10.18.10
Posted in General News at 1:34 am by Rebekah
The first Green Sky Chaser DVD, “The Whirlwind And The Storm“, is now available for pre-sale!
MUST-SEE trailer on YouTube: The Whirlwind And The Storm Trailer
This DVD shows some videos and photos from 2010, including the following tornadoes: April 22 (Goodnight TX), May 24 (Faith SD), May 25 (Walsh CO), May 31 (Campo CO plus a bit from Boise City OK), June 10 (2 in eastern CO), June 13 (Slapout OK), September 15 (Mulvane KS)…as well as plenty of supercell, squall line, large hail (May 10), lightning, and flooding action.
Each day begins with a bit of an overview of the weather, including SPC outlooks, weather maps, radar, and storm reports. More of an overview is given for days with more footage.
I’m still finalizing the DVD, but it will probably be available for shipping by the end of this week…October 31st at the very latest.
Price until November 8 will be $20 domestic, $25 international. I will be selling the DVD at the National Weather Festival, so I will keep the price down through that weekend, before raising the price by $5.
For more details and ordering information, see my website: http://www.greenskychaser.com/sales.htm.
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10.17.10
Posted in Non-US Weather, Tropical Weather, Weather News at 10:04 am by Rebekah
Super Typhoon Megi, a strong tropical cyclone in the western Pacific basin, is forecast to make landfall in the Philippines (on the big island of Luzon) in less than 24 hours.
As you can see from the Weather Underground forecast track below (click to enlarge), if this tropical cyclone were in the Atlantic basin, it would be classified a Category 5, with winds of 180 mph and gusts to 220 mph (pressure is down to 895 mb). Megi is the strongest tropical cyclone in the western Pacific in nearly 20 years.
Here’s an infrared satellite image of Megi, again from Weather Underground:
After Megi strikes Luzon as a Category 5, the cyclone will briefly weaken before restrengthening and aiming its sights on southern China.
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10.15.10
Posted in Tropical Weather, Weather News, Winter Weather at 11:28 am by Rebekah
The nor’easter intensified ahead of schedule, deepening by 16 mb in just 12 hours. A bomb cyclone is an extratropical cyclone which intensifies by 24 mb in 24 hours, so this nor’easter could have come close to that, had the deepening continued.
The pressure is now 984 mb, and the first snow (several inches of it) has been reported in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire! Winds in the New England area are also pretty strong, as there is a pretty tight pressure gradient with this low.
The Weather Channel map of the cyclone as of 11:49 am EDT:
Oklahoma Weather Lab surface map of the cyclone, as of 12:00 pm EDT (click to enlarge):
In future news, models are picking up on the possibility of a strong hurricane developing in the Caribbean in another week. The GFS model has it crossing over Cuba, but perpendicular to Paula’s track…this one would go south to north across Cuba. Could be something to keep an eye on for those in the Caribbean. The next named storm in the Atlantic would be Richard.
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10.14.10
Posted in Weather News at 2:46 pm by Rebekah
Models over the last week have consistently been showing a nor’easter developing at the end of this week.
A nor’easter is a strong extratropical cyclone that forms off the New England coast, bringing strong northeast winds into New England. These storm systems are most often associated with wintry conditions.
Here’s what the GFS model shows in terms of the location and depth of the nor’easter (this map is valid for 00Z Saturday, or 8pm EDT Friday; click to enlarge):
This surface map, courtesy of the Oklahoma Weather Lab, shows a 988 mb low (fairly low pressure for this time of year) centered over southern Maine. The lines represent surface pressure, and the colors represent surface temperature. Temperatures at this time are forecast to be in the 30s in northeastern New York, Vermont, western New Hampshire, and northwestern Massachusetts.
The most likely scenario is for there to be some snow in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire tomorrow night, with cold rain and the possibility for flooding over much of the rest of New England.
It’s probably a good thing that the American League Championship Series starts in Texas tomorrow night. I can’t cheer for the Rangers and Cliff Lee, especially after the Rangers got Lee from the Mariners this year. So GO YANKEES!!
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10.13.10
Posted in General News at 10:55 am by Rebekah
At 9:06 am, I was upstairs in my 2-story apartment, about to leave for class, when I heard a giant rumble and felt the whole building shake.
Not having lived in earthquake country for a few years, I was confused for a minute at what that was. My cat just ran into the hall, crouched down low and stared at the door, as if he was expecting some elephant to walk in the door. My neighbors started yelling and I stepped outside to see what was going on. “Earthquake!” someone smiled. “I’m just talking to my wife and she says they felt it in Moore!” one man called out.
I saw that on facebook and twitter, everyone around Norman was talking about the earthquake. People have now reported feeling it as far away as Wichita, Kansas and Dallas, Texas.
The USGS initially reported the earthquake as a 4.5, but since then they’ve updated the information to a 4.3 magnitude quake, centered 6 miles ESE of Norman, and 3.1 miles deep.
The last earthquake I remember feeling was a strong 6.8 quake that lasted a minute, when I lived back in Ellensburg, Washington. That one was centered near Olympia, on the west side, but we felt it on the east side and even the high school was damaged and had to be rebuilt. The quake lasted for a minute, unlike the one this morning, which only lasted for probably 15 or so seconds.
The campus is abuzz with talk of the earthquake…everyone has their story of where they were and what they felt, or a story of how they didn’t feel it because they were sleeping or driving.
What a crazy way to start the day!
USGS link to the information on the quake…it may be updated if more information becomes available:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2010ciay.php
UPDATE @ 11:30am CDT: USGS now says depth was 4.9 miles, and the epicenter was 8 miles east of Norman. Two people reported as injured.
UPDATE @ 11:42am CDT: Oklahoma Geological Survey saying quake was 5.1 magnitude (official USGS report still says 4.3)
UPDATE @ 12:07pm CDT: USGS maintaining 4.3 magnitude, though eventually I expect they would come into agreement with the Oklahoma Geological Survey (or the other way around). If it is a 5.1, that is the 2nd strongest earthquake in Oklahoma history (the strongest being a 5.5 on the Richter scale). The USGS has updated the epicenter to 10 miles east of Norman, +/- 4.0 miles…the depth they maintain at 4.9 miles, +/- 5.6 miles.
UPDATE 10/14 @ 2:20pm CDT: OGS revised their magnitude to 4.7, closer to the USGS 4.3.
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