What a Difference a Day Makes... Cold Front Races Thru Temperature Drops 40 Degrees ..... NHC Debuts the Gray X for the 2026 Hurricane Season!

 

Snow to our North.

Actually snowed in Roxboro NC today.

Temperature dropped like a cold stone....

Yesterday it was hovering near the 90 degree mark! When the front whooshed through this morning it felt like I was in Miami when a cold front races through. One minute it was hot, balmy and yucky the next minute the winds picked up and suddenly things rained down onto the roof. By the time got outside the air was beautifully fresh and cold. There are a lot of small dead branches and pine cones that begin hitting the roof when a gust front sweeps through fast in Raleigh.  We had some rain though nothing wild by Miami standards but a good fast moving rain in Raleigh. Hopefully that will keep the pollen count down for a day or so. We are just beginning our Pollen Season featuring mustard yellow pollen showing up on everything!

But let's talk Hurricane Season. El Nino is on the way and I'd say the big question remains how fast El Nino shows up in force. That will tell the story more than just screaming "El Nino! El Nino Coming!" It's all in the timing.

Second of all the NHC has released some new information regarding graphical changes to the Hurricane Maps. I think it's a fairly good idea. People often get upset or confused when they the old yellow X is put up with a 0% chance of forming. So the NHC will be putting up an gray X to mark those areas that they notice, they see but do not expect any formation. Yellow will stand for more expectations of development. Of course I imagine if things change a gray X could go yellow but let's watch and see how it plays out in real time.

Close up view below

It's 81 Days til June 1st

Getting closer every day.

Will talk on more changes tomorrow from NHC.

This one is easier to explain.

The other is a more technical change.

As for the NC weather today....

...got almost every color on the map.

Yes indeed! 

NC having a day.

I'm having a day...

..I love the cooler weather!

I'm having salad and pizza or dinner.

Husband making the pizza...

...I'm making the salad!

Crazy day.

Lots of news.

And God bless it's cool again for a bit here.

Hold onto those tropical dreams....

BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on X

Part of me misses Key West.

Kind of an ancestral home.

Love Miami... 

But Carolinas are awesome fine too...

I had a best friend who passed away...

..she loved James Taylor.

She insisted he was from NE

NOT North Carolina lol.

Yes he was born in Boston.

But he spent time in NC

I love Seattle and not born there ;)

Heat Records Broken From 1925 in NC for High Heat. 1925 the Year of the TriState Tornado One of the Worst. 1925 & 2026 Similarities!

 

The track of the tornado that recently raged.

The track and time of year bugged me.

Trying to fall asleep last night .....

...it hit me I was thinking on the Tri State Tornado.

1925 

The track below...

The disaster this week made me think on the 1925 TriState Tornado. Why? I know it was a year with some extremes and weather oddities including one of the worst tornado tragedies in American History and I'd add the world. I knew it was in March and I knew it impacted parts of Indiana. I wondered what sort of weather that year would create such a disastrous set up and obviously there was high heat meeting up with cold diving air. Very classic set up and yet the size and scope of it was off the charts. We are having very high heat this week, before a cool front breezes through Thursday evening.

Google AI

(not always perfect but it's well done)

A look at the actual weather maps.

I've wondered how similar the weather was in 1925 to what we have been experiencing this week. I put it on my to do list to check into today. But time moves fast in 2026 and it gets away from us fast and before I could research it the news came in just now that the high temperature in Raleigh today beat the all time record high for March 11th and the year that held that record was indeed 1925. It didn't surprise me. It's called the Tri State Tornado as it was a long track and covered a three states as you can see above moving from Missouri through Illinois into Indiana. Today people chase tornadoes, people watch chasers chase on YouTube and run in real time to seek shelter while watching the tornado on satellite imagery in real time as it approaches their town.

The biggest difference between the year 1925 and 2026 is that today we have a heads up, we have warnings, we have live real time evaluation of a developing system and we can do our best to warn people. We have alarms on our phones that are loud and wake us in the dead of night. In 1925 the ability to forecast weather was as good as it could be and many were taken by surprise. I've read family stories and discussion on the Tri State Tornado and I know how surprised many were and the size and scope of the tragedy from a geographic perspective so this happened across a wide area. 

Oddly or not so oddly the 1925 Hurricane Season was a quiet one. A very quiet one. While the Roaring 20s roared on celebrating the boom and prosperity, it took a long time to clean up from the tornado from hell. It left such a scary in our national history that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a short story about the tornado. Note the very slow season began rather late and ended on December 1st, 1925.

I couldn't sleep thinking on this.......

....knowing it's supposed to be hot today.

Very hot as in high 80s in NC.

How similar were the two years?

The TV happened to be on in the background.

I muted it, kind of like a screensaver...

I watch General Hostpital ...don't judge me.

I looked up and froze the screen to get a pic.

Whoah. 

We broke the record from 1925.

Seems my thoughts were on point.

I still want to do some research.

No end to videos on YouTube

Ironically the children that heard about the Tri State Tornadoes on the radio and read news articles grew up fearing tornadoes in a new way. Later as teens and young adults they went to the movies and watched The Wizard of Oz ...the epic movie from a time when kids had nightmares about a tornado like the one that made a bee line for Dorothy's home and scooped her up to a far away land called Oz. 

I know it's funny looking at it now....

...but at the time it was scary.

When I was a little girl they'd put the Wizard of Oz on every year. I had this friend named Joey, a little boy who loved dinosaurs. He probably grew up to love weather and geology. Our mothers were friends. They talked while we watched in his bedroom. I used to stare at his room while watching  as it had a lot of little model dinosaurs. I think I heard years later he taught science or history. Joey is not so important, but he was an important part of the story as it was the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz as we sat there being afraid of the mean scenes and listening to the awesome music scenes. I studied dance since I was 7 years old, do not judge me!

You have to think on how the generation that was little when the Tri State Tornadoe happened... the age of Dorothy went on to the theater and make The Wizard of Oz one of the all time biggest movie hits of all time. 

What is in a collective history indeed?? Are people more afraid of Hurricanes or Tornadoes? How much do movies like Twister make a collective difference in our lives?

So gotta go make dinner. Chicken and Yellow Rice, because you know it's a go to meal round here.

Will the 2026 Hurricane Season be quiet or will it be wild like 1926. Ironically the year after a very quiet hurricane season was filled with numerous historic hurricanes including the one that dealt a heavy blow to the boom of the Roaring 20s when the Great Miami Hurricane made landfall in South Florida as a direct hit by a strong Category 4 Hurricane!

Something to think on...

Sweet Tropical Dreams,

BobbiStorm

5 Days into Meteorological Spring! Flowers Blooming. Temperatures Soaring. Tornado & Severe Weather Season Closer.... Stay Aware - What Season Are We In Today??

 

Soon that patch of blue will be gone.

The red buds turn to green leaves.

Spring is putting on a display today!

Won't lie, it's pretty.

Inspiring.

Sunlight on the leaves ...

...looks like flowers.

Geraniums maybe.

Without that smell...

But it also brings pollen.

Leading us to our next season.

Pollen Season.

Pic from Mike below.

@tropicalupdate on X

aka Mike's Weather Page 

Spring brings Severe Weather Season.

Already there's concern on Twisters soon.

I know I have been missing in action because it's not hurricane season and it's that season when NFL football is over and it's not hurricane season and I try hard to stay busy. Currently there's been a lot to pay attention to..

But I am back with a reminder that March isn't just about March Madness but...

Spring Allergy Pollen Season

Tornado Season

Severe Weather Season

And, winter is not totally over officially until the Spring Solstice on March 20th even though we do pay attention to Meteorological March. Why? Well here's a forecast for my upcoming week in Raleigh.

IF long term models are correct....

a week from now it'll be in 30s at night again.

I'll believe that when I see it.

I do love cooler air.

I do love seeing the sky & clouds in Raleigh...

I like bare branches with the sky peeking thru.

I find them artistically beautiful.

But the sky will be hidden again soon.

But the Spring flowers are so beautiful.

So so beautiful!!

So so beautiful!

I'm sorry I really can't repost a gazillion images of Melissa in every possible filter reminding everyone the NHC retired the name as that is not exactly news. And everyone is talking on it and I find it hard to believe a hermit living on a small island in the Pacific somewhere has not seen or heard about Melissa being upgraded with stronger official winds and the name being retired. 

Note the M name has been retired often of late.

Michael, Maria, Melissa to name a few. 

Curious on what M name they will replace it with.........

Have a wonderful day. Stay safe, Stay happy and I will try to post more as real weather stories exist in what I call Hurricane Country. Everywhere there's something. Out West there's Fire Danger Weather.  And in South Florida there will be rain today. My daughter who loves to sit in the sun, walk in the sun, feel the sun on her body is going to send me images with angry emojis that the sky is dark and it's going to rain!

That's life in South Florida even in February the height of the dry season and a Festival every weekend... it could maybe rain.

I think everyone will survive....

...even the tourists!

Sweet Tropical Dreams,

BobbiStorm

Ps yes I know the font changed.

I actually like it better.

Not Hurricane Season so I don't care..

3 Days Til Spring. Rain Returns to the Carolinas. See Saw Weather. But Spring Will Be Here Soon... No Illusions on That. Melissa Upgraded........

 

There are red little buds on the tree.

It's a maple tree.

First sign of Spring here..

The trees begin to bud.

There's a moment of excitement.

Then reality sets in....

I'm not ready to end Winter.

I like Winter.

I like seeing the sky.... 

through the branches of the tree.

But it's happening.... 

...so marking this passage of time.

Like it or not...

..and many praying for it.

Not ready yet...

..yet it's beginning.

Spring is in 3 days.

Meteorological Spring.

Been a rainy, gray day.

More like silver rain... 

..falling not so silently.

As Ben Noll said today..

"one day soon you'll wake up...

...and it will suddenly like Spring.

Yeah....definitely!

I'm okay with it....

I kind of go with the flow....

..and I know

It's on it's way.

Few more COLD fronts.

Few more HOT days.

Flip flop weather.

I don't mean shoes.

See Saw...

UP and down and UP again.

I made Spaghetti for dinner.

Spaghetti and meat sauce.

Salad.

Kind of a chilling, nice....

...cold gray day for me.

Breathe and Smile.

Enjoy the day....

More tomorrow on Melissa

Everyone is talking on it.

I don't like to be everyone... 

My blog.

My day.

On my own time.

Melissa landfall 190 MPH!

We will see what 2026 has in store

Sweet Tropical Dreams,

BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on X

X mostly weather ;)

Next week will be 75...

..for a day but still...

Snow Totals to 3 FT in RI. Hurricane Like Blizzard! Fires in the Everglades Today... Mother Nature Way Too Busy This Week! El Nino In the Wings...

 

The Blizzard that looked like a Hurricane.

But definitely a blizzard as you can see below!

With so many beautiful AI photos online it's hard to be sure what's real, what's true before sharing. When it comes to images from @ContentWxGuy on X I never have to worry it's AI or just fake, but beautiful pics. What a set of pics. I have heard that because it was a blizzard the part of the building or tree facing the winds that make it a blizzard vs "snow storm" plastered the side facing the wind with snow and ice. I think this larger picture really shows it off perfectly.  Emergency workers and Hatzalah a medical group on the scene took the child to the hospital now listed in stable condition. As a Miami girl I can't imagine growing up with that sort of snow and the kids who never listened. I mean in a Hurricane they were hunkered down, locked in and after they were not allowed out of the house or far into the yard as debris was everywhere. 

Rhode Island won the Snow Total Lottery. 3 Feet or more in places, snow drifts as high a tall guy lost in the snow. The models verified! Parts of NY, Long Island especially, New England are all cloaked in layers of white snow. Airports are closed. Lakewood NJ and other cities along the coast got blasted by snow vs sand as they would in a hurricane. This image below is from a group of volunteer emergency workers saving a child's life as apparently they built an Igloo and it collapsed. 

Mother Nature seems at War this week.

There's Fires in the Everglades :(

To be fair before Miami was built up into a large, busy, singing city for the future there were always fires in the Everglades. It was a process that happened in dry years when lightning or a strong wind blew sparks of a fire for cooking by the indigenous people who lived there and it was said to burn off the over growth from the wet years and keeping the Glades in balance. That happened in Los Angeles area as well as fires from the Chumash tribe in the mountains would spark fires that burned off new growth and created a haze across the LA Basin that was noted by the Franciscan Friars moving North along the coast along El Camino Real (Now Highway 101 aka Pacific Coast Highway) exploring the area and leaving records for us all to read today. 

Fire has been around a long time. And, when the winds blow strong during the dry season when Arctic Fronts move down into South Florida.........fires happen. But now close to 3 Million people live in that small, crowded, tropical areas. The area that is known as MIA/FLL is closer to 6 million. And anyone with breathing problems needs to stay indoors, carry their inhaler if they have asthma and eyes will tear from the smoke where ever the wind blows it....   It's all about the Wind not just the Fire. But everyone will post beautiful sunsets, especially the tourists. 

Beautiful pictures, good to follow.

But it's not normal for it to look like that...

...unless there's a reason.

I'm not gonna show snow totals.

Everyone else has.

We have all seen them.

Better show a pic from Jim.

Reminds me a lot of the 1977 Chicago Blizzard.

What's next?

Week from now...

...either this from EURO

or that.......the GFS

We will see.

In the "we will see" mind frame...

We are waiting to see what El Nino does.

Does it come on strong and fast?

Does it build slowly?

Time will tell.

97 Days til Hurricane Season.

Will the El Nino 2026...

...come on fast like 1997?

Or a slow motion El Nino?

Stay tuned!

Besos BobbiStorm

My daughter in Upstate NY..

born a California Girl

Grew up in Miami

Snowed in...

..is dreaming of Summer.

Camping...

and the Beach.

This song is for her......

The Groundhog Told the Truth!! Fake Spring Will Go Poof Soon Nuff. Winter Southbound Again!

 

Funny thing happened on the way to making a "to do list" for the day... 

I had YouTube running in the background and suddenly Mike showed up and I saw a pic that said Margaritaville and I swear I thought it was a Menu. I thought "oh they changed the menu??" then I realized it was Mike's Weather Page talking on his cruises that he does and realized he was talking weather. I took another sip of my Nespresso woke up a drop more some and realized rarely does his video pop up during the off-season. One minute I'm listening to a music video that my son produced a few years back and the next minute Mike is talking. Wondering if the algorithm changed or if this was a message from the powers that be in the weather world. Either way it was delightful listening to Mike talk, something I should have a degree in but not going there. 

So this was the answer to the question I posed yesterday while I was sitting in bed wearing my summer wardrobe with the windows wide open and that was "Is this Fake Spring" or really Spring. I mean I knew the answer. Who would argue with a Groundhog?  I've been to this rodeo before and I know that especially in the Carolinas we get these warm breezes from the South and everyone thinks it's Spring and then Mother Nature whips the football away and tosses us a few more deep diving cold fronts.

And there it is...

Check out those isobars.

Vertical with cold air flowing South.

 Check that snow storm out! Check out that Coastal Low. I do think that's the way the 2026 Hurricane Season may go... lots of Coastal Lows offshore and way less in the Caribbean going on. Time will tell.

My gosh that snow is tantalizingly close, but Virginia always steals the snow here in North Carolina.

So just saying hello and goodbye for now ...

Don't put your parka or hoodie back in the closet, because the Polar Express still has some runs to make before it switches up it's travel plans!! 

Sweet whatever dreams you want weather wise......or menu wise!!

BobbiStorm

Ps......Mike does so love old school Southern Rock and Roll so here's a song he mentioned this morning on his Daily Brew! Haven't heard it in years and not one on my playlist though I have danced to it many times. I may be southbound soon too, just haven't figured it out yet time wise as I have a busy dance card between now and Mid April!

1915 Hurricane New Orleans.... What Can We Learn from that Disaster? What Can We Learn From Camille in 1969? The Summer of Love Wasn't So Loving in 1969 in Pass Christian & Bay St. Louis....

While working on some family history I read that the 1915 New Orleans Hurricane played a part in it as it caused much destruction to a home in the Garden District that my family was connected to via family and business relationships. It seems the hurricane ripped the beautiful cupola off the roof and it needed heavy repairs. What surprised me most was that I don't remember studying the 1915 New Orleans Hurricane. I probably spent too much time looking at the track of the 1915 Galveston Hurricane comparing it with the 1900 Storm and well that's how memory works as what resonates connects. I've always been obsessed with the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. I've obsessed on the Last Island Hurricane for years for a multitude of reasons. How did I miss the New Orleans Hurricane in 1915?

Imagine in 2 months!

2 Strong Hurricanes with close landfalls.

Weather map for the Galveston storm below.

Compare with the New Orleans Hurricane.

It left a wide footprint after landfall.

Rainfall moved deep inland...

...beyond the intensity at landfall.

Different but very similar.

Track vaguely similar.

Camille formed closer in...

... 1915 formed by the Islands.

Camille hooked right faster.

1915 went deeper NE into the Appalachians.

Let's look at the 1915 season 

A storm slammed into the FL Panhandle.

My family had tobacco fields in Quincy.

How did I miss this one?

Asking myself here.... 

...happens.

2 wicked Gulf Major Hurricanes.

Now let's look at 1969

1969 was a very busy season.

Like scribble scrabble in the Atlantic!!

"The season was above-average despite an El Niño, which typically suppresses activity in the Atlantic Ocean, while increasing tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific Ocean."

from Wikipedia

1969 was an El Nino year. A few weak tropical storms in the Carib and lots of Fish storms in the Atlantic. There's even some wild "loopers" that traced circles on their way somewhere else. Had Camille not formed and developed and smashed into the beautiful towns along the Gulf forever making Pass Christian and Bay St Louis synonymous with the name Camille few might remember the 1969 Hurricane Season. I will add if Andrew had not formed and exploded before aiming for Miami Florida we may not have remembered much about 1992 and blamed it on El Nino.

1969 may have been the Summer of Love in far away Woodstock NY, but as rock and roll blared from the speakers in a muddy field far away to the South .... Mississippi and Louisiana only saw death and destruction from one of the worst Atlantic Hurricanes in an El Nino Year. Yes, the truth is the 1969 Hurricane Season would have been fairly forgettable if not for the Queen of hurricanes Camille!

It only takes one.......

A good lesson as this coming Hurricane Season is expected to be an El Nino. For many in Hurricane Country when they hear predictions of an El Nino that term conjures up an "easy season" or "quiet season" but I suggest y'all don't start celebrating! Some of our worst hurricanes have made landfall in El Nino years. Perhaps it's a pent up energy sort of thing. Either way El Nino Hurricane Seasons do not have a guarantee you will be hurricane free!

Just some things to think on as you begin to read articles on the coming, building El Nino that is expected to form this 2026 Hurricane Season.

An excellent short video tells the tale in Nola.

BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on X

X mostly weather......

elsewhere whatever.