Gustav And Hanna Sunday Midday August 31, 2008

Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna continue to churn in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
Photo courtesy NOAA
Gustav weakened crossing Cuba late Saturday and has been unable to regain strength despite passing over very warm waters in the Gulf. Higher altitude winds may be partly to blame. At 11:00am EDT Sunday, Gustav’s winds [...]

Gustav Over Western Cuba August 30, 2008

As of 5:00pm EDT Gustav was a strong category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. The NASA visible satellite picture below shows the impressive eye of the storm over western Cuba, roughly 65 miles west-southwest of Havana.

Hurricane force winds extend outward about 70 miles from the eye of the Gustav so Havana is right on the edge [...]

Gustav Strengthens Rapidly August 30, 2008

Hurrican Gustav strengthened rapidly Saturday morning. At 5:00am winds were reported to be 110 mph. At 6:00am a hurricane hunter aircraft measured winds at 115 mph. By 8:00am winds were up to 120 mph. and by 11:00am winds were reported to be 125 mph.
The NASA visible satellite picture below shows the storm at 10:30am EDT.

The [...]

Gustav and Hanna On Friday August 29, 2008

Tropical storms Gustav and Hanna continue to move through the Caribbean and Atlantic. The enhanced NOAA satellite picture below shows their early Friday morning positions.

The box in the lower right shows the general direction the storms will be traveling over the next few days.
It appears Gustav is headed for the north Gulf coast around Louisiana, [...]

Tropics Getting Busy August 29, 2008

There are now two tropical storms churning in the Atlantic Basin.

Gustav is moving across Jamaica as of Thursday evening with 70 mph winds. Hanna is the newest tropical storm located in the Atlantic, 260 miles northeast of the northern leeward islands.
Forecasts take Gustav to the north Gulf coast by Tuesday morning somewhere between northeast Texas [...]

Gustav Ready To Strengthen August 27, 2008

Tropical Storm Gustav continues to churn in the Caribbean over the southwest tip of Haiti. The NOAA satellite picture below shows the storm’s position mid afternoon Wednesday.

Gustav’s interaction with land has prevented it from becoming better organized. The forecast track for the storm will keep it over water just south of Cuba into Saturday and [...]

Gustav Gets Stronger August 26, 2008

Hurricane Gustav continues to gain strength near the south coast of Haiti with winds clocked at 90mph Tuesday morning. The NOAA satellite picture below shows that the storm, has yet to take on the classic form of a hurricane with a clearly defined eye.

Gustave started as a tropical wave in the central Atlantic but didn’t [...]

Record Rainfall August 24, 2008

This weekend the Mid Atlantic region is sitting high and dry while Tropical Storm Fay continues to dump buckets of rain on Florida. Back in 1933 the situation was reversed as the “Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane moved across the area.
Tropical systems were not named in those days and this storm is on the record books as Hurricane [...]

Rain Would Be Helpful August 22, 2008

It is certainly hard to complain about the weather we have had recently. August temperatures have been anything but extreme with only four days hitting 90 degrees or higher so far. Rainwise, unlike July, August has been dry.
A quick check of the record books at BWI-Marshall show that the last measurable rain was on August [...]

Fay Wednesday August 20, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay continues to wander around Florida. The colorized NOAA satellite picture below shows the storm position late Wednesday morning.

Fay is expected to turn back to a northwesterly track and head toward the Florida panhandle and Alabama.
Below is a National Weather Service Doppler Radar image showing the rain estimates over central Florida.
Notice how [...]