Florida is looking like paradise! Yup I will rub it in, it is warm and beautiful! We do have a mild cold front moving in due to arrive Monday, with one day of chilly weather. The high in the 60's but Tuesday we quickly rebound and are back in the 70's once again. Christmas is looking good as well, highs in the lower seventy's and a slight chance of precipitation. I am missing the storm action,SSD I think it is- Severe Storm Deprivation. Without a camera right now i guess its a good there is nothing going on. I really miss my camera and so wish for a new one but its not on the need list and the need list is a lot longer then the want list. I saw two beautiful sun dogs this week and i got to show them to my family who has never seen them before or if they did they didnt know what it was. Its been rather crazy at my house, My husband was in the hospital and was out of work for a week and now he must go through life changes to insure his health. I pray his will is strong! With Christmas knocking on the doors of course i have been shopping which I hate. I know I am a girl I should love it but i dont. Not even a little bit. Our bosses at work were generous with a Christmas bonus this year which we were not expecting but will help out nicely. Kudos to The Blind King!
If I dont blog again before Christmas, Have A merry Christmas! To all my friends: I love you guys and I hope This new year approaching will bring new and wonderful adventures! P.S Dont forget to look up the sky is beautiful and should be appreciated on a daily basis! Jess Cloud Stalker
Wha who! tomorrow is looking good for some severe weather! Its been so long, I am so excited! Just saw this on NOAA.... A DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES TONIGHT THEN UP ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST ON SUNDAY. A TRAILING COLD FRONT FROM THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE EASTERN GULF WATERS EARLY ON SUNDAY THEN ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL INCREASE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. INCREASING LOW AND MID LEVEL WIND FIELDS AND STRONG UPWARD LIFT ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT SUGGESTS THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS... ISOLATED TORNADOES...OR MARINE WATERSPOUTS THE PRIMARY HAZARDS IF ENOUGH INSTABILITY CAN DEVELOP OVER THE REGION. I am going to borrow a friends camera, since I am still with out one. Depending on the time of its arrival i am hoping to catch it coming in off the water. If you happen to read this tonight keep you fingers crossed for me.
This photo was taken when it was nice and warm outside but i thought the tree looked wintry.
Brrrrrrrrr Florida gets blasted with more cold air. Here in Port Richey its 50 degrees. Which to you folks up north is nothing and i know you dont feel sorry for me. For me Brrrr and its gonna get colder tomorrow night. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-WEDNESDAY)...THE COLD AND DRY AIRMASS OVER FLORIDA WILL GET A REINFORCEMENT FROM THE NORTH AS ANOTHER SURGE OF MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR MOVES INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. THIS SECONDARY SURGE IS EXPECTED LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...WITH THE STRONGEST COLD AIR ADVECTION TAKING PLACE TUESDAY NIGHT. This is Florida so you know by the weekend we will see highs back in the upper 70's. I have yet another job, I left the restaurant world Just couldn't bare working nights anymore. That and some other issues i wont go into. I didn't miss a beat though, I was working at my new job the next day and get this folks I work Monday through Friday 7-330. Its a factory job but For my son, Being home for him is worth it. All is well here, my kitty's are doing good still looking for a home for the white one hopefully soon having four cats is a handful. Well thats all the time i have its 8:00 and its to read to my son have a good night and if I don't see you later, Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. :@) Jess CloudStalker
Yesterday about 530pm I was watching T.S. Paloma saying to myself damn that looks like a Hurricane to me, Great rotation, strong storms. At seven pm They indeed upgraded her. Possibley the last hurricane of the season and it looks like the Grand Cayman might get a direct hit. It looks like Poor Cuba will also take another hit this season as well . A strong trough of low pressure approaching the U.S. East Coast is pulling Paloma to the north, and this trough should continue to pull the storm northwards and then turn it northeastward by Saturday. Florida is in the clear. Her is something intresting I read from Dr. Jeff Masters site:Historical note This year and 2005 are the only seasons that we've had major hurricanes in the Atlantic in four separate months--July, August, September, and October. If Paloma becomes a major hurricane, it will make 2008 the first year since record keeping began in 1851 to feature major hurricanes in five separate months. I wonder what next year will bring we seem to be breaking records each year.
Weather for us her in sunny Florida remains normal for this time of the year, nothing like the end of October where we had record breaking low temperatures. We do have a cold front approaching,
A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO NORTH FLORIDA LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE GETS NUDGED INTO THE ATLANTIC. THE CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT WILL PROBABLY NOT REACH OUR NORTHERN ZONES UNTIL AFTER SUNRISE ON SATURDAY.
SATURDAY WILL FEATURE A PRIMARILY DRY COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE... ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE MORE CLOUDS AROUND. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO PICK UP A LITTLE BIT FROM THE NORTH BEHIND THE FRONT...AND CLEARING SKIES MAY EVEN MOVE INTO THE NATURE COAST BEFORE SUNSET.
IT WILL CONTINUE TO CLEAR RAPIDLY FROM NORTH TO SOUTH SATURDAY NIGHT WITH COOLER AIR MOVING IN ONCE AGAIN. TEMPERATURES WILL SETTLE INTO THE LOWER 40S OVER THE NATURE COAST...BUT REMAIN CLOSER TO THE LOWER 50S OR SO OVER MOST OF INTERIOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA.
SUNDAY WILL BE A TYPICAL NOVEMBER DAY WITH LOTS OF SUNSHINE AND MILD TEMPERATURES.
Sounds good to me!!! If you noticed I have been blogging less, its because my little camera has finely went to camera heaven. I am without. I have no credit cards and no extra money to replace it. so until the camera fairy comes I will have no pictures to share. I am very bummed. very bummed. Oh Well I have a roof over my head and some food for our belly's so life goes on. Have a great weekend! Jess Cloud Stalker
Yup another sunset sky watch, I just cant help myself. We went to Port Richey waterfront park yesterday for dinner -Burgers and chips- And I took 87 pictures while I was there. My hub asks why I take so many pictures and I tell him today will be gone tomorrow but I have it forever at a touch of a button. Make sense? I think so. Happy sky watching!!! Jess Sunset Stalker
My simple version of the full moon last week. I should have grabbed my tripod but I was just sitting outside enjoying the night before I came inside I grabbed the camera and took a quick shot.
A perfect October morning today, right now its 70 degrees out with very mild breeze. Our high today will be about 84. How perfect is that! The disturbance out in the CARIBBEAN is not likely to devolop any further because it will encounter land, but heavy rain is expected. Tropical moisture is due back in Florida come Thursday but NOAA is a little unsure what will happen with our rain chances."MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE TROUBLE RESOLVING THE EXACT LOCATION...TIMING AND STRENGTH OF SYSTEMS FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD. THEY TRY TO DEVELOP AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE SOUTHEAST GULF/WESTERN CARIBBEAN AND MOVE IT ACROSS FLORIDA DURING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...BUT DIFFERENCES ABOUND. DO THINK THAT THERE WILL BE A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE FLORIDA PENINSULA EARLY IN THE PERIOD WHICH WILL BRING CLOUDS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. WILL THEREFORE NOT MAKE ANY BIG CHANGES TO ONGOING FORECAST AND LEAVE CHANCE POPS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY." We are encountering the beginning of our dry season, which blows because we didn't get enough rain here this summer. The beginning of the summer was great nice and wet but the second half went dry. We have sand spurs everywhere.Which blows even more because I hate wearing shoes.( I am a true Florida girl) Well thats for me no rain chances till Thursday night just blue skies and a nice breeze. I guess I can live with that. Jess Cloud Stalker
Fair Weather Cumulus Clouds Fair weather cumulus have the appearance of floating cotton and have a lifetime of 5-40 minutes. Known for their flat bases and distinct outlines, fair weather cumulus exhibit only slight vertical growth, with the cloud tops designating the limit of the rising air. Given suitable conditions, however, harmless fair weather cumulus can later develop into towering cumulonimbus clouds associated with powerful thunderstorms.
Fair weather cumulus are fueled by buoyant bubbles of air, or thermals, that rise upward from the earth's surface. As they rise, the water vapor within cools and condenses forming cloud droplets. Young fair weather cumulus have sharply defined edges and bases while the edges of older clouds appear more ragged, an artifact of cloud erosion. Evaporation along the cloud edges cools the surrounding air, making it heavier and producing sinking motion (or subsidence) outside the cloud.
This will be my 17th Sky watch, wow. I look forward to this all week. This weeks pics are from Sunday, my son and I went on a nice long bike ride which ended up in a new park they built out side of our neighborhood. I got a lot of cool shots if you scroll down a little you will see a couple I posted. I just Love the sky! Thank you for stopping in Happy sky watching! Jess Cloud Stalker
AT 11 AM EDT...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE HAS REPLACED THE TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN BELIZE WITH A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE ENTIRE COAST OF BELIZE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE HONDURAS COAST FROM THE HONDURAS/NICARAGUA BORDER WESTWARD TO THE GUATEMALA/HONDURAS BORDER AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE COAST OF BELIZE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF GUATEMALA. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS. AT 1100 AM EDT...1500Z...THE BROAD CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION SIXTEEN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 15.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 84.5 WEST OR ABOUT 75 MILES...120 KM...EAST OF LIMON HONDURAS AND ABOUT 270 MILES...430 KM...EAST OF MONKEY RIVER TOWN BELIZE.
THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 5 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS. ON THIS TRACK...THE CENTER OF THE DEPRESSION IS FORECAST TO MOVE VERY NEAR THE NORTHERN COAST OF HONDURAS DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 30 MPH...45 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND THE DEPRESSION COULD BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT.
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1005 MB...29.68 INCHES.
THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES OVER NORTHEASTERN NICARAGUA...NORTHERN HONDURAS... BELIZE...GUATEMALA...AND THE YUCATAN PENINSULA WITH MAXIMUM AMOUNTS UP TO 15 INCHES. THESE RAINS COULD PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES.
An Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft reports that there has been no appreciable strengthening of Omar over the past few hours. An elliptical and partially open eye was observed but the inner core is not yet well-defined. The central pressure has not fallen and maximum SFMR-observed surface wind speeds have been near 65 kt...which is used for the advisory intensity. Satellite images show that Omar continues to generate very deep convection with a large area of cloud tops colder than -80 deg c. Upper-level outflow is well-established over the eastern semicircle and restricted to the west...as westerly shear continues to impact the hurricane. However...the shear is not expected to be strong enough to prevent strengthening. The official intensity forecast is the same as the previous one and a little above the model consensus. By day 5...global models depict the cyclone interacting with a strong baroclinic zone over the North Atlantic so the official forecast shows Omar becoming extratropical by that time.
Initial motion is around 050/6. There has not been much change to the official forecast track or reasoning. A mid-level trough to the north of the hurricane along with a ridge to the east is creating a southwesterly steering current and Omar is expected to continue northeastward with a gradual increase in forward speed. The forward motion slows a little around day 3 as the trough lifts out ahead of Omar. The system should accelerate again near the end of the period as it encounters the main branch of the mid-latitude westerlies. Dynamical track prediction models are tightly clustered...especially for the first 24 hours and the official forecast is close to the model consensus albeit a little slower. This is slightly faster than the previous forecast...but more or less along the same trajectory.
Although the official forecast keeps the center east of Puerto Rico...a deviation to the left of the current motion could require changing the Hurricane Watch to a Hurricane Warning for that island. I will pray that dosnt happen.
My goodness will you look at that the tropic's are having a party and it didn"t invite me. #1 is in a nice loving environment for its kind, but it will be heading to shore soon. Perhaps as a depression, i don't think it will be over water long enough to become any more then a great rain maker for portions of Nicaragua,Honduras and Belize. #2 See that baby blob under Mama blob Nana, yup thats it with the yellow circle around it. That little guy or gurl is gonna encounter unfavorable winds here in the next couple of days, NOAA isn't holding its breathe on this one. poor mama blob Nana is coming to an end, she is being sheared to death. I dont know how much longer she can hang on. Now Tropical depression 15 is a little bit more complicated:THE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATING THE TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUND PEAK FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS OF 34 KT FROM 925 MB...WHICH DOES NOT SUPPORT AN UPGRADE TO A TROPICAL STORM. THERE WERE SFMR WINDS OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE...BUT IN RAINY CONDITIONS THIS WIND SPEED RANGE IS NOT WHERE THE INSTRUMENT PERFORMS BEST. THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION IS ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE DEEP CONVECTION WITH SOME WESTERLY SHEAR STILL EVIDENT IN INFRARED AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE GFS...ALL AVAILABLE GUIDANCE INDICATES THAT THE CYCLONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN IN WHAT SHOULD BE A MODERATE SHEAR ENVIRONMENT OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH THE GFDL AND HWRF BOTH MAKING THE SYSTEM A HURRICANE BEFORE IT EXITS THE CARIBBEAN. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST IS CLOSE TO THE CONSENSUS OF THE INTENSITY GUIDANCE.
THERE IS VERY LITTLE SURROUNDING MID-LEVEL FLOW AND THE DEPRESSION IS ESSENTIALLY STATIONARY. A LARGE UPPER-LOW EAST OF NEW ENGLAND IS DRIVING SOUTHWARD IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC...AND THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LIFTING THE TROPICAL CYCLONE NORTHEASTWARD IN ANOTHER 24-36 HOURS. COMPARED TO SIX HOURS AGO THE GUIDANCE HAS SHIFTED WESTWARD...WITH SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO WHETHER THE CYCLONE WILL BE CAPTURED BY THE UPPER LOW. A MAJORITY OF THE MODELS NOW SHOW THE CYCLONE BEING LEFT BEHIND BY THIS FEATURE. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST HAS BEEN SHIFTED TO THE LEFT AT THE LONGER RANGES AND IS IN BEST AGREEMENT WITH THE ECMWF. THE HWRF AND GFDL ARE MUCH SLOWER BRINGING THE SYSTEM OUT OF THE CARIBBEAN AND CONSEQUENTLY ARE EVEN FARTHER TO THE LEFT. $$ FORECASTER FRANKLIN See what I mean, But It sure does look like this one will be named by as early as tomorrow. As always I will be watching for any continuing development.Its late now or very early how every you look at I'm getting goofy and should head off to bed. Good night. Jess cloud Stalker view from a bike ride Sunday.
Nana remains in an environment of strong westerly shear and the low-cloud center is displaced well to the west of the main blob of deep convection. An ascat pass from 2332 UTC measured 30-35 kt winds over the northeast quadrant of the cyclone. Given the disorganization of the system it is possible that...since the time of that overpass...Nana may have weakened below tropical storm strength. However...because of the uncertainties...I will maintain the intensity at 35 kt for now. The global model's 200 mb wind forecasts shows 25-30 kt westerly winds over the area for the next 36 hours or so...so we do not expect the shear to lessen significantly in the near future. Nana will likely weaken and degenerate into a remnant low within 24 hours.
Initial motion is estimated to be 285/6. Nana or its remnant should continue this general motion while situated to south-southwest of a low- to mid-level high pressure ridge over the eastern Atlantic. The official forecast track...like the previous one...is on the south side of the guidance envelope and leans toward the shallow BAM track...albeit not quite as fast as that guidance. 98L SATELLITE IMAGES AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD BE FORMING IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA ABOUT 275 MILES SOUTH OF THE EASTERN TIP OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND IF THIS TREND CONTINUES...ADVISORIES WILL BE INITIATED LATER TODAY. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM IS ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS AND A LARGE AREA OF HEAVY RAINS WHICH COULD PRODUCE LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES. THESE CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO SPREAD OVER PUERTO RICO...THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND A PORTION OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...AND INTERESTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM. FOR INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE CONSULT STATEMENTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
Sky Watch Friday is hosted by:Tom, Sandy, IMAC , Klaus & Ivar. For a free trip around the world to see the skies click HERE.
What Determines Sky's Colors At Sunrise And Sunset? ScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2007) — The colors of the sunset result from a phenomenon called scattering, says Steven Ackerman, professor of meteorology at UW-Madison. Molecules and small particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter.
Scattering affects the color of light coming from the sky, but the details are determined by the wavelength of the light and the size of the particle. The short-wavelength blue and violet are scattered by molecules in the air much more than other colors of the spectrum. This is why blue and violet light reaches our eyes from all directions on a clear day. But because we can't see violet very well, the sky appears blue.
Scattering also explains the colors of the sunrise and sunset, Ackerman says.
“Because the sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passes through more air at sunset and sunrise than during the day, when the sun is higher in the sky. More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.”
And because red has the longest wavelength of any visible light, the sun is red when it’s on the horizon, where its extremely long path through the atmosphere blocks all other colors.
SOURCE I hope everyone has a great weekend and have a great time sky watching!!! Jess Cloud Stalker
This was The beginning of a two hour rain event. I was even honored with thunder. I missed that sound. I don't think we had one storm in September. It wasn't nothing to brag about but it helped.We might even get some more today. DISCUSSION...AMPLE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY (PW`S ~2"/LI`S -4C) VIA 12Z RAOB DATA COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD AGAIN HELP TO GENERATE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND T-STORMS OVER THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON WITH AN EASTERLY STEERING FLOW ALBEIT LIGHT FAVORING THE GREATEST STORM COVERAGE AND HIGHEST POPS ALONG COASTAL LOCATIONS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY SLOW STORM MOTION WILL AGAIN SUPPORT SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IN SOME LOCATIONS. A GOOD DEAL OF SUNSHINE PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF CONVECTION WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB TO ABOVE NORMAL READINGS THROUGHOUT...WITH HIGHS IN THE MID/UPPER 80S EXPECTED IN MOST LOCATIONS. CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE WITH NO MORNING UPDATE PLANNED. Here's to hoping!! Jess Cloud Stalker
INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 4A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL132008 700 AM CDT TUE OCT 07 2008
...MARCO EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL LATER TODAY...
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT FROM CABO ROJO SOUTHWARD TO VERACRUZ. TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...AND HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE...WITHIN THE WARNING AREA LATER TODAY.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
AT 700 AM CDT...1200Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM MARCO WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 20.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 96.5 WEST OR ABOUT 80 MILES...125 KM...SOUTHEAST OF TUXPAN MEXICO.
MARCO IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH...13 KM/HR... AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER OF MARCO SHOULD MOVE INLAND WITHIN THE WARNING AREA LATER TODAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 65 MPH...100 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE THIS MORNING...AND MARCO COULD BE NEAR HURRICANE STRENGTH WHEN IT REACHES THE COAST.
MARCO IS AN EXTREMELY SMALL TROPICAL CYCLONE. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ONLY EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 10 MILES...20 KM FROM THE CENTER.
THE ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 998 MB...29.47 INCHES.
MARCO IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES... WITH MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 6 INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MEXICAN STATES OF NORTHERN VERACRUZ...NORTHERN PUEBLA... HILDALGO...AND SAN LUIS POTOSI.
Sky Watch Friday is hosted by:Tom, Sandy, IMAC , Klaus & Ivar For a free trip around the world to see the skies just click on the link.
A halo (ἅλως; also known as a nimbus, icebow or Gloriole) is an optical phenomenon that appears near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5–10 km, or 3–6 miles) in the upper troposphere. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow.
Sometimes in very cold weather optical halos are formed by crystals close to ground level, called diamond dust. The crystals behave like jewels, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions.
Atmospheric phenomena such as halos were used as an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed.
Other common optical phenomena involving water droplets rather than ice crystals include the glory and the rainbow. SOURCE
This photo was taken in July of '07. I have featured this photo before in this blog, but I thought I would share it with the sky watchers. I started a new blog yesterday called Silly Me I started it because in these hard times everybody needs a smile. So each day I am posting a joke from all the fwrds I get in my email box.If you have a funny joke or a funny picture you would like to share with me you can send it to my email @ cloudstalker.jess@yahoo.com. Have a fantastic day!! Peace and Love!! Jess Cloud Stalker
This picture was taken a couple days ago, The sky was teasing us with rain.
Nothing new today weather wise, Dry air will be filling the state and beautiful weather will stick around for the next couple of days. I started a a couple new blogs, I wanted to share more of me and who I am. You can find the links on the top left hand side of my blog. I will be adding more as the ideas come to me. Have a happy day! Jess Cloud Stalker
. A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO CONTINUES TO PRODUCE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN...WESTERN CUBA...FLORIDA...AND THE NORTHERN BAHAMAS. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD SPREAD EASTWARD INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...BUT TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED HERE OR ELSEWHERE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. FORECASTER BERG/PASCH Yes we finely received some rain but not much, most of the showers remained south. The GOM is under high shear right now, so nothing but light showers are expected with this system. We have some dry air coming which will take all pops out of the equation,until this weekend:A ROBUST UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO THE THE WEST...SHIFTING A RIDGE EASTWARD ACROSS THE PLAINS AND LIFTING THE EAST COAST TROUGH NORTH. THIS ALLOWS A RIDGE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE CARIBBEAN TO CREEP NORTHWARD OVER THE STATE BRINGING THE SURFACE BOUNDARY WITH IT...PROVIDING INCREASING MOISTURE AND RAIN CHANCES FOR THE WEEKEND INTO MON. But I will keep monitoring the weather for any changes. This year has been a bust for me for storm chasing with my car problems i haven't been able to travel to the seabreeze boundary's. I am hoping this will change by next season. I am a poor girl living day to day with no credit(which is probably good right now)but i am doing what I can to change that. I still want more then anything to be a storm chaser to capture mother nature at here best. I don't want to make money from this, it is just a life's pursuit. I can't wait for the day when i can chase and photograph an awesome storm. My time is near for now i just read what I can and watch all the video I can.Learn from the world. Peace and love! Jess Cloud stalker Update: Sub tropical storm Laura lost the sub as of 11am she became tropical with near 60mph winds.MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 60 MPH...95 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. GRADUAL WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. LAURA WILL BEGIN TO LOSE TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS TONIGHT AND IS EXPECTED TO BECOME EXTRATROPICAL ON WEDNESDAY. I didn't expect that.
Laura is expected to remain over 25c-26c SSTs for the next 24 hours and also be under light to moderate shear conditions. Therefore... some additional strengthening is forecast. However...if the current trend of convection wrapping around the center continues...then subtropical storm Laura could quickly transition over to a tropical cyclone and become a hurricane with a banding eye feature later today. By 36 hours...Laura is expected to be moving over much cooler water...which should induce weakening along with a gradual transition to extratropical status.-forecaster Stewart-
Kyle is considered to be extratropical, so besides Laura there is no activity going on in the Atlantic. All is calm again for the moment. I thought we would see some rain today but it looks like it will remain south of the Tampa bay. DEEP MOISTURE WILL DRIFT NORTH AS A WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS AND MOVES ALONG A BOUNDARY LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY. THIS WILL LEAD TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE TAMPA BAY REGION SOUTH AND EAST. We could see some SCATTERED thunderstorms later this evening but for us on the coast it is a wait and see. I am bummed. I haven't seen a decent storm in quite awhile. I bet there will be a nice sunset tonight, but for the past couple of month's that's all the photos i have been taken,.I might have to change my name to sunset stalker. That's all for now. Jess CLOUD STALKER!!!!
Kyle upgraded to a tropical storm Thursday and grew up today and now kyle is our 6th Atlantic hurricane this season. The tropics have woken up from it's little nap and now the Atlantic is quite active again with 3 areas of interest and of course kyle. Kyle is headed to the Maine and Canada's Maritime provinces,defiantly not a fish storm.
At 5pm, Kyle was about 780km south of the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and moving north at 37kph. The way north is about to get a taste of the tropics.As Dew would say"Great googley moogley! Tropical Storm Kyle continues to grow in strength as it makes its way toward the U.S. coast. Image: gsloan/Flickr. I had to share the picture its not mine as you can see from the title below the picture but it sure is beautiful! I wonder how the east coast is handleing these stong waves bashing it's shore. WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. -- Strong winds kicked up rough surf Thursday as an intense low-pressure system chugged toward the Southeast coast with wind gusts of up to 50 mph, knocking out power to thousands of homes in Virginia.SOURCE image credit Now onto my weather: Beautiful! What more can I say. Not a cloud in the sky today over my area and my ac has been off since Thursday when the dry air covered my area.Sweet.See that black circle?Thats where I am at. Its not gonna last, good things never do. Not to be negative but here in Florida perfect weather comes in waves.Here is a clip from NOAA weather discussion:AREA TO TRANSITION INTO MORE MOIST PATTERN INTO MIDWEEK. DRY AIR OVER N FL TO HOLD INTO SUNDAY WHILE SFC FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND ABUNDANT TROPICAL MOISTURE OVER S FL SLOWLY MOVES NWARD OVER THE FL PENINSULA REMAINDER OF WEEKEND INTO MONDAY. UPPER TROUGHINESS TO HOLD OVER THE DEEP SOUTH PRODUCING SW FLOW ALOFT WITH SERIES OF EMBEDDED VORT MAXES ROTATING OVER THE AREA IN OVERALL FLOW. EXPECT SHARP MOISTURE GRADIENT AS SFC BOUNDARY MIGRATES FROM S FL TO SW FL TONIGHT AND SUNDAY TO CENTRAL FL MONDAY. But then there is this: MID LEVEL TROUGH DROPPING SOUTHEAST INTO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL STEER A LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO JUST NORTH OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA TOWARD WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY WITH A FOLLOWING COLD FRONT PUSHING SOUTH TO THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE. MODELS VARY ON TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THIS BAROCLINIC SYSTEM BUT AT THE VERY LEAST THE SYSTEM WILL BRING BREEZY CONDITIONS AND RAIN. NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL USHER IN DRIER AND SLIGHTLY COOLER AIR THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. I love the dry air but no clouds is a sad sad thing I love to stalk them clouds as you lnow so it looks like i will have my chance Monday. I am trying my best to keep my blog updated i have been slacking quite a bit this summer, I am not going to make any promises but i am gonna try to at least sumit a picture each day. Hope the rest of your weekend is grand! peace and love! Jess Cloud Stalker
To see the sky from around the world click on this link. Thanks to Tom, Sandy, IMAC & Klaus for making this so much fun! Today's Picture is from last week we had a A stationary front stalled over my area, which created such beautiful skies. If you scroll down to my past post you will see more of the beautiful skies i captured. With each passing moment the skies changed it was fantastic. God's handy work.
A stationary front is a boundary between two different air masses, neither of which is strong enough to replace the other. They tend to remain essentially in the same area for extended periods of time, and waves sometimes propagate along the frontal boundary. A wide variety of weather can be found along a stationary front, but usually clouds, prolonged precipitation, and storm trains are found there. Stationary fronts will either dissipate after several days or devolve into shear lines, but can change into a cold or warm front if conditions aloft change.-source
There was no rain for us here but along the seabreeze boundaries storms were popping up everywhere. Jess Cloud Stalker
It feels like fall is in the air, nice breeze and what i thought was dryer air. The humity is still at 85% which if you felt the air here you would be surprized too. Dry air is moving in and tonight our low goes down to a nice 71 degrees. I wonder if i will be able to convince hubby to turn off the ac tonight. Yesterday we should of saw some rain with the blob that was out in the gulf but as usual it went north and south of us and all we got here was a couple of sprinkles. Today the rain will mostly be south of Pasco...of course. 93L still hasn't changed much but NOAA is saying it could become a depression any day now. This will not effect Florida,here is a look at the spaghetti models. Looks like this could be a fish storm. Or not. This is from Dr.Jeff Master wonder blog: The track forecast The models agree on a slow west-northwesterly motion for 93L today, with a turn to the northwest or north-northwest on Tuesday. An extratropical storm is expected to develop off the coast of South Carolina by Wednesday, and five of our six reliable models predict that 93L and the extratropical storm will rotate cyclonically around a common center (the Fujiwhara effect), sending 93L hurtling into the U.S. East Coast on Friday somewhere between North Carolina and Massachusetts. The outlier is the UKMET model, which predicts that 93L will absorb the energy that would have gone into creating the extratropical low. This might convert 93L into a hybrid subtropical storm that would affect the coast of North and South Carolina late this week with sustained winds in the 50-60 mph range. Considering that we are trying to forecast a complicated interaction between two storms that have yet to form, the current model forecasts for 93L are highly uncertain. Residents along the entire U.S. East Coast from Georgia to Maine should anticipate the possibility of a strong tropical storm affecting them by Friday.Wow! I love his Blog he is such a smart man. for some reason I cant insert links right now but his blog is to the left. Thats it for me, have a great day! Jess Cloud Stalker
yesterday evening was so nice, the breeze the sky. I am enjoying these last nights of summer. I know I know I am in Florida just because Fall is next Monday doesn't mean a thing our nights will continue to be warm for awhile yet. Still I love sitting out front watching my son ride his bike. Watching the beautiful sky as the sun goes down. I have a couple more really good shots but i am saving them for sky watch tomorrow.
I can't stop thinking about Ike and the Bolivar Peninsula,I just can't believe how many people stayed. It just boggles my mind. Why? is all I keep asking myself. I mean I want to chase Hurricane one day, but when Noaa says "certain Death will happen if you dont leave the coast" I am gone...See ya....later dudes... 400 people chose to ride it out, do you think they survided? Look down at the picture below and then check out the link and you tell me. Stupid just plain stupid. Dr. Abby Sallenger, Jr. of the USGS described yesterday's damage survey flight:
Here's what we saw in our overflight from about Grand Chenier in western Louisiana to Freeport below Galveston.
We saw vast areas flooded by storm surge; the water extended landward in places for tens of kilometers. The beaches served as rims that contained the flood waters. In Louisiana, channels were cut (naturally) through the beaches so the water would drain seaward. Where the max surge occurred (between Bolivar Peninsula and Sabine Pass), the returning water completely submerged the Gulf shore for kilometers. The maximum impacts were on the Bolivar Peninsula, the site of our example comparisons online now.Source-USGS Check out the link for more photos and more information on this horrific event.
It looks like we will have a lull for storms in the alantic right now but I bet it wont last long, by next week check back with me and I bet I will have something to talk about. Gotta go for now take care and God Bless! Jess Cloud Stalker If you want to make a donation to hurricane Ike victims here is a the link to the red cross
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike plowed into Texas early today, driving the Gulf of Mexico's waters into Galveston Island, blowing out office-building windows and cutting power to at least 4.5 million people in the Houston area.
The storm flooded homes, shut oil refineries and scattered 2.3 million people in two states who fled before its fury arrived. Winds blew pine trees sideways in Houston, the nation's fourth-biggest city, where electrical transformers sparked and residents waited out the hurricane in their homes last night under a citywide curfew.
Officials expressed relief the storm didn't turn out to be the ``catastrophic'' event that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had warned about yesterday. Texas Governor Rick Perry said a 20-foot ``tsunami'' of water might surge up the 54- mile Houston Ship Channel, which serves area refineries.
``The worst-case scenario that was projected before the storm, particularly in the Houston Ship Channel, did not occur,'' Perry said in a televised press conference today. He cautioned, though, that ``there is still plenty of damage out there.''
Ike weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour (72 kph), down from 110 mph, or Category 2, at its early morning landfall in Galveston, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an advisory just before 4 p.m. local time. It was southeast of Tyler, Texas, moving north at 18 mph and headed for western Arkansas tonight.
Search and Rescue
Chertoff said 50 aircraft are now in the air on search-and- rescue missions, which Perry said was the state's largest such operation ever.
Ike was the first storm to hit a major U.S. metropolitan area since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. The Houston area, with a population of 5.6 million, is the sixth largest in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The storm surge in Galveston, predicted to be as high as 25 feet (7.6 meters), may have peaked at only 12.5 feet, according to a National Weather Service tidal gauge.
``With the eye and the eye wall passing directly over Galveston, that was kind of their saving grace,'' said Joe Bartosik, a meteorologist with WeatherBug.com. ``Even though they took the storm core, they escaped the really damaging side.''
About 40 percent of Galveston's 57,400 people decided to stay and ride out the storm, Steve LeBlanc, the city manager, said in a televised press conference yesterday.
Prepared for `Worst'
``We hope that people were able to find a place to hide,'' said Chertoff, who is flying to Texas later today. Still, ``we're prepared for the worst.''
A 300-foot pier and eight concrete supports broke away and became a battering ram that tore the front off of Bill King's Bermuda-style house in Kemah, Texas, piling up books and golf clubs among the stunned birds already lying on the grass.
King, who has helped advise on Houston's hurricane evacuations, found himself a victim of Ike's storm surge that left water from Galveston Bay in the swimming pool of his weekend home.
``It's a mess,'' said King, a former mayor of Kemah, which is about 28 miles southeast of Houston. ``This house had never been inundated before, and it has been in some pretty good hurricanes.''
Bartosik said areas along the Texas coast stretching into southwestern Louisiana received a far greater storm surge than Galveston did. In Port Arthur, Texas, storm surges of between 15 to 20 feet were recorded and Beaumont, Texas, 78 miles northeast of Houston, has about 9 feet of water in its downtown.
`Our Town'
The Kemah Boardwalk, an amusement park that draws about 5 million visitors to the city annually, was under water.
``It's our town; we'll be back,'' City Administrator Bill Kerber said in an interview.
Houston's 75-story JPMorgan Chase Tower had windows on its west side smashed out, according to the local CBS affiliate, KHOU-TV. The Enron Building and Crown Plaza Hotel were also damaged, the station reported. The city's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby airports remained closed.
Bartosik said Doppler radar showed winds were blowing as high as 130 mph above the 10th floor of buildings in downtown Houston.
``That accounts for a lot of the blown-out windows that have occurred,'' Bartosik said by telephone. ``Houston was in the western eye wall for a good hour-and-a-half.''
The storm has closed 19 percent of the refining capacity in the U.S. At least 13 refineries in Texas shut down including those operated by Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp., ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Gulf Coast refineries and ports are the source of half of the fuel and crude used in the eastern U.S.
Without Power
About 4.5 million people are in the Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc.'s service area and ``almost all of them are without power.'' Before the storm hit, CenterPoint estimated it could be weeks to restore power, said Floyd LeBlanc, a company spokesman.
``We may have to revise that,'' he said. ``We have gotten literally thousands of calls from customers reporting downed power lines.''
The hurricane may cause $8 billion to $18 billion in insured losses on land as it moves from coastal Galveston to Houston and further inland, according to Oakland, California-based Eqecat Inc., which predicts the effects of disasters.
Ike left more than 70 people dead in Haiti and killed four in Cuba as it swept through the Caribbean earlier this week. CNN reported at least four people have been killed so far in Texas.
President George W. Bush said this morning the federal government was ``prepared to move'' quickly to help Texas recover. He declared a major disaster for Texas, which makes federal funding available to people living in 29 counties hit by Ike.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net; Tom Korosec in Houston, via the New York newsroom at mschoifet@bloomberg.net Last Updated: September 13, 2008 16:41 EDT SOURCE
Photo taken yesterday afternoon.looking to the west. With Hurricane Ike in the gulf of Mexico our skies have been filled with clouds of all types. I like this shot because the tree puts a frame around a confused sky. This shot was taken from looking strait up. This shot was taken looking to the north.
This shot was taken looking from the east
Onto Hurricane Ike
I wanted to share this from Dr.Jeff Masters blog you can view it in whole by clicking on his name. Posted by: JeffMasters, 3:26 PM GMT on September 12, 2008 Hurricane Ike is closing in on Texas, and stands poised to become one of the most damaging hurricanes of all time. Despite Ike's rated Category 2 strength, the hurricane is much larger and more powerful than Category 5 Katrina or Category 5 Rita. The storm surge from Ike could rival Katrina's, inundating a 200-mile stretch of coast from Galveston to Cameron, Louisiana with waters over 15 feet high. This massive storm surge is due to the exceptional size of Ike. According to the latest wind field estimate (Figure 1), the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and hurricane force winds are 550 and 240 miles, respectively. For comparison, Katrina numbers at landfall were 440 and 210 miles, respectively. As I discussed in yesterday's blog entry, a good measure of the storm surge potential is Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE). Ike continues to grow larger and has intensified slightly since yesterday, and the hurricane's Integrated Kinetic Energy has increased from 134 to 149 Terajoules. This is 30% higher than Katrina's total energy at landfall. All this extra energy has gone into piling up a vast storm surge that will probably be higher than anything in recorded history along the Texas coast. Storm surge heights of 20-25 feet are possible from Galveston northwards to the Louisiana border. The Texas storm surge record is held by Hurricane Carla of 1961. Carla was a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds at landfall, and drove a 10 foot or higher storm surge to a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast. A maximum storm surge of 22 feet was recorded at Port Lavaca, Texas. This Storm could make history folks. My prayer goes out to all those who will be effect by this huge storm. There talking 50ft waves. Holy Moly! God be with them all! A fellow blogger is making his journey to Galveston now if you want to check in with hi, go to Ham Wx His live feed should be up soon. Jess Cloud Stalker
Florida is looking like paradise!
