A64/ 30.3N 75.0W/ 26/0000Z
B. A64/ 30.3N 75.0W/ 26/1200Z
JWP

Hmmmmnnnn .... how bout that??

Truth is... what can be better than spending a day with your loved ones in peace and enjoying the natural beauties around us.

So...whether you are at the beach on up in the mountains on home this holiday weekend... "may all your Christmas' be white" lol...


Besos Bobbi

Ps... my favorite scene and dance routine of almost all time ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXYYfHICSc&feature=related

(was sure they filmed it at Viscaya when I was a little girl...)

Fighting Off The Cold ...

And that's the truth and I'm sticking to it... both physically and healthwise...

Got to give it to Victoria Secrets, they make the nicest quality pajamas and bathrobes that feel all soft, warm and cuddly and in a few minutes I am going to go cuddle up under a bunch of covers and do some resting and might leave on TWC on mute to watch the progression of the front that is moving east from California towards the Carolinas and points to the south..

That pic up above is tracking the snowstorm NOT a Tropical Storm moving towards Cape Hatteras. Though it is possible that the Outer Banks may get some snow, as well as Atlanta, Charlotte and possibly a good part of I95 from the Carolinas to New York so if you are planning on taking a trip on Sunday... you might think on thinking twice.

Somewhere around the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida, will form and move across Florida and will look like some late season tropical system making a bee line for the Carolinas but staying safely offshore and blowing tropical kisses. But, these kisses will come more in the shape of snowflakes...each one different than the next.

And, down in Florida...South Florida ...people will complain it is too cold to walk their puppy dogs and they will layer on their fancy, sexy boots to take a walk on Lincoln Road.

Up north, they will watch the ACTUAL movement of the Low after it forms to see if they will or won't be getting the white stuff.

Good article by www.weather.com online.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/christmas-week-winter-storm_2010-12-20

Graphics from their site ...though it updates as new models warrant:



As for me... I have a stuffy nose and am going to go take care of it and worry on the models and tracks tomorrow. That's what we Southern Girls do you know... Grandma Mary taught me that well and she was as Southern a Belle as any of them. Of course, if everything I knew in life I had learned on Burn Notice I probably would know how to get rid of a runny nose ... oh well... tequila and tea?

So... where ever y'all are... stay safe...stay warm...enjoy the weather and if you are lucky enough to get Snow on Christmas, enjoy it. Nice to have special effects provided by God ;)

Two sides of the same storm and cold, cold winter are articles below...

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-weather-snow-accumulations-785039.html

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/nyregion/23snow.html?_r=1

As for the system in California, I am watching it but not posting on it. Tremendous damage in places I love such as San Diego and Laguna Beach (one of my favorite beaches) and hope they get a break soon, because I know what it's like to live out there when one Pineapple Express after another slams into the South Land..

Besos Bobbi

Ps for the cryptically minded ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MhpFF1vv0

December Tropical Troubles? Lunar Eclipse...to watch or not?

Stranger things have happened in December in the tropics, but despite it being cold, cold, cold down in Florida .... there is a small tropical area of possible development out in the Tropical Atlantic.

An orange circle to be exact. Go figure... Ho Ho Ho..ya know??

I am NOT making this up. Then again... it's more of a "heads up" for the islands I think but it is orange not yellow so hard to tell just yet.

"A SMALL BUT WELL-DEFINED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED ABOUT 275 MILES
EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BARBADOS IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER THE
SOUTHWESTERN TROPICAL ATLANTIC. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE NOT
CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...CONDITIONS COULD
BECOME A LITTLE MORE FAVORABLE ON TUESDAY."

Love their "however" ;)

Today was a sunny, breezy day where I was today. I was busy texting children and emailing teachers and opening late Chanukah presents and early birthday presents and avoiding dealing with things I didn't want to deal with...

Waiting up for the eclipse or debating on setting the alarm... still not sure.

What are you going to do I wonder?

Eclipses are funny. Spent so much time over time waiting up for them or standing around outside watching them. Nine years old and watching the eclipse with my "boyfriend" across the street who was flush with a new telescope to watch the lunar event! Was a nice, tropical warm night out in Southwest Miami near the Tropical Park Race Track. What a great place to grow up... big ficus trees and wide open streets and a porch with a view under the stars ....and our fathers babysitting us looking annoyed that our mothers told them to stay up with us ...

I have a friend who died the other day, he didn't wait up for eclipses. He told me one night when the moon was about to rise out of the Atlantic Ocean and hang luminously over the City of Miami "he's seen a lot of eclipses, let's go eat dinner" and so we did though I watched the eclipse at totality after dinner. Sort of annoyed me but it was becoming a pattern as I got older.... boyfriends who had scene one and had scene them all sort of... "just a scientific fact" one guy told me. Happens all the time. Nothing mystical.... just happens...what's the big deal???

Well...tonight... it's conjunct the day that is the Winter Solstice. I imagine back at Stonehenge there would be some rocking party for that event. What did they do on Stonehenge? Do we really know?

My son told me he is waiting up. Is he his mother's son or what? My guy asked me if I wanted to wait up or set the alarm (am I making progress or what???)

I don't know.... wishing my friend Stuart was still alive and hungry and wanted to go out to some late night Israeli restaurant where he would regale me with stories, fill me with food and perfectly coordinated wines and I'd sort of rather see Stuart tonight than a lunar eclipse. A wonderful guy... fun guy, caring guy, fun to be with guy, smart, talkative, interesting, great cook, caring father and grandfather and really good friend. So many of these blogs were written from his place, way back when down in Key West. One of those refuge like places where I could get on the bus or drive down with Stuart impulsively late at night to "keep him awake for the drive" and could wake up in paradise and usually have an awesome brunch he'd put together as if it was going to be on the cover of Gourmet Magazine.

Now, I'm so far away and it's just all a beautiful memory.

One night Stuart gave me a call, he was hungry and wanted to know if I wanted to join him for something at the Chinese Kosher Restaurant after work at the library. While talking he decided he really needed to drive down to Key West and wanted to know if I wanted to go for a ride. I mean how could I go for a ride? I had kids, lots of them and you simply can't just go to Key West on a whim at 11 pm can you?? Thought on it. Could call in sick the next day... my older son was home, he could get the kids off to school... came home, talked to my son...who said, "Ma, go... we are fine, go to Key West" and I did... ran in, grabbed a few things, a blanket (cold winter night haha) and went to Key West with Stuart. Talked, drank coffee, talked... watched one of the biggest moons rise up out of the water over the Seven Mile Bridge...awesome, silver. He may not have wanted to watch the eclipse that other night but wow... did he love that moon over the open water. So we watched the silver moon shining down on the ocean and the little mangrove islands and kept on talking about life.

I learned so much about life from Stuart who had lived a big larger than life ..life.

I learned to think short term and also think long term. Life could be approached it seemed like a business proposal and Stuart knew a lot about business. As opposed to me... who always lived life moment by moment.

What were my goals? Short term? Long term?

Stuart was at his best on last minute excursions or making a gourmet meal or giving me tours around Key West or sitting at his table over really great wine talking about life.

I'll miss him. I have missed him a while now but now he is really gone but he is alive in my memory always making me smile.. yet staring off in sadness that he is not around to whimsically drive off to Key West or get the world's largest Sushi Boat when we started out for a lite bite after Shabbos. And, yes...was the best sushi I ever had in my life.

Another lesson... if you are going to spend a fortune on something... it was worth it if it was the best you ever had.

So... seeing as I am a girl born during a December Tropical Storm...am not going to laugh off this 30% orange circle but am going to take the lunar eclipse tonight a bit more seriously as there is a 100% chance that there will be an eclipse.

And... one day... in the near future I will find a way to deal with the reality of losing one of my closest friends...other than writing about him in my blog.

Been so blessed to have so many amazing, wonderful good friends...

Sweet Tropical Dreams

Bobbi!

Google Eclipse

You get info on cars and movies and where to view both...

Here at Hurricane Harbor, we are watching the weather in space as there are no hurricanes. And, tomorrow night we have a lunar eclipse up in the sky to watch if you set your alarm clock to wake up in the middle of the night or just stay awake to watch. Don't wait until Tuesday, as you will miss it as when they say Tuesday they mean the first few hours of Tuesday Morning.

It did surprise me though how the word eclipse has been eclipsed by the book/movie and the car... in the old days Eclipse meant one thing and one thing only.

So... here are some links from a few online sites that tell the story of the moon and the sun far better than I can.

www.spaceweather.com

Youtube from the larger site from the Miami Planetarium and where I grew up watching the stars in the middle of the day often...or late at night with boyfriends. No one like Jack Horkheimer, can still here him teasing us not to whisper as the people on the other side of the dome could hear us... Old Miami, got to love it!

http://www.jackstargazer.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSwxfzFsDUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSwxfzFsDUA

Good info here too... another of the more famous planetariums.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/raleighwral-15751121/carolina-skies-total-eclipse-to-hit-n-c-23555582#video=23559485

Of course, if you are in L.A. you have the best viewing there is at the Griffith Park Observatory....now that is an experience, one I did often during my time in L.A.

http://www.griffithobs.org/

As for my viewing today....will be watching the Miami Dolphins and for once I will have something in common with Steeler fans... I hope they beat the Jets ;)

Happy Viewing where ever you are.... stay warm, stay cool, stay happy...

Besos Bobbi
Ps...am much warmer these days as I have me ticket home... my preferred viewing grounds would be the end of Duval Street ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_kLnjiIHgg

Ice Storm ???

Well I put question marks as it seems this is like where in Miami in Absence of Malice it's explained it's not a shark attack unless a shark walks down Biscayne Blvd and bites a tourist...

The trees are coated in ice, it looks like some winter wonderland postcard...the lawn furniture here has icicles yet they refuse to say it's an "ice storm" just a wintery mix.

A slightly busted forecast or wishcast it seems.

They insisted the rain would move "up" from the south as another batch of icy mix went from west to east... well Virginia the system from west to east won out and we are hovering at 32 degrees which means not a lot is going to melt and we are still having icy drizzle...

Guess am not getting back home anytime real soon... looking at tickets back to sunshine and home and I think it's really cool how the pine trees are going crystal white...looks like the winter snow spray we used to spray in school on the Christmas Tree in Elementary School. Mind you that was as close as I got to having one, that and being allowed to help our neighbors throw tinsel on their trees. I'm wondering how serious this winter storm is going to be...school is cancelled. I saw that coming.

Though my kids go to school back home on Miami Beach, a block from the ocean and bathing beauties having their pictures taken for magazines that will come out in the Spring.

I always wanted to see an Ice Storm. I suppose this mild one is as close as I should wish for...

Seems to be ridiculous that a place cannot get a 3 day forecast right and yet last year my kids got caught in a flood in Aventura and had to abandon their car and walk 3 blocks in thigh high water while the NWS was debating putting up an "urban flood advisory" so guess the one constant with weather is government officials never want to go with what seems the logical forecast and wishcast an easier one and pray for the best.

Luckily, they have salted the roads...not that I will be going out anytime soon...

Besos Bobbi
ps.... just looked outside... will take more pics everything is iced over ... yet it's not an Ice Storm...hmnnnnn

Sun Storm... It's Hot on the Sun if nowhere else..

I don't know where you are but where I am on Planet Earth it is way, way too cold. If I have to put on two pairs of leggings to go to the gym...that is two too many for me!

But, don't worry there is a storm on the surface of the sun...nice and warm there.

Problem is we still aren't sure how that will or it won't affect the weather.

I find it kinda funny that we try ad predict in December what the following Hurricane Season will be like over six months away and yet we are still not sure how this new storm on the sun will affect Planet Earth later this month...

Okay...mercury retrogrades or solar flares can be blamed for the communication problems.

Are we going into a new Mini Ice Age as some have predicted and can we finally stick a fork into "Global Warming" ???

There is a nice video on this site where you can watch the sun erupting if you think that will warm you up...

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/13dec_globaleruption/

Besos Bobbi

ps...another article.... calling it a tsunami...sort of sounds like hype... maybe not

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1338521/Stunning-solar-tsunami-gives-scientists-new-clues-makes-sun-explode.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

A Video Loop of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season & Tropical Storm Bonnie

It's funny how people talk about this season past. I have been accosted by friends on the street who told me "it was such a bust" "so much hoopla" "thought we were gonna get creamed???" because the experts predicted a big season, a high number of storms. With a high number of storms the odds go up (obviously) that someone, somewhere will get hit.

Yet, rather than being grateful all I have heard from friends is whining on how it was such a "quiet" season.

Well... it wasn't such a quiet season. This beautiful loop posted on www.canetalk.com shows us the whole season from the beginning to the end... watch those waters boil..

http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.php?MediaID=595&MediaTypeID=2

Thanks JAC for that amazing loop. Might have missed it had you not posted it :)

A lot of places missed getting hit. Cutler Bay was not one of them. Had Bonnie been a Category 3 we would still be talking about the clean up in the Miami area down in Cutler Bay. We got lucky. And, we got a nice quiet, little Tropical Storm that brought us some beautiful tropical weather without any tropical hazards.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/23/1743672/tropical-storm-bonnie-turns-south.html

I was at the beach that day with storm chaser friends. Great day... great pics... wild surf, unrelenting tropical air tugging at my clothes and blowing my hair in all directions that do not allow me to post here what I looked like ;) But, oh was one of the best days of my year ... loved it. To me the season was not on the rocks but I was on the rocks... and loving it.



Video from other storm chasers...



There is a love of weather that binds us storm chasers and storm trackers that is hard to explain. Unless you have been on the beach, getting sand blasted or spent time hiding behind something hoping to get the perfect shot while not getting sandblasted... you can't really imagine. It's a little crazier than the movies and yet a little safer than you think. But, it's wild and being out with others who understand how magical it is... is golden.

Tropical Storm Bonnie was the real thing and she also hit land far north of the Keys where they were expecting her. Had she been a Category 3 storm that veered north into South Dade rather than Key Largo... we would still be hearing about her today.

Next season...we may not get so lucky and next season is predicted already to be a season with high numbers and mucho storms. So... give thanks for not getting creamed this year and keep those emergency supplies around because if you live in the tropics long enough... you will get hit... it's only a matter of time.

For me..standing out on the rocks by Haulover, holding onto my camera for dear life and my hair being blown about ...the wind rushing through me while trying to stay balanced securely in a good spot was what it is all about. Not death and destruction on the 5 o' clock news but the glory of Mother Nature Gone Wild. And, waking up and sitting on my son's balcony early that morning was as golden and perfect as the sky. Thanks Levi.

So.... enjoy the winter blast of air from the far away Artic and know that in about six months we will be talking about the tropics again. Til then I will be talking about weather and life and how the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets last night in a wonderful game to watch...if are a Dolfan and I am ;)

Besos Bobbi


Ps Behind the scenes at the Beach by Bonnie and how those News Stations and the TWC gets those beautiful beach shots at Haulover ;)

Hype of the Winter of 2010-2011 & Ice Menorah

Ice Menorah in Iowa... reminds me of the Ice Palace Fitzgerald wrote about, places where you can carve Ice into things... pretty amazing.

But...this winter came early like Chanukah did this year...

Waiting for Jeanne Dixon like astrological forecasts on the Winter to end all winters for this coming year.

TWC is hyping this week's snow storm. 32 states to be affected!!!

I mean it IS winter. Then again Europe is really frozen under..

Headlines from Drudge worth noting....


Freeze brings Paris to standstill...

HEAVIEST SNOW SINCE 1987...

England has coldest opening week of December since 1659...

Army moves in to clear away snow...

'Once in a lifetime'...

For med it's the last day of Chanukah and I am contemplating my birthday later this month and don't forget the Winter Solstice.

Was 19 by my friend in Georgia this morning.. she's not used to 19. Neither am I. Then again, Miamians are not used to frigid temps sticking around even though there are blue skies and what looks (through the window) like balmy breezes.

Where would I like to be?

Paris.

Not very tropical but one day would love to see the menorah lighting there ;)

Happy Thursday wherever you are may your day be happy and bright!!

Besos Bobbi

COLD... very c o l d

It's cold in Miami, it's cold in New York and Iowa and it's even cold in the Carolinas. Seems like it's cold everywhere these days... so much for Global Warming. Sort of miss Global Warming, I stood by the oven the other day trying to stay warm and remember what it felt like while making potato latkes...

Going online did NOT help... I get sent nice little links like this:

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/THINK-BAD-WAIT-2020s/article-
2965986-detail/article.html

Or the one from the United Kingdom where it is COLDER than here and where it seems the new princess is wearing metallic gold to the ball. If I was there I'd be wearing velvet but well I'm not a princess it seems. Red Velvet.

http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2010/12/05/author-claims
-we-re-in-the-grip-of-a-mini-ice-age-79310-27768699/

The truth is our lives meterologically and otherwise are about the seasons. We have the short term season like the Hurricane Season and Snow Season and Football Season. Long term we have periods when it rains in the Sahel region and years when it does not. We have mini Ice Ages and periods where the temperature of the planet rises.

Climate is long term.

Weather is day to day, including flukes and strange weather patterns.

So... I will be back very soon (when my fingers warm up and I can type normally) and I will discuss my thoughts and memories on the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season but for now I am thinking, baking Chanukah treats and listening to musical treats like the Maccabeats singing Candlelight. They are a wonderful group from Yeshiva University in very cold New York City who have a viral, hot hit online on youtube with their adorable, cute, funny, parody of a popular song that is being played in homes everywhere for all 8 nights.... hey....it keeps me warm!!!

So, Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays and do whatever you got to do to stay warm because it's not getting any warmer for a long, long time...

Besos Bobbi