Wanda. Yellow Circle Seeds an EPAC Storm. Kind of the Story of the Year in the SW Caribbean

 

The hard to see red symbol is Wanda, mixed into that whole cloud mess on the other side of the ocean. It's also kind of hard to notice the yellow on the edge of a beach abiout to jump into the Eastern Pacific that is at 0% chances in the Atlantic.

But if you move on over to the Eastern Pacific part of the NHC Main Pages you will see our little X is healthier and is being given 30% chances of development in there. Actually another yellow circle pops up there on the 5 day as seen below.

This has really been the story of the year on many levels and will be researched by many to see why the East Pacific received so many of the low, westbound waves that normally potentially dangerous SW Caribbean  storms that gave them a longer season than normal. And, when I say that I mean normally as the Atlantic goes into high gear the East Pac slows down, there's a normal ebb and flow of energy and yet this year the seedlings for the dangerous SW Caribbean Storms all slid across the isthmus into the Pacific. 

In general the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season was either STORMY WILD or soooo slow. It had a sputtering sort of nature where everything formed in groups and you can see that by the graphic above. June and early July were busy, whereas later in July and August it was not. Late August and September were busy, though many were "shorties" that barely lasted yet did pump up the number of actual storms we had even if most of you cannot remember their name. Since the beginning of August it's been quiet.  Note if you take away all the blue dots and only look at the orange dashes you'll see we really didn't have such a busy season. It's really a matter of prespective. Quality over quantity and in this case we lucked out as Larry and his friend Sam both stayed out in the Atlantic putting on a colorful show on the satelitte imagery but not thrashing our beaches or drowning out cities so for that we are grateful.  It reminds me a lot of how morse code works, dot, dot, dot, dash, dot, dot ...well you get that if you ever learned Morse Code which I did but I do not really remember; a cute neighbor boy was involved who wanted to ran cables from our houses to each other so we could "talk" when we were young. (He was probably a boy scout now that I think about it)

I digress... because there really isn't much to talk about. If I go to Windy.com I'm prone to watch the images for cold weather and who is going to get some snow.

Why does the blue (really cold air)

stop at the Mason Dixie?

Kentucky gets it but not Tennessee?

Just odd things always amaze me on graphics like this.

But winter is coming.

Tropical storms are not.

So have a great day.

Malls have Christmas decorations up...

.... no real crowds where I live.

But the msuic is nice.

TJ Maxx is a winter wonderful.

Pink Flamingoes are in storage.

It's the sign of the times!!

Not proofing........

....I have a headache.

Wish I was in Key West this morning!

Sweet Tropical Dreams,

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter and Instagram

Ps... Where are you spending the holidays? 

Thanksgiving blends into Chanukah (early) this year.

Christmas... flows into New Years Eve.

I know... we haven't even eaten turkey yet for Thanksgiving.

2021 has been on Zoom Zoom time.......so do you have a clue?

Christmas Island - Jimmy Buffett.wmv By the way the locals used to call the small island to the West of Key West, but they developed it and renamed it Sunset Island. But it's really a place...........there's also another one, we have lots of names locals use for things down on the rock. 

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?

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..

www.spaghettimodels.com

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.

http://hp2.wright-weather.com/icons/us_chill.gif

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!

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-flan-with-spiced-pumpkin-seeds-233017

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...

Thankful the Hurricane Season Is Seemingly Over... tho time will tell ... Thanksgiving Miami 2017

The cold weather has receded somewhat.

We had heavy rain today in South Florida.

I'm just not ready to say it's for sure over...

Fronts dip down. 

Trofs show up.

Time will tell.

Officially nothing going on.

Nada...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=5

You can click the link if you don't believe me...

As for me.... I'm going to sleep or I'm going to try to go to sleep. I'm so exhausted. The weather part of this blog is over so I'm going to just explain a bit about where I've been.

I woke up late but ended up putting together a Thanksgiving Brunch for me and some of my younger kids. What is a Thanksgiving brunch you ask? 

Eggs Benedict over Turkey and Stuffing with home fried potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Donuts of all kind were for dessert from Creme Brulee to Pumpkin with cheesecake frosting to Chocolate Turkey ones with candy corn for decoration. While I usually do Paleo I did as close as I could and we start over tomorrow. Note you can adapt that with Vegan turkey or sauce made any way you want and you can if you want add cranberry over the stuffing before the egg but I chose to leave it on the side. Adaption is the joy of life... I added Fig Jam into the stuffing and it was oh my gosh so good! 

Then we hung out.... the house smelled from fresh made stuffing. We talked, we joked and the kids played some virtual bowling game while the rest of us cuddled on the sofa under covers because when you live in Miami you keep the AC really cold. Sometimes Jack Frost visits our windows on the inside...  It's always 70 degrees in this house so after dinner tonight I bought an Ugly Chanukah Sweater to wear while lying in bed enjoying the feel of winter in Miami ;)  When the heater goes on it never goes above 70 degrees. It's a Miami thing. 80 degrees is for walking on the beach....

Then we got dressed and went to my son's Mother-in-Law's sister's house where our combined families and pets hung out, ate, talked, enjoyed being together and ate the most incredible meal I did not have to cook. What do people in Miami eat? Jews... Cubans...Southern Floridians?

Incredible appetizers ...bourekas with turkey and mushroom and chicken and olive ... home made. I'm full, tired and not using grammar tonight. We drank wine... really good wine. They took 2 huge turkey breasts and marinated them over night in real hard cider and then stuffed them with incredible stuffing with dried fruit and some sort of bourbon or apple liquor and it was one of the best Turkey's I've had and I don't generally like white meat but it melted in your mouth. 

Turkey and gravy.

Stuffing.

Fingerling Roasted Potatoes.

Sweet Potato Mash..

Corn Souffle (incredible)

Cranberry Sauce home made with berries, ginger, lime, brown sugar and guava jam. Oh my gosh..

Various vegetables.

Roasted egglplant slices.

Roasted peppers.

Salad

Deli Roll

Pasta with chicken for anyone who didn't like turkey.

Things I can't remember.... 

More wine. 

Then we had coffee and dessert.

Pumpkin Pie

Flan (best I have had in ages)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie.

More wine was on the table.

What we had besides "oh my gosh to die for flan..." was friendship, family and sharing happy moments. My daughter-in-law's grandparents left Cuba shortly after the revolution. They have been married 55 years and I think she has more energy than me! She's so cute... she can sing in Spanish and Yiddish and languages go in and out and flow from one to another the way a Bougenvilla branch winds it's way up into a Poinciana tree. South Florida is a colorful blend of flavor and languages pero everyone understands each other or gets the general gist of the conversation. People watch football, listen to music, dance in the kitchen and try to debate when someone in the family is going to give birth (hopefully soon) and there are a few girls pregnant so the conversation on that was constant. Kids hung out... dogs barked and jumped and then came back to lean against our legs while begging to be petted.

We all want to be petted in a way. Sometimes we want conversation and other times we want love and other times we like to debate and argue or talk and share and sometimes we just want to lie down on the sofa with our daughter in law and whisper and giggle and just share the love.

I've been traveling for the last week so I have barely been able to go online let alone blog. Living on the cellphone that seems to act more and more like my link to the world. Flew into Miami last Thursday, then drove up to St. George Island where my T-Mobile didn't work at all... watched my son get married on the beach at sunset. Spent quality time with my grandson who has a new stepmom and met her parents. Hung out with part of the family and the "gang" meaning the "boyz" who have been tight since their mid teens. Drove back finally and proceeded to get ready for Thanksgiving. Didn't go back to Raleigh as my daughter is due soon and there's a baby shower for another daughter-in-law and Thanksgiving with the kids. My old Chromebook I travel with tried to run away and fell off the bed onto the floor that kills all known appliances (Cuban Tile) and barely works. So tonight I got a new one... at Target on sale. Time will tell ... it's not what I really wanted but it's filling a need so I can go back online and write, blog and be normal again. 

So I sincerely hope that you had someone to share the love with today. And, if you are a loner who doesn't like large family occasions I hope you found some time to enjoy the holiday that celebrates being thankful. It's just that plain and simple. It's not the most commercialized holiday (well except for Macys and the balloons and all) and it's a space between the Fall Holidays and the Winter Holidays. A time of memories of our childhood, memories we made over the years and memories made today. 

Something about November as it seems I'm always traveling. Then I go back to Raleigh in Winter and the leaves have fallen off the trees and litter the pavement in colorful confetti patterns. The trees show their beautiful structure and people put on coats and jackets and it's officially winter. I told you ... November is that in between time. I'm going to try to make the most of it. 

So.... thankful for the love and support of my friends both online and off and for the people who read my blog and regularly talk with me on Twitter and other places. I wish you all happiness and many things to be thankful for... and if you are wondering. Stuffing is made with bread so you stuff the turkey with it and it's "stuffing" but if you use cornbread...then it's Cornbread Dressing. Now you know.

Besos BobbiStorm

Ps ... We have a word in Yiddish for the "in laws" and it's basically "Machatunim" and when it works out well between families it means your joy expands and now includes another family that you share life with and they add richness and color to your world and vice versa. So today I spent Thankgiving with the Machatunim! What's nice is I've watched Karen's daughter Rachel grow up from a teenager to my son's wife and we are waiting for them to become parents and continue the traditions with love, laughter and Thankfullness!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/12/09/machatunim_co_in_laws_english_needs_a_word_for_the_relationship_between.html

What do Fire Ants and Tropical Storm Rina Have in Common with Marshmallows? Tropics Throw Back Thursday

Off to see the Queen.

The track keeps bending to the right.

Maybe Rina is learning how to curtsy

Post Tropical as of 11 AM.

I've never understood the whole to do about the Queen.

Historically I get the importance but...

Well.. my mother was into watching the Royals.

Her mother's family lived in England.

They adopted many English customs.

She didn't curtsy for anyone...

Maybe it's a Girl Crush thing?

I've never wanted to be a Queen.

Maybe my  mother did ;)

The anniversary of my mother's death is coming up; in the Jewish world we call it a Yarzeit and that's a time to remember her. Hard to forget your mother really... though some do. This year the  memory of her passing is mixing it up with various life events. A child is getting married, another child is due to have a baby and a bunch of Scorpio grandchildren are having birthdays. It's November and every day edges closer to Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving, but its always been a mixed bag of love/hate feelings growing up. I wanted a big huge Thanksgiving meal like you see in movies. Does it look like that woman up there in the pale blue with the little hat and brooch at her neck liked to make a "big ugly turkey?" No.... she didn't though she often relented at the last minute and put up a small turkey breast (white meat of course) and mashed potatoes. She oddly loved to whip sweet potatoes up and put them back into an orange she emptied out with a little maraschino cherry. She was very into decorating, yet never seemed to get the hang of decorating a roasted turkey. She weighed about 98 pounds; perhaps she couldn't lift it?

It's a thing in Florida where the early natives learned to use oranges in everything from BBQ sauce to whipped sweet potatoes.  She liked cherries and back in the day before health food and Whole Foods catering to Vegans it was really hard to find small kosher marshmallows so now you know the rest of the story! My aunt made the best BBQ sauce with orange juice. I digress but it's that time of year. Mixing some thoughts and memories with discussion on the tropics. I bought a used cookbook from a synagogue in Tampa my family helped while doing some family genealogy research and yes the recipe for the orange cups with whipped sweet potatoes was in the cookbook, yet it wasn't easy to bring up on Google. Go figure. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mimis-sweet-potatoes-in-orange-cups-recipe-1941774

As for the tropics.

We are waving goodbye to Rina.

We are watching the cold fronts that will die out.

Convection in the Caribbean is there.

But the convection is being sheared.

An Upper Level Low is doing it's thing.

Instigating convection yet shearing it at the same time.

ULLs are able to multitask...

The flow is going both ways.

Lower level one way.

Upper level another way.

That time of year.

It's worth noting that without a name.

Tropical weather can bring misery still the same.

The convection in the Caribbean is a case in point.

Rob makes this point on Crown Weather.

crownweather.com

Not getting a name.

But PR is getting much rain.

That causes flooding.

Misery upon misery while they try and clean up.

Being in NC today I'm watching winter descending.

Like Zeus descending onto the stage.

Deus Ex Machina.

Things things you learn studying drama.

Definition of deus ex machina. 1 :a god introduced by means of a crane (see ¹crane 3a) in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome. 2 :a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble ...

Winter weather sites are now up on Spaghetti Models.

http://spaghettimodels.com

The snow line is moving down.

Still "up north" but moving down.

So is the frost and freeze line.

I really need to find my boots.

For warmth not fashion!

Perhaps you can blame this rambling post on the fumes from the heater we finally turned on more to test it out than because I couldn't bundle up. It's going to be in the upper 20s later this week so I figured we better turn on the heater and get that "smell" out while we can still open the windows. Growing up in Miami we used the "heater" a few days a year and that was because my mother had a deadly fear of the big oil heater in our house that had jalousie windows. The cold air leaked in.... yet she preferred her heated blanket or a floor heater to turning on that "big old ugly thing" which means the oil heater was up there on her list next to the Thanksgiving Turkey. And, it was around Thanksgiving that people in Miami would relent and turn on their heaters as cold fronts finally made it all the way down to South Florida. And after Thanksgiving came the end of the Hurricane Season. You thought this rant on childhood memories had no real purpose here didn't you? If that's the case you must not be a Southerner who would know it's worth hanging on to a long rant to hear the whole story.  Blame it on the heater that is thankfully taking off the damp cold chill nicely and doesn't smell that terrible. It actually smells like winter is almost here. When I get back from Florida the leaves will have fallen off the red maple tree behind the house and the heater will be on more than the Air Conditioner. Miami people like to keep our air at around 72 degrees inside at all times!

Watching the Caribbean ....

...not holding my breath.

But watching it.

Rina is traveling a road often traveled by Tropical Storms that get ignored. Quietly, out there moving through the Atlantic taking the road everyone wishes Maria had taken and yet is Rina really a fish storm? The answer is both yes and no. Officially the NHC will pull the plug before she arrives in the British Isles in a few days.  She's not getting the glory, but she's still there all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xful05YmW9U She's not the hero, she's not getting the glory. Why? Because many of you are looking for snow... and winter weather. Well, if you live in the Northern part of Hurricane Country where you get both hurricane threats and snow fall. Down in Florida people just pretend it's cold enough to wear boots with short skirts that somehow make the skirts even look shorter. There's a reason girls wear boots in Florida and it's not to stay warm! Today if I put on boots it will be because I'm freezing and it feels more like winter than fall, yet we have a month to go before winter really arrives.

Stay tuned,

Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter

Otto Makes Landfall. Sat Images of Smoke From Fires in Israel. 7.0 Earthquake in Central America!

When it rains it pours. Otto has made landfall near the town of San Juan in Nicaragua according to the NHC with 100 MPH winds. That's a first for that region officially and at the same time a strong earthquake registered nearby. Crazy but true.

7.0 Earthquake off West Coast of Central America.

There have been similar cases. They are rare.

Happens. Officially no correlation.

Jamaica 

 http://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/featured/day-history-1780-hurricane-hits-jamaica/

Charleston 1886

http://library.sc.edu/blogs/academy/files/2011/08/After-the-Storm-8-5.5.pdf

Says it all....

Nice to see Drudge is back to weather and earthquakes..

Sadly there are fires in Israel burning.

Some are forest fires but others started in cities.

Arson has been seen as a new form of terrorism.

Some may be forest fires. Time will tell.

Nice to see people coming together to help others.

Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Russia and a few other countries..

..sent planes in to fight the fires.

I have friends living in the affected areas.

I wasn't aware as there is little on TV or regular news.

Friends were passing information on Facebook.

Pictures on Twitter.

Good to see international cooperation.

In other news it's snowing in parts of the USA.

Not a lot of parts and its 72 degrees in Raleigh.

Windows open, house smells incredible.

Otto broke records with this landfall.

And lastly there may be a fly in the ointment with Otto.

Hmmmn.

Please read my previous blog if you have not done so today.

Some good thoughts to ponder on regarding Thanksgiving.

http://hurricaneharbor.blogspot.com/2016/11/cat-2-hurricane-otto-making.html

Time to make a salad and start eating..

Stay tuned.

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter

Ps... Seems to fit the stories of the day.

Add ... I feel the earth move.......