Sunday Rain July 28, 2008

Sunday’s approaching cool front triggered quite a bit of thunderstorm activity for about an eight hour period starting around lunchtime. There were numerous reports of severe weather across the region. Hail seemed to be the biggest component this time ’round but there were also reports of wind gusts in the 40-60 mph range as well. There [...]

Coolest Summer Ever? In Alaska! July 28, 2008

Here in Baltimore the measuring stick for summer heat is the 90 degree mark. Three consecutive days in the 90s is generally considered to be a “heat wave”, and of course, the heat can go on much longer when the stubborn Bermuda High won’t budge. So, it might be hard to relate to [...]

Thank You Dolly July 28, 2008

Hurricanes are destructive and dangerous, especially in areas where coastal developers ignore the threat, so we frequently hear of the damage they do and the disruptions to daily life they cause. But, these storms are part of the natural earth-atmosphere system and they do provide some benefits. In Texas, for example, hurricane Dolly [...]

Dolly Totals July 25, 2008

Dolly’s Winds…..

The highest winds were noted in the area where the eye of the storm crossed the barrier islands as the storm began to move inland.
Dolly’s Rainfall……..

The heaviest rains were measured in a narrow band north of Brownsville, roughly along the path of the eye of the storm as it began to move inland. Notice [...]

Dolly Rain Estimates July 24, 2008

The National Weather Service doppler radar calculates precipitation totals. Below is an image of the Brownsville radar’s storm total display from Wednesday evening.

A band of 12 to 20 inches of rain has been estimated to have fallen so far just north of Brownsville. This band is roughly along or just north of the path of [...]

Dolly Details July 23, 2008

Dolly slammed into the Texas coast as a category 2 hurricane midday Wednesday. The image below is from the Brownsville, Texas, National Weather Service Doppler Radar.

Dolly as seen by Doppler Radar from Brownsville, TX coming onto the far south Texas coastline.
The image below shows the falling pressure and rising winds as the storm approached the [...]

Rough Day On The Gulf Coast July 23, 2008

The Wednesday morning NOAA visible light satellite picture shows that hurricane Dolly is about to make landfall along the Texas/Mexico coast.

At 9am EDT Dolly was 40 miles east of Brownsville, Texas. Brownsville is inland and the satellite picture shows that the eyewall appears to be on the coast. The storm is moving northwest at 8 [...]

Satellite Picture With A Bit Of Everything July 23, 2008

A quick break from all of the hurricane news. I ran across an interesting satellite picture from last week. It is visible imagery and shows amazing detail of a number of weather related situations over the Pacific Northwest.

Smoke and haze from northern California wildfires are streaming toward the northern plaines. A little farther north, satellite [...]

Dolly Update Tuesday Evening July 22, 2008

Dolly is now a hurricane with 75 mph winds and a central pressure of 29.12″. At 5pm EDT Dolly was 165 miles ESE of Brownsville, TX and was moving northwest at 10 mph.
The storm is close enough to the coast that the Brownsville radar can detect the developing eye in the rain bands.

It is expected [...]

Dolly And Bertha Satellite Pictures July 22, 2008

As of Tuesday morning it is apparent that Dolly has the potential to cause some problems along the Gulf coast of south Texas and Mexico. The storm continues to strengthen and is headed in the general direction of Brownsville.

The picture above is NOAA visible satellite imagery from early Tuesday morning. Check out our Hurricane Tracker [...]