The Day Your Lawn Was Saved February 18, 2009

It is very hard to imagine just one day’s worth of rainfall saved South Florida from a year’s worth of weather calamities, but looking back as of today…
It’s absolutely true.
Here’s the scenario:  Thanks to a plethora of tropical storms hitting Florida and thanks to a report outlining the problems with Lake Okeechobee’s dike system, water [...]

We’re Not Done Yet… November 6, 2008

Things have been incredibly slow in the tropics recently… slow enough that even some of us in the weather office had been lulled into a false sense of security that the last storm of the 2008 Hurricane Season was already behind us.
Nope.  We’re not done yet.
Earlier today, Tropical Depression #17 formed off the coast of [...]

Life’s Real Hurricanes October 21, 2008

Look up the word “hurricane” in the dictionary — and you’ll find a definition similar to this:  “A powerful storm, tropical in nature, with winds in excess of 74 miles an hour…”
But the true hurricanes in our lives aren’t tropical in nature.  They’re the events — maybe only a handful in a lifetime – that literally change who we [...]

September Ending Like A Lamb… September 30, 2008

Last day… and last post… in September and it looks like we will end the month with no significant tropical threat.  Laura is a moderately strong tropical storm… but it’s way out there with Greenland as the only landmass in its’ sights.  Obviously no threat to us in South Florida.
But this hurricane season has been [...]

It’s A Strange Time Of Year… September 29, 2008

The last few days of September are upon us and by mid-week, POOF, October shows up.
Many associate October with the real season of “change” (which means nothing this time of year, as political warfare has neutralized the effectiveness of this word…) – a change in the length of the days, a change in the humidity, [...]

One eye to the north, one eye to the east September 23, 2008

The only tropical feature in town has been the broad area of low pressure lingering near Puerto Rico.  Although it’s a small, unnamed feature right now in the Caribbean, it has presented flooding rains there for the last two days.
Several recon flights, doppler radar & satellite observation has yet to yield a system with a [...]

Not Even A Name… September 23, 2008

…but we have another problem in the Caribbean.
In Texas, it was the SURGE.
In Cuba, it has been the WIND.
In Haiti & Puerto Rico, it has been the RAIN.  And it’s happening again tonight.
A tropical disturbance (not organized enough to have a defined “center”) has been lingering over Puerto Rico for the past few days… and almost 30″ [...]

A Break In The Action… September 17, 2008

After we’ve racked up ten named storms this season…and roughly a month-long period (mid-AUG through mid-SEP) with a named storm somewhere in the Atlantic Basin…it’s nice to have a break in the action across the tropics.
The overall environment the last few days, although likely temporary, has not been condusive to development, mainly thanks to a [...]

Ike Weakens September 13, 2008

Ike is now a minimal tropical storm near Tyler, Texas and will soon be downgraded to a tropical depression. It’s expected to merge with a strong cold front over the Midwest by Monday and lose any remaining tropical characteristics. Isolated tornadoes and heavy rain arestill expected from Texas to Arkansas,  into Missouri, Illinois and Indiana tonight [...]

Galveston Disappears (Temporarily)… September 13, 2008

Back at the turn of the century (the 20th century) — a great and bustling seaport thrived on the Texas coastline.  This city was one of the richest in the nation… and was primed to be one of the most important American cities as the nation continued to become an industrial might.
Then a hurricane came.  [...]