Hurricane Paula

Even though the hurricane season is almost over we will see at least few more hurricanes before the end of November. A recent hurricane that was spotted in the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and the west of Cuba, the winds were 100 mph as of this past Tuesday. The hurricane known as Paula, centered at about 85 miles southeast of Mexico according to the National Hurricane Center. Paula is looked at as a small but very powerful hurricane. Hurricane paula tipped the scale in to a hurricane strength earlier today and was intensified very quickly to a category 2 storm.

Hurricane warning are in effect for the coast of Mexico from the Punta Gruesa north to the Cabo catche including the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio. According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane Paula should be strengthening by Thursday and will be weakened after that.  

            The Hurricane Center described Paula as "small," given that its hurricane-force winds extend outward only up to 15 miles (30 kilometers) from the center and tropical strength-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 kilometers).

            Hurricane Paula is predicted to drop about three to six inches of rain over the eastern portion of the Yucatan Peninsula. Also, it is predicated that in some isolated areas the maximum amount rain will be about ten inches. This would or will cause a flash floods and mudslides.

        My advice to the people that live in the mentioned locations to this the hurricane Paula seriously and prepare for it appropriately; even though, the National Hurricane center has predicted this hurricane to be small, the size could change at any given point. So educate one another and make sure that there is enough food saved up for a few days.

            From the prediction that the center has this hurricane will not reach the united states but the state like Florida might experience strong winds and gusts and rain.  

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/12/tropical.weather/index.html

On my first blog I had mentioned that the scientists were on a mission to study hurricanes. Their goals were to be find an answer to some of the most fundamental yet still unanswered questions of hurricane science. Questions such as: What ultimately causes hurricanes to form? Why do some tropical depressions become strong hurricanes, while others fritter away? What causes the rapid strengthening often seen in hurricanes? 

Even though that this year hurricanes were not as severe as they were predicated to be, the scientist still got a chance to study the once we did have.

            The mission was to capture data on hurricanes as they formed and intensified. The DC-8, WB-57 and Global Hawk, got the chance to fly over hurricane Earl four times, criss-crossing the storm as it intensify  from category one to a category four hurricane, until it got weakened. On the last day or the list fly over hurricane Earl, as the storm was breaking down and losing strength, the Global Hawk made its debut hurricane flight and passed over Earl's eye in concert with the DC-8, providing valuable comparison measurements for the instruments on-board both aircraft. Scientists were very pleased with the Global Hawk over the hurricane.

           The GRIP planes were also able to fly to tropical systems such as Gaston that were forecast to strengthen and become hurricanes but in the end did not. In the search to understand why some tropical depressions become hurricanes and others don't, these were also important flights. Scientists, who had worked very hard during this research, will spend years to finally get all of the questions about hurricanes answered. The observations that were made will provide an insight with great value to meteorologists. This study will benefit from more accurate forecasts of storm strength and development.

            In short, with this project the scientists have gathered enough information to fully understand hurricanes; but it will take them maybe years before they are fully done with the research and have all the questions answered and provide the society a better understanding about hurricanes and why they form.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129183753.htm

  

What's in a Hurricane's Name?

 Have you ever wondered where Hurricanes get their names from? Long go storms were given the names of the saints, old military phonetic alphabet names (i.e., Able, Baker, Charlie, etc.) or even just Euro-American women's names. Nowadays storms can be nicknamed not just Danielle, Laura and Teresa, but Norbert, Kiko, Omeka, Lekima or Krovanh -- to name a few formally selected by a selections on lists maintained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

            In the old days, the storms such as hurricanes were born and had to struck the land and make their damage, and if they were memorable enough in a heartbreaking way than they were named. For example, the “The Storm of the ‘48’’ or the “San Felipe of 1876,” these were the storms that were named because they were very memorable in a tragic way.

            About six decades a go no one really had ever seen or knew much about the hurricane’s cyclopean face or the space; people used to hurricanes names that most are blinded to know the movements of the hurricanes until its usually too late. The weather satellites and the forecasting tools have made it possible to track storms; because of this fast developing technology meteorologists can give proper names to hurricanes and make hurricane warning usually before the hurricanes touches the land. As I had mentioned in the previous blogs that meteorologists and other researchers are in the Atlantic Ocean tracking hurricanes; this would not have happened if it wasn’t for the technology that we have today.

            The first official proposal to name the hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean was just right after the World War II. And that name was a military alphabet approach; it was then dropped in the 1950s in the favor of women’s names. In 1979, it was decided that the names of men and women would alternate on the alphabetical list.

            There were a lot more lists, the two list the at most Americans were familiar covered the Atlantic and the East Pacific. However, there are also lists with culturally appropriate names that cover the Central North Pacific, Western North Pacific, Australian Region, Fiji Region, Papua New Guinea Region, Philippine Region, Northern and Southern Indian Ocean.

The Atlantic and East Pacific lists each have six lists of 21 alphabetical names (excluding letters Q, U, X, Y and Z), which are recycled every six years, unless a storm is so awful that its name is retired -- like Katrina, for instance. There will never be another Hurricane Katrina, Camille, Andrew, Ike or Paloma.

"Any member can request that a name be removed if there is extensive damage and/or deaths caused by a named tropical cyclone," said meteorologist Max Mayfield,

The members of the hurricane committee then simply vote on any names nominated; this process usually take a long time before the committee agree on the name change and give the hurricane the appropriate name.

This system of naming the hurricanes seemed to be working as of now; however, the question about naming the hurricane after humans comes up often and meteorologists and hurricanes specialists are often asked if naming the storm after humans is the best approach.  


http://news.discovery.com/earth/hurricane-names-storms.html

Tropical Storm Matthew

Meteorologists predicted that the tropical storm Matthew could become a hurricane by Saturday. Tropical Storm Matthew is about 380 miles east of Nicaragua at the latitude of 14.2 norths and longitude of 77.7 west. This tropical storm has about the maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving west at 16 mph. Because of the information the national hurricane center has provided, there is a hurricane watch in effect from Nicaragua to Honduras.

The center of the tropical storm Matthew is believed to be near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras by late Friday. The tropical storm is predicated to be moved from the border of Nicaragua and Honduras in to the coast of northern Honduras on Saturday. Strengthening is forecast, and the Tropical storm Matthew could become a hurricane by Saturday.

The center of the Caribbean Sea is the classic area for the storms in late September and October to develop. It’s always a wise decision for folks to make sure that they educate themselves and their families. Every one need to have a hurricane plan, remember that this is the season for tropical storms and hurricanes so if one is planning on going to vacation somewhere in any of the Caribbean islands I would suggest that people hold off on their vacation until the hurricane season is over which will be in November.

The Tropical Storm Matthew is over 800 miles south of Florida; I do not believe that Florida had anything to worry about. I do not believe that the tropical storm even if it turns to a hurricane will cause any damage or even reach Florida.

            As of now the hurricane warning is in effect for Nicaragua, Honduras and the offshore islands. Meteorologists predicate that tropical storm Matthew is expected to move towards into the southern or southwestern Gulf of Mexico early next week. Hopefully, this does not cause a lot of harm.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/weather/hurricanes/tropical-storm-matthew-forms-could-threaten-florida/1123562

What is a Sandstorm

     Sandstorms are dry winds, these dry winds blow over the deserts that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero. These winds are usually the result of convection currents created by intense heating of the ground. These winds are strong enough to move dunes, and often are interferes with travel, sometimes obliterating roads in flat dry regions such as those of the west part of the United States. The simoom (or simoon) is the dust- and sand-laden desert wind of North Africa and Arabia that contributes largely to the atmospheric dust over Europe; evidence of the dust from simoon winds has also been found on the seafloor at considerable distances from shore. Some sandstorms are often appearing as solid walls of dust as much as 5,000 ft high. Sandstorms usually arrive without warning and will advance in the form of a big wall of dust and debris.  

      Most sandstorms occur in spring, and during the daytime. The last recorded devastating sandstorm in American history was the Dust Bowl, which caused the depression. This sandstorm occurred near Tucson, Arizona, on July 16, 1971, and was extensively documented by meteorologists. Unfortunately, we cannot prevent sandstorm from happening, however; researchers state that by deforestation and excessive cultivation of farmland can cause a sandstorm problem.

    Also, Over-grazing and excessive use of water resources can also cause sandstorms. In order to protect ourselves from sandstorms is to wear protective goggles and suits. Also people can install special air filters in their cars to prevent sand from getting into the engine. Sandstorms not only damage the materialistic things that we may have, Sand storms can cause hacking coughs, and the sand and dust have also been known to be capable of carrying 'infectious diseases'. Sand particles, unlike dust ones, will clog air passages, and cause the person who breathes them in to choke.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/sandstorm.aspx

Situation in the Atlantic

    There are three possible hurricanes developing in the Atlantic Ocean as I am writing this blog. These possible hurricanes may get very close to United States. Meteorologists believe that huge mass of thunderstorms are currently moving from westward across Africa. This new disturbing news is expected to become a tropical storm in the next few days, and of course most tropical storms become hurricanes.

    As I had perversely mentioned in my first blog that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and few other organizations had plans to fly over the Atlantic Ocean as part of the space agency's summer campaign to study hurricane formation and intensification in unprecedented; and they have, they were monitoring hurricane Earl . They will be flying and monitoring these possible hurricanes to be until the end of the month of September.

   I am sure that most people are by now sick of these hurricanes, but I strongly believe that once people stop worrying about this possible hurricanes that’s when most damage happens. It’s always best that the public is educated and kept up to date with the developing news on the developing hurricanes.

   According to the research I have done on the developing hurricanes, these are only predictions of the meteorologists that are monitoring it.

   One of the tropical storms that the national hurricane centre is especially keeping on close eye on is the Tropical Depression, Igor. Igor is predicted to be category two by the end of this week, but it will still be far from the United States.

   The Atlantic Ocean going through some terrifying times right now because of the hurricane season and it won’t be pretty until November. That is when the hurricane season will be over. For the time being all we can do is hope for the good news and watch for surprises.

                                         This is the GFS model's interpretation of the tropical Atlantic on

                                                    Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. Igor is the "L" in the middle. The other

                                                                  two trouble makers lie to the left and right of Igor.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/36920/three-hurricanes-may-prowl-the-1.asp

Hurricane Earl Hits East Coast

      Hurricanes are unpredictable, unthinkable and unstoppable. When Katrina hit the gulf coast The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not expect the hurricane to hit as bad as it did. Katrina started as a tropical storm and built up its category and intensity over the warm seas of the Gulf of Mexico.Just like Katrina, hurricane Earl started as a tropical storm over the Caribbean’s Islands.

     Tropical storm warning was in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius on Sunday August 29th. Within 48 hours latter a hurricane warning was issued for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Monday, with hurricane conditions possible on Monday August 30th.

A satellite image showed Hurricane Earl approaching the United States on Thursday morning. Fiona currently a tropical storm, can be seen behind Earl.

    

     The storm, which had weakened from a category 4 to a category 1 hurricane, raced past North Carolina's Outer Banks, a fragile chain of barrier islands, early Friday morning, and was expected to hit Massachusetts' Cape Cod later in the day. Hurricane Earl As of 5 p.m. Eastern Time Friday September 3, Earl was located about 230 miles south-southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and had top winds near 80 miles per hour.

      When the storm was expected to hit the costal parts of the United States warning were sent out to those states. I believe since hurricane Katrina, a lot of the people are taking the hurricanes and the warnings that the news and other agencies put out a lot more serious! The fact that the news was telling the people of those eastern states to prepare themselves in such advance shows that we have learned of the disasters that can come with hurricanes. Luckily, hurricane Earl did not make landfall and stayed more out on the ocean because damage was minimal but, yet; those people took it very serious and were prepared for the worst.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/updated-storm-warnings-for-u-s/