Hurricane Harbor: Tropics Quiet. Saharan Dust Plumes Hit the Road.... Soon It'll Be Hurricane Season. Do You Have a Plan? Don't Blink.........

Our area that was highlighted yesterday....

.... is no longer mentioned.

As you can see from the loop above....

...the flow is from West to East still.

Caribbean is still out of the SW to NE

Not ready for prime time yet.

But time to think on your priorities.

Planning ahead is my best advice.

A look at the 5 day shows the HIGH.

Double barreled high on some days.

That tends to dry out the atmopshere in the SE

Fronts try and move South and collapse.

This is the MDR

Main Development Region.

Red - Saharan Dust.

The deeper the red... the stronger the dust.

Moving West towards the Islands.

Some SAL getting through.

And, there are fires in South Florida.

It's Fire Season there in the Glades.

Everything has it's season in nature. Winter is behind us, Spring is in sway and launches us towards the eventual start of the May Monsoons in the Miami area and then the Hurricane Season. We have Spring Training, Baseball and Mango Season that coincides with most of the tourists here for cool weather and outdoor festivals have gone elsewhere as really living in South Florida once the afternoon Monsoons begin at 3 PM is not for the faint of heart.

In Raleigh my maple tree is deep, verdant green, covered with healthy new leaves illuminated by the afternoon sunshine. I can smell Summer as the flowers fade away and the Farmers's Market comes alive with local produce.

And people here and in Miami are both talking about the Hurricane Season and the forecasts that predict we will go deep into the alphabet if all the forecasts verify.

I want people to remember one thing. When we say "prepare for hurricane season" we don't mean figure out which room you are going to ride out a hurricane in; most people pick the bathroom unless it's wide open with lots of windows to look at nature while taking a bath in which case find an interior walk in closet or a long hallway far from the front door. Preparing for a hurricane is not about the hurricane but about the long aftermath when the power is out, when the water is not yet fit to drink and your neighbor's ficus tree is in your pool. The ficus tree may also have clipped most of the tiles off of your roof but hopefully your shutters held safe.

It takes a good few weeks to get power back after a minimal hurricane in the densely populated Miami area, and so what will you do during then when there isn't even electric to run a ceiling fan?

Backgammon?

Write a novel on a lined paper notebook?

I guess you'd be busy weeding the plants and taking huge limbs of fruit trees that snapped in the wind off what was your garden.

Ask a local, ask an old timer....

What to do after a hurricane.........

Join a caravan Northbound on I95 out of South Florida stuck in traffic for hours, days. Make sure you have cans of gas to take with you as gas stations may be closed, blown away and/or not in working order.

I'm being honest. Not trying to scare you, just trying to be honest.

It's not pretty. Those who are prepared and have a plan, a generator and what to run the generator on are ahead of the game.