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, November 30, 2018

2018 Earthquake.. 7.0 Alaska - Storms in the South - Wicked Weather & Winter Here to Stay as the Hurricane Season Slips Away.



Today I was planning on writing a blog on the end of the 2018 Hurricane Season but life as it is ...is always happening and one news story replaces another as soon as we find out that there was a 7.0 earthquake in Alaska that caused cracks on huge highways and there is currently a tsunami alert for one area though there is a concern in other areas nearby.


This video shows what happens in the aftermath of such an earthquake when you find a safe space (under a desk is good) and you try to call or text your loved ones to let them know you are safe but scared. As I type this the tsunami alert has been dropped which is good news, however news has come out there there are fires (gas lines break) and the infrastructure is messed up making it hard to even drive home as roads have collapsed or have huge cracks in them. When I lived in LA for years in the 1980s my biggest fear of "the big one" was how I'd get home to my kids and family as I worked close to downtown in the Wilshire District. A relatively short drive on a regular day would be horrendous if the Big One LA is always waiting for happened.



Nothing illustrates how Mother Nature makes news more relevant than a 7.0 Earthquake that will most likely be knocked down to six point something but I'm going with the 7.0 as that is likely how it was originally rated. We can go back and review things after all is said and done and the actual facts come to the surface. For now prayers go out to people there and hoping there were no deaths but we won't know for some time. That region has earthquake drills and they build homes to withstand earthquakes however depending on the soil the homes are built on damage varies. Hard rock doesn't move as much as area where the ground has either been filled in or is closer to river basin ... each area feels the quake differently. When ever I hear about earthquakes and Alaska I remember as a small girl they broke into the  news to talk about the 1964 earthquake and tsunami. It seemed so much bigger than life, bigger than hurricanes that I was used to and yet so far away. Still I stood mesmerized as they received video of the area and I remember thinking then and I still think that way now ... I'd rather have a hurricane if you have to have a "natural disaster" as you can prepare for them, hunker down or flee to safety yet when the ground shakes, rattles and rolls you have to roll with the situation and try to remember what you have learned during Earthquake Safety Drills.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake


This is a smaller earthquake but strong enough to knock ongoing politics off the air and have all three major cable channels go to live coverage. I preferred when news stations covered news vs politics all day long and generally I love politics but it's one reason I leave TWC on while working in the house. The Weather Channel broke in with news of the Earthquake. In college in journalism class you had to rate stories as to which ones were more relevant to cover or for a headline. The Hurricane Season of 2018 is in the books and despite all the early dramatic discussion on how mild and weak it would be because of a cool pool of water in the Mid Atlantic ... Mother Nature as always finds a way. Florence found her way across the Atlantic despite dramatic headlines writing her off as a "Fish Storm" and Michael formed and continued to march towards the Gulf Coast as models said he would though many didn't believe it would actually be that bad. Spoiler alert as we know.... it was that bad and worse. Pictures don't do it justice and I may write about that on Sunday but I'm limited on time today. What I was going to say today was that the part of the country that is used to having Spring Tornado Outbreaks was deprived of their season this Spring as tornadoes continued to show up at high latitudes and the Plains were quiet. Now the Plains are busy in the Fall as warm, moist weather from the Gulf of Mexico is racing up towards the Southern Jet enhanced by El Nino creating a clash of the seasons.


Put this in motion and the convection in the GOM...

sat_wv_east_loop-12.gif (640×512)

Watch in real time as they meet up.
It's not going to be pretty.
You can see this on the loop below.
It's a forecast loop.

allfcsts_loop_ndfd.gif (799×559)

Winter is on the move.
Models spit out winter storms....
...then models moderate that forecast.
Winter is here to stay.

This pattern will repeat all year.
Storm, snow or rain, then warms up...
...then a new storm system moves in.
Sometimes the Polar Vortex gets a vote.

In my part of the world I'm cooking.
I baked challah for Shabbos.
I decorated the house for Chanukah.
I'm watching very long range models...
..and reacting with enough salt to eat pretzels.

In the same way that after shocks will continue...
...fronts will continue.
Winter will continue.

We may be still playing football....
...but it feels like we should be making snow angels.

Stay safe....
...have a wonderful weekend.

Yeah.... I'll take a hurricane anyday.
But you can't always get what you wish for...
...doesn't mean you can't keep wishing.

I'm wishing for Snow...

Just a little snow on chanukah and I'll smile.

Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter

Ps... For some friends who love Carole King
Sorry for any typos... small cut on finger from cooking.
Well from cutting a log of frozen gefilte fish in half..
I'm good, just bandaid makes typing difficult :(

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Monday, November 26, 2018

Tale of 2 Seasons. Hurricane Season Exiting & Winter Already Here and Staying.


When seasons collide.........
Trees with leaves get ice and fall down.
Football is played in the snow.
And our hurricane supplies ...
...become winter storm supplies.
Except in Florida.....
... where you can snack to your heart's content!

I'm sure I've used that phrase before but I can't think of a year that so exemplifies that saying in a meteorological way as 2018. We had a season that started early and looked as if we would have a map filled with tracks from barely there tropical storms and numerous subtropical storms. What's in a name? A name designates importance and yet it's hard to take a Tropical Storm that barely has any weather associated with it seriously ... yet it has a name and is on the map. Other weak tropical storms can intensify fast into players that take us by surprise. TWC likes to name winter storms ...they say to identify specific ones and others say it's just for hype...still it has a name and a hashtag online. Perhaps TWC got that part sooner rather than later, because if something doesn't have a name it doesn't really exist in a way that everyone can easily share information at the same time. In retrospect there was the SNOWCANE that the news channels gave a title to and splashed graphics across their screens several years ago in New York but there have been many "SNOWCANES" if you follow the New York media that loves to hype up anything and everything. Nuff said on names. So let's look at our map below.


This is preliminary as storms are reviewed by NHC.

This is from Jim Williams "End of the Year" review.
I suggest you watch it if you want a look back.
Please share it .... 
...good job by the man who was in the eye of Michael.
A look back at 2018 Hurricane Season ...
Save it to compare to next year.
I have some thoughts on that but ...
...that's a blog for another day.


Look at all those high latitude tracks.
And the longest track of all from Africa to the Carolinas.
And it's a high latitude track avoiding the cooler MDR.
Hard to even find Beryl on that map...
Remember Beryl? 
During the peak of the season we ended up with hurricanes.
Florence and Michael will be retired names.
They will go down in hurricane history.

And now we have winter that busted down our door.
Winter didn't knock gently.
Winter showed up early and refuses to leave.
The leaves on our trees are falling, clinging, falling.
The world turns below beautifully.
Look at that awesome Atlantic Gale.
Remember our old yellow circle from the NHC?
Yes it was there ....they saw it.
Yes it pulled together and swirled away..

sat_wv_east_loop-12.gif (640×512)

And look at that front trying to make it through Florida.
Look at that feed across Mexico into Texas still.
Texas had nonstop no name storms ...
...now the weather is continuing into the winter.


Will that front make it through?
NOAA says YES


You have to click to see what happens...

Today in Miami and Broward County there's fog.
Fog usually shows up in late December.
It's early this year like everything else.


My youngest brother moved from North Miami Beach up to Broward County and it puts him closer to many places he enjoys taking sunrise pictures of ...including his backyard as he is on a small lake in the Hollywood area. I like Hollywood. I complain about Broward sometimes (sorry) but to be fair North Miami Beach is pretty much South Broward as it's so far NORTH and close to the county line. TY Park is a place my mother-in-law loved and walked every day for a year or two when she lived in a senior facility across the street from there. She was raised in upstate New York and could walk for hours staring a nature. Now she's in a rest home in Maryland taking walks around the large property there but she did love TY Park. My kids have birthday parties there for their children and picnics for get togethers. It's a great, green, beautiful, verdant park but you can't tell that from the picture above that looks as if my brother was somewhere in Paris on the Seine. 



That is the same park above as the fog picture I posted.
Probably close to where my brother took that picture.
Fog arrives in winter in Miami.
A few days here and there out of nowhere.
Winter came early this year everywhere.


Snow maps show the next five days.
Again Mike has these up on his site.
And some new links I noticed....
 Below is the "freeze line"
Note it goes down to the Florida Panhandle.


And today a good part of the country ...
..is covered in precipitation of some kind.
What a perfect day for Cyber Monday.


I changed my plans for today.
I'm packing up presents.
Trying to take stock of who gets what...
..and make sure I don't miss anyone.
It's a big family.......

Ordering a few things on Amazon because it's easy.
Maybe buy something for me?
Maybe... we'll see.

Will mail out stuff when the sun comes out.
And then...enjoy the cooler weather.

People who know me and know how much I love Florida also know I have come to love this time of year in the Carolinas. Dry air means I breathe better and am less prone to Summertime sinus headaches that are horrible in Miami and I have less pollen problems up here this time of year. I like the way the trees look showing off their beautiful structure and I can see the sky again! Well unless it gets down into the teens I like dressing up in leggings and short skirts over high boots or wearing a pair of jeans with an oversized soft shirt. It's one reason I loved LA in that the winter was always beautiful and storms would come through and clear out the basin and you could see the mountains in all directions including some with snow on top of them. I'm dreaming.... of Seattle but my mother dance card is filled through February with places I need to be and promises I need to keep. Lord I'd love to sneak away for a few days but it usually takes me that long to get past the long trip to Seattle to see my son and his family there and... a city I have come to love intensely.

What do you love? Is it on sale today? One of the best things about "Cyber Monday" is it's a time to load up on basics you need in life that are often on sale or sold on a 15% or 25% or even a 30% discount. Lancome Le Stylo Waterproof Black Noir is on my list as it's a staple in my life. There's a pricey item I buy once a year from Dior that blurs the lines between my eyes so I look way younger than I am (good genes really.... though Estee Lauder gets credit as does Drunk Elephant ....Google it if you need) so yeah I'm a bit boring as I'm not buying any big tag items this year. I'll be looking for deals on products I use often around the house (not just make up) and I'm decorating for Chanukah that also comes early this year. 

Happy shopping and stocking up on that dream item or those things you use often that you need at discount. Good luck with presents (think gift cards....they work well for older kids and adults) and as my father used to say "you gotta do what you gotta do" and so I suggest you do it with love and happiness and joy. I got some good Hungarian genes from him ;) (and Lithuania/Baltic too) and yes go for the Ancestry discounts today if you want to find any surprises under your tree in a few weeks ;) Thanks for reading this mish mosh today of deep information and run on sentences and thanking my meteorological friends who have enriched my life in so many ways over the years... Still going strong as the song goes... 

Ha... weather is on sale this year.

For Fishing...
For Sue...
For you know who you are....


And for those of you ready for some holiday music.... it's the most wonderful time of the year!



Enjoy Andy Williams singing of the most wonderful time of the year from 1963 a wonderful year in that a few of my closest friends are born that year (good people) and a younger brother who is in Greece somewhere and hey you can buy his book as a stocking stuffer or if you are looking to read poems and prose while sitting on the toilet this book is for you. If you read it you'll understand that as he has some fascination with broken toilets in his fantastic collage art. Yes, we are all originals in our family, different as night and day and winter and summer yet we have one thing that binds us... creativity oozing out of our veins and whether we are authors or photographers we are always looking through the world through the eyes of an artist.  



I don't make this up... see one of his recent works. His work is deep, devilish and delightful depending on his mood. Check it out on Amazon if you know someone who likes to read new authors and has a good sense of humor and an appreciation of poetry, prose and the arts.


Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter
Follow me on Twitter for faster updates on breaking weather of all kinds.

(no Ps... nope, nada, nooooooo)

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Sunday, November 25, 2018

Black Friday Weekend.... Cyber Monday Tomorrow. Gale System in Atlantic, Snow in Iowa and Travel a Problem in Many Places



NHC has a zero percent yellow circle.
A Gale Center is forming.
It will kick up the seas.
Possibly get messy in Bermuda.
It's not going to get a name.
The plug will soon be pulled ...
...on 2018 Hurricane Season.

This is that day between Friday and Monday.
Black Friday bleeds into Cyber Monday.
The same way Fall fell early this year..
..and winter appeared early.
Everything kind of blurs together.

Unless you are unaware...
www.spaghettimodels.com has a Twitter Feed.
Scroll down on the right towards the bottom.
Some good weather news.
Sometimes weather people talk sports...
...or food or life.
But usually they ate obsessed with the weather.
It gives you a quick view of weather news.



If you can... avoid travel in those regions.



I have a daughter in law in Seattle.
She left Iowa...she hates snow.
Bruce... nice name.
Bruce is early this year.
Or maybe not.
Iowa gets snow.


Note the strong winds off shore on the E Coast.
Gale Centers produce great waves and wind.
If you ae under a colored area...
... travel carefully.
If flying expect delays.
NW Coast has storms.... 
Fronts are moving along.
Flirting with Florida.

My kids in Florida would love a cold front. People getting snow are happy today and soon will be begging for Spring and Spring is a long time away. Meteorological Winter is less than a week a way and according to the Almanac we have about a month to go before Winter begins but as usual Mother Nature does her own thing. Everyone wants to go away for Thanksgiving, no one wants to get stuck in a mess traveling. No one wants to get out of a warm bed to go shopping and that's why God made Cyber Monday! Except currently we have one long week of shop til you drop and you have maxed out all your credit cards weekend. Not sure if people are shopping because they have so much consumer confidence or if they are afraid it's all going to come tumbling down and they want to party like it's 1964. Why I said 1964 I don't know... just came to me. Blame it on weird dreams. I do want to say now that if this winter season plays out as expected we should have early tropical systems dancing along cold fronts as if they are conga lines at the end of a happy movie. 



El Nino is here but as Cranky on Twitter who makes great maps and writes excellent weather discussion shows the situation currently is an odd split ....creating problems knowing exactly who gets what where at this time of the year. As this evolves over the winter we should see some complicated systems.

As for today in my neck of the woods it's a sunny fall day and I'm literally watching leaves fall off of the maple tree onto the multicolored ground below and really just loving living in the minute. Sadly Starbucks doesn't deliver and I'm not paying money to get a Starbucks drink delivered they are already way over priced for what you get if you get a fancy drink with sprinkles. I mean how much to those sprinkles cost away? I can make a latte at home on my Nespresso machine. I can watch football and I'm not traveling anywhere so I don't even need to get dressed. 

This computer is driving me crazy, I've had it for a while but barely used it and bought it for things other than the blog so going to stop using it for the blog. Excuse any oddities in the format of this blog and wish me luck finding one I like way better. Mercury Retrograde... I have a rule on not buying computers during a Mercury Retrograde.... there are few laws of astrology I go by and that's one of them. My best friend and I had for years a $5 rule on not spending more than five dollars if the moon was void of course. We did astrology through the 1990s... it was a fun time, back in Miami and lost in our crazy friendship feeling like we were back in high school oddly.

So what am I going to do today?
Maybe stay home and watch football and make lists and banana muffins. 
If you live in the parts of the country that it's freezing and travel isn't good try to stay home and not travel. If you love a windy beach... go to the beach dressed properly and enjoy the wind. If this wasn't a holiday weekend I'd go to the Outer Banks and enjoy but the roads are filled with people trying to get home and the Outer Banks aren't going anywhere anytime soon... 

Great graphic online last night. It really says it all. Love it. So creative.


I thought at first it was a puzzle and a map. I'm still trying to finish up the shopping for kids and grandkids and I have a few of both and was wondering on a puzzle for one of them. My mind is messy.... Mailing things out this week and I'm done. Chanukah is early this year. I have time to buy my daughter-in-law Kristin something special and she's pretty special all in all so she gets presents for both holidays. I want to enjoy Chanukah this year and feel the cooler temperatures and take it all in... in North Carolina. I want snow. I know you knew that.

What do you want? World peace? Peace in the house hold? You want the guests to leave? Oh come on be honest. What do you want for the holidays this year? If you want sunshine book a ticket to South Florida or San Diego and if you want snow ... try Maine or Iowa or maybe New England. 

Have a wonderful Black Friday Weekend and hope you get the things you want for yourself as well as for others. As for me I listened to my own advice and bought a fake far coat and cute boots I wanted last year but Belk said they were "sold out" but obviously sitting in the back waiting to bring out for this shopping frenzy weekend. I bought eye shadow palettes (one size fits all and the girls love make up) and toys and chocolate coins that hopefully won't melt in the mailbox in the Florida sunshine where it's still in the 80s and if life was so easy that you could just buy what you wanted and get the weather you want ....

And if you want to get married in a strapless gown on a plush green lawn in a mansion by the bay in Coconut Grove .... it's easier to do if you live in South Florida. Baby Olivia got to go to her first wedding, pose with the bride and not worry on a winter coat!



Besos Bobbistorm
Ps... my goal for today is to figure out this laptop...
..that doesn't work like my other laptop.
Or just go back to Dell... 
That's some system winding up in the NE






















Friday, November 23, 2018

Black Friday Special From the NHC 30% Yellow Special Circle in Atlantic


Okay there's a 30% yellow circle on the 5 day.
Out in the Atlantic.
Not moving towards the East Coast.
Messy sort of non tropical Gale Center of sorts.


This really is one of their "yes we see it" things.
A gale center with strong winds can develop.
Not sure why some of these they highlight...
...and others they ignore.
The Water Vapor below shows the story.



Monday, November 19, 2018

Thanksgiving Day Forecast.... Frigid Temperatures for the Macy's Day Parade... Starbucks Latte VS Frappe Unless You Live in Florida - Winter Make Up :)



That's today.
November 20th, 2018.
The year winter came early.
As for the Macy's Parade...
Bundle Up!


Seriously hope Ronald McDonald has a scarf!
An overcoat maybe?
Hat? Gloves?





allfcsts_loop_ndfd.gif (799×559)

This is the 3 day loop.
It is THE forecast.
Short term, reliable.
Note the progression of cold fronts.
Rain in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
Snow in the Northeast 
Below Freezing Temperatures Along East Coast.
And look at those Isobars on the last day..
Arctic Air Being Funneled Down.
Say it Ain't So....
Christmas Weather for Thanksgiving?

A sign of the times....
Mike put the Weather Links back up..
It's about time...
What with Winter Storm Avery knocking out NYC.


Mike still has the NHC Main Page up.
Just in case.......
But he's added in the snow forecast maps.
These are great maps.
Easy to find...
... Easy to use.
Up on the Spaghetti Models.


You know it's Winter when Kylie puts out new palettes!
This girl has brains.
She knows weather sells.
Women love weather...


Yes we will ALL be Chillin on Thanksgiving!


Snowflakes on the lipsticks.
Winter colors for the eyes... 
Black Friday specials!



And winter maps galore on Twitter.


So here are some maps and thoughts.
Allan from Brooklyn likes to make maps.
They are good maps.
This is the possible WIND CHILLS


That's hard to believe.
Then again it was hard to believe .....
.....NYC would get so much snow.
And it did.
I wouldn't count it out.

Here's a link to current wind chills.
It may come in handy.


us_chill.gif (960×768)

Accuweather....


The Weather Channel .... 


You get the idea.
Without the wind chills it's cold.
Below Freezing, well below freezing.
Talking mittens, gloves, hat, scarf ... stay home inside?
Stay home sipping hot chocolate under a cover ;)
The Parade is on TV you know :)
I spent my lifetime watching it on TV.
You'll survive I promise..



21 degrees for Thursday.
Oh wait that was yesterday's forecast.
Look below.... now it's down to 19 degrees!!!

Check out Thursday's Low above. 19 degrees

Ya...that's winter weather not fall temperatures.

Sometimes you have to throw out the rule book and deal with what is and not what should be. It's like when a hurricane forms in June or a strong Tropical Storm pops up in May... you can't say "hey it's not Hurricane Season yet" you have to get supplies, make a plan and watch Cantore in the surf on TWC until your power goes out. In NYC and NJ the powers that be erred on the side of "it's not winter yet" and we saw what a mess Winter Storm Avery made. In Maryland where they were treating the roads and being "all melodramatic" they were better prepared to deal with the snow. As my Daddy used to tell me "you gotta do what you gotta do" and that means treating this storm and the cold weather that follows it as if winter is here and the calendar is irrelevant. If we get a December thaw "nice" but if not ... button up your overcoat and do what you got to do. 

If you are traveling by car make sure you have blankets, extra food and drinks with you as the walk into the service plaza or Truck Stop will make you feel like one of Santa's Elves. If you're flying, hope you don't get stuck anywhere. If you and your loved ones have asthma or any health problem make sure you bring along your medication. It's easy to say "let's hope these forecasts" are "melodramatic" but I'd err on the side of caution, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. By the way... the worst will come AFTER Thanksgiving if the long term models are correct and they are currently in good agreement! And, what concerns me is how cold the ground gets, how much it warms up when the temperatures moderate before the next polar blast comes through. I'll deal with long term models tomorrow or Thursday. 



Sadly another thing I want to mention today is......... the smoke from the fires is caught up in the atmosphere and the horrible possibility of rain in California that would immediately create mudslides. I lived there ... they go hand in hand. First comes fire then comes rain and there is nothing to hold back the ground and it slides down the hill. There are many, many people missing and many more will be declared dead as the death toll rises daily. If you think hurricanes are bad... generally I'd take a hurricane any day than a hillside that goes up in flames and then what's left slides down to the valley below.  So perhaps while giving thanks for all you have this year... pray ... and give some charity. I know I am and many of my friends have been doing so. 

I'm not sure what I'm actually doing on Thanksgiving yet. The family isn't meeting anywhere, it's one of those years with three new babies the different couples are fending for themselves and my brother is doing something (not sure what) and my husband and I may go see my mother-in-law . . . up in Maryland in her Rest Home...or we may stay home and eat good food, watch football and buy presents for Chanukah which comes early this year the same way winter is coming early. Road trips are always good; maybe I'll take in a movie . . .

I may make Turkey Benedict for breakfast the way I did last year in Miami for the kids as we were going to Abeulita's house to be with my daughter-in-law's family. She had the baby, it's a girl named Lucy :) and I need to buy more clothes for Miss Lucy so that's my life. I may use fake hollandaise sauce or fake turkey... it came out really good last year. Or... we'll figure it out. North Carolina isn't going to be that cold, but it will be cold with a low somewhere around 25. Maybe I'll stay home by the Fake Fireplace and order presents online. Whatever you do ... do it with a smile, your favorite music and I hope your favorite team wins!


Maybe I'll make pumpkin flan...
..my husband's a Yankee. 
He likes apple pie and chocolate cream.
Where I come from that's kind of un American...
(teasing....)

And worst of all he prefers walnuts to pecans :(
I want pumpkin pie. 
Real pumpkin pie.

Recipe for the flan below.. 
No pumpkin seeds tho...
That's just so wrong.
Caramel or cinnamon always!


Pumpkin Rice Pudding?
Hmnnn


Maybe just have pizza and make Turkey Friday Night?
Time will tell....

Stay warm.
Dress accordingly.
And again... on Black Friday buy winter clothes.
Boots... overcoats and maybe a hat and gloves!



Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter

Ps... wondering if Menchies is open on Thanksgiving...











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