Myrtle Beach ... A Needed Getaway... To a Place I Love.... Hurricane Florence Long Gone.... Sunrise Sunset. Green Flash & Green Book Wins

Warning I may ramble...

..intoxicated by the beach and the sound of the surf.

Did I mention Sunset and Sunrise?

Keep reading...

This is your generic advertisement brochure for any beach, but in this case it's Myrtle Beach and it really looks like this often if you are lucky and on this trip down to South Carolina I got lucky. Okay I may have prayed also and a lot of prayers seem to have gotten answered. It's my 10th Wedding Anniversary weekend and a celebration of people I love being happy and it's also my daughter's birthday but more on that later. 

Last night's sunset at Broadway on the Beach.

2 things I love.. Broadway and the Beach.

I also had a Margarita ;)

at a Key West Restaurant near the water..

..after wandering through Margaritaville!

I'm writing this blog this morning from the 10th floor...

..listening to the sound of the ocean and the waves below.

Yes... 10th floor. It's the details that matter.

I literally woke up to this view.

The view from my bed out the sliding glass door.

That's venus shining in the sky...

...over a colorful display of beauty.

I got dressed fast.

Thankfully I put on leggings and my sweater.

I forgot to check the temperature out there.

Good thing too or I may not have gone down there.

View from the balcony stunning but....

...sometimes you gotta get up close and personal.

It was 43 degrees and "feels like 36"

Seagulls and sandpipers ....

...catching the moment the sun breaks the horizon.

The waves, the wind and the seafoam.

I had a beautiful nice last night in so many ways. Walked around Margaritaville listening to Jimmy Buffett songs thinking it's not like being in Key West but it's a pretty place to be. Decided to go over to the Key West Grill on the lagoon and get a Margarita that way I could say I was in both Myrtle Beach and Key West at once! Good margarita and a nice view of the sun setting over the lagoon at Broadway on the Beach. If you come to Myrtle Beach it's a must see like the Ferris Wheel and the Gay Dolphin and the Hurricane Myrtle at Myrtle Beach Margaritaville. My husband is over at Chabad House a few blocks from the hotel doing his morning prayers while I do my morning blog. You seriously didn't think I was going to not include a Hurricane in my Anniversary plans did you?

As always looking for that elusive green flash at sunrise.

Or was it sunset?

Anyway....

I wanted to go away and party and I wanted to wander around the beach and other places round these parts I love and I wanted to get some kosher lamb at the Food Lion here (seriously high on my list) and wanted to watch the Oscars. I had a somewhat vested interest in the Oscars this year and if my wishes came true (and they did) then Green Book would win the Oscar and I'd smile a lot and Green Book won the Oscar as did people involved and I smiled so much. There are things I say and things I allude to and only the guilty party gets all the innuendo but I'm fricking over the moon happy for my crazy friend and that wishes come true.

Green Book is an incredible movie with some great cars :)

That's what "he" said...

And he's always right.

In truth Green Book is a story that should be told and it's good to learn about a time in history that was different from today when we are blessed to have so many freedoms and opportunity to do what we love. Once upon a time the original deeds to my parent's house in Miami Beach had the clause that the property could not be sold to Blacks, Jews or Dogs. Why a dog would want to buy a house I have no idea but apparently in case it was possible the early bigoted, prejudice builders of Mid Beach near Arthur Godfrey Road wanted to make sure that blacks, jews and dogs stayed far away from true white privilege; know that Arthur Godfrey Road is now the center of the Orthodox Jewish community filled with Kosher restaurants, blacks are allowed to live there and dogs can be seen walking with their owners on their way to the beach and the boardwalk. That's irony. That's karma. Once upon a time Sammy Davis Jr was allowed to perform at the Fountainblue with the rest of the Rat Pack but he was expected to sleep in Overtown across beautiful Biscayne Bay in a place that was in the Green Book; the guide to where people of color were welcome. If you read his biography "Yes, I can" you will read all about that incident and others and as Sammy used to like to remind people he was the most handicapped person around as he was a one eyed, Negro Jew... oh that man could sing and dance but he still had to stay at the "right" hotel not the one he was singing and dancing in...  

https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1990-sammy-davis-jr-dies-1.5242961

Miami Beach was beautiful always; early on the Jews were only allowed to stay south of 5th Street though that did change fast enough I will admit it's still a dark scar on Miami Jewish History that every Jewish Miami kid knows. My parent's lives on 37th and Sheridan in the 1970s so it seems Arthur Godfrey Jr did not get his wish. Sorry Charlie...    and have had some wonderful black neighbors over time so he must really be rolling in his grave. In fact there are Argentinians and Israelis and Canadians and Russians all mixed together into a beautiful Beach City that loves all creatures (even dogs) and it's a diverse, happy place. That's karma biting some people in the proverbial ass! It's also a great place to film a movie and it has so many picturesque film locations... 

So back to me and my crazy, sometimes upside down life. I loaded up my favorite makeup including my Kat Von D compact and my Huda Eyeshadow Palette and Stila stay on forever even after sipping a margarita lipstick and bought some Strawberry Creme cookies to nibble on while sipping some sort of alcoholic strawberry canned drink and watched the Oscars and wishes came true. And, I woke up in the morning, made a fast coffee in the room and went downstairs and collected shells and took pictures and videos and prayed to God thanking him for this beautiful day; okay my husband went to Chabad but to each his own. And to the person who wrote about me leaving Chabad in the Post.... that's rich irony as here I am still connected and still chasing sunrise and hurricanes and doing what I love.

What do you love? I love dancing and weather and music and make up and beaches and margaritas and best friends who have rocked my world.

My daughter gave us permission to get married on her birthday.

February 24th was always a good day for me.

It was also Rosh Chodesh Adar and Fat Tuesday.

Ps I had a Hurricane at Fat Tuesday last night ;)

Dina hoops.

She loves to hoop.

Apparently she has a mother who let her do what she loves.

That's my girl.

She's a character. Definitely my daughter.

https://www.instagram.com/dinadeehoops/

One of my daughters.

Some people love to watch satellite loops.

Yes I can almost feel the hurricane season in the wind.

Whispering... "don't forget me"

Dabuh loves beaches, surf and hurricanes.

He also loves hurricane people.

You don't get more hurricane people than PHIL.

Trust me I know.

Well maybe a few but.... he watches hurricanes.

And I mean all over from all over.

Phil could be in Switzerland and he'd be watching the Pacific.

Really...

I'm more an Atlantic girl ...

This girl Barbie lives in Key West.

Takes great pictures.

The beauty of the beach is it's always changing.

It's also always rearranging itself in odd ways.

Miami Beach is built on a Sandbar remember that!

Colors change, clouds come and go and then the sun comes out!

Enjoy those places you love.

Love the people you love.

Do what you love.

Do it with LOVE.

Indeed.... so true.

One thing I adore about Mike is...

...he does what he loves.

And we love him for it!

I'll be writing about the tropics more and more in the coming days.

Some hurricane history and hurricane tips.

Stay tuned...

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Instagram and Twitter

Ps... My son is a music producer. Ironic huh?

He does what he loves.

He produced this song and the CD.

Producers are awesome... 

..producing and oozing creativity :)

Updated! Tropical Disturbance Over South Florida Brings Tornado Warnings ... Cantore in South Florida. Hmnn. Down the Road a 2nd System May Form in the Caribbean and Aim At South Florida from the South and Be Way Stronger Than Today's Disturbance.

It's now officially "Disturbance 1"

Ok....

I called it a tropical disturbance earlier this morning and that is what it is and currently nothing more. However, if you watch it on the radar and satellite imagery you will see it is beginning to get a more "tropical" presentation rather than just a blob. This could get a name even as a Subtropical Storm but it could just as easily become tropical very close in to landfall. Til then it is slowly cruising up the West coast of Florida dumping rain across the state.

Keep reading.

Keep watching.

No Invest yet but that may come.

Cantore is in place.

How long will it take...

...for the NHC to get it's act together?

Welcome to the 2018 Hurricane Season.

 And TWC is in South Florida.

Of course....

Reality bites a bit early this year.

WPB had what seems to have been a tornado and while they are debating based on the damage if it was or wasn't but this tropical disturbance has already brought flooding rains and tornado warnings. And, it's just getting started. Meanwhile I'm in Myrtle Beach watching from a beautiful hotel room taking turns looking out at the ocean and watching TWC. We got weather now...

Yes it's a beach sunrise.

But it's framed pretty here by sea oats.

I woke up this morning in Myrtle Beach and looked out the big wide open window at the sun beginning to rise over the ocean. Sweet. Just sat outside on the balcony and watched the sunrise slowly unfold before me. Okay, eventually I went downstairs with a cup of coffee and got my toes in the water and my feet in the sand or however that song goes and I smiled and thought "wow, life is good" and the beach will do that to me always. Not a hot blazing sun but a warm sun and a balmy breeze on the edge of cool as it's really May even though it feels more like late June in the Carolinas. What I love about a Carolina beach is it's different in it's own unique way as every beach is .... but watching a sunrise come up through the sea oats and watching them bend to the wind and the endless waves moving steadily onshore..... well it's different in Miami. But, you're not here to hear me rant on the sunrise....

And, what starts down in Florida may move up towards the Carolinas later in the week as the deep tropical moisture that brought tornadoes to WPB will be moving north sliding it's way over the length of Florida, into Georgia while grazing the Mobile Alabama area and then head up into the Appalachians with that moisture moving up towards the Carolinas. That's the pattern and for now it's pretty set in the sand ;)

For those looking for a fear factor or hurricane forecasting Fantasy Football style you can watch the "scary" long range run of the GFS. Let's see how well it does with the area that probably should be an Invest but is not yet an Invest as I type this morning's blog... before worrying on a Hurricane in a week or so coming up out of the Caribbean aiming at most of Florida. This Hurricane Season seems like a variation sequel to last year's hurricane season yet the aim at Florida may come from a different direction.

Ouch...

www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/?model=gfs&region=atl&pkg=mslpaNorm

I show this long range model that will change many times between here and there to mitigate it by reminding you of the reality that it will change much between now and there. There is some scary click bait going around social media on this possible named storm. What needs to be understood by these scary tropical scenarios that Floridians do not want to hear about..... you need to look at the High in the model link above. It's what I said the other day and it stays this way for while . . . for a long while. Anything that gets underneath it will follow the edge of the high and where anything makes landfall depends on the high on any given day.  Again look at this picture below but not at Jim Cantore in South Florida but the satellite image on the right. Note the curve of the clouds.... that's where this system is going to go in the short term. And, when I say "this system" I mean the one on the stage currently not the one waiting in the wings hiding in stealth mode down in the Caribbean

Up into Georgia and the Carolinas....

Moisture to end the drought.

Please read the previous blog post as it explains this two part scenario well.

There are 2 issues here:

1 is the disturbance near Florida and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico we are currently watching that brought Jim down to South Florida.

2 is the area down in the Caribbean that is forecast by the various models to come together, shoot the Yucatan Channel and move up into the very warm waters of the Florida Straits and the SE Gulf of Mexico and form into some sort of named storm and move up over Florida. The current track takes it through the Keys and up over Florida as if it's a weaker Irma from a different direction. Tomorrow the models may take it straight up into the Panhandle and spare Miami and WPB. Who knows really? It's just a model and the one thing I can promise you about this hurricane season is the models will be wrong often.

Stay tuned.

It could be worse, you could be living in paradise with lava fissures opening up under your back patio and having it eat your mustang convertible along with the house and the neighbor's house spewing toxic gas. Life is better in Florida even if you have to wait and see which way the dice are going to roll out and if you do or don't get a tropical storm you can prepare for ...

Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter... follow me there for faster updates than here.

Ps.. I'll update this blog later today news permitting and depending on when I am or I am not in the water with or walking along the beach with my toes in the sand.

Severe Weather, Tropical Moisture in Caribbean. Life Threatening Flooding, Mudslides and Twisters. It's May... Anniversary Mt. St. Helens. BOOM!

Lead Weather Story Today

Warnings up for tornado weather.

Today into tomorrow big threat.

Tonight, night wrapped tornadoes.

Severe Weather for sure...

Sneaky, missiles of death and destruction?

Excellent article below on Elk City Tornado.

http://kfor.com/2017/05/17/held-on-as-tight-as-he-could-oklahoma-family-recalls-moment-elk-city-tornado-hit-their-home/

Fronts.

Trofs.

Frontal Boundaries.

So many words, names we use to describe the same basic weather feature. It's in this year to say DRY LINE (those who watch the movie Twister weekly know what that is) as we used Fire Hose a few years back incessantly. Much like the blast of water in the form of heavy rain that came with that set up the word was tossed about like some family's trailer in the wind on the plains. Nice places to live in unless a Finger of God Twister comes down and picks yours up and tosses it somewhere else. 

Yeah, that happened 37 years ago today.

Life is like that whether you live on the plains or at the beach. Today is the anniversary of Mt. St. Helens that rearranged the landscape and the air people breathed in a place that was usually filled with pristine air and panoramic views of a natural paradise. Mind you paradise for you and paradise for me may be two different things. I like the ocean, the moving water, the wind and rivers that end at the ocean. Some people love the view from the mountains, the air, the panorama ...the feeling of standing on top of the world closer to God. Yet I find God at a sunrise at the beach. Then there are places that have both such as Santa Barbara or La Jolla in California. 

A picture I took Monday Morning.

Waiting for that moment when the sun crosses the horizon.

Mother Nature finds you where ever you are... one way or the other. She's kind of like a Blondie, out there somewhere waiting to come and rearrange your world. And, then... life goes on. That's the reality of life. The coast of Carolina dealt with flooding rains and storm surge from Hurricane Matthew last year and except for a few signs not repaired it's beautiful there. Inland flooding creates a longer drama that is harder to recover from ironically though we think of landfall as being the worst a hurricane can do to us... Not true. Most of the people who died from Hurricane Mitch died from mudslides after it was downgraded to a Tropical Storm far inland, not at landfall.

I really didn't mean this to be so dower but the forecasts for today's tornado out break have been pretty dower and depressing. Again it's a matter of perspective as for young chasers and meteorology students who long to see their first tornado ...they may get lucky today.

That same system dumped snow out west late in May or I guess this is still the middle of May. Moving East, dipping down as warm tropical moisture from the GOM sucks up into the system, the clash of different air. You know it's sort of like sexual energy. Going to try not to wander too far from the topic this morning but they do say opposites attract. Sometimes someone you have much in common with and like and is a nice sort of guy or gal gets away from you and you wish them well and hope they find the right person. I've had some boyfriends like that over time, good guys .. good men... nice, it didn't work out. And then there's one that gets under your skin as you have so much in common and so much you don't and there is this yin yang, push me pull me energy that makes it hard for you to forget them. 

Love/Hate relationships are like that and yet usually the love outweighs the "oh my God he makes me so crazy" or maybe some people like being crazy? Weather people are like that. We love weather and we love wild weather and yet we hate the pain they bring, the drama they dump down onto good people in their path. And, yet "oh my God look at that sky" as line of storms is moving fast at you with the air beginning to change, the wind blow and you try to go with the flow and watch it evolve while trying to think as a scientist. Right brain, left brain all clashing about inside you at that wild moment. And whether you are out on the plains or out in Florida Bay in the Everglades it looks the same, feels the same.

Pick your poison or your pleasure.

And down in the tropics being ignored...

Our Caribbean Blob of Convection.

Note the energy oozing about.

Not organized.

Life threatening flooding still.

NHC kind of blinked in that they spoke on it today.

Well in their way. 

Water Vapor Loop

The irony is that though this will most likely fade away.

Models play with another system down the tropical road.

Models are like girls looking for fun.

They like to play.

They tease. It's true.

They are not always consistent in the long term.

My father always said..

"easier to bet on horses than Jai Alai players"

But he so loved watching Jai Alai.

So stay tuned.

If you live in the path of severe weather.

Over the next two days.

http://www.weather.gov/

Check your weather often.

Whether a tornado forms today or not.

A hurricane will form later this year.

Be prepared.

#hurricanestrong Google that Hashtag.

Nuff Said.

Have a good day... 

Smile...

It's 2017 "it's all good!!

Besos BobbiStorm

Follow on me at @bobbistorm on Twitter

Ps... It's not the 80s in LA where I was losing my mind ;)
No tropical meteorology only geology... 

And Dr George...

...and Boy George!