Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Quoting Bielle:
Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Better late than never.

The drought is dead. Long live the drought!

Thanks Dr. Masters for your update..
Hope you enjoyed your holiday and were able to have your family with you this year..
Here is the Drought Forecast for November 15,2012 until February 28,2013..

Thanks Dr. Masters.

The holiday weather has definitely been remarkably lacking in weather-related drama. In fact, the entire work/travel week has been nice, with record highs over the last four days outnumbering record lows by 248 to 4, a 62:1 ratio)

Thanks Dr. Masters, it has been a nice holiday weather wise.

I wonder if that lovely swirl north o Bermuda has what it takes to become a subtropical storm, it's looking pretty good at the moment.

Quoting Neapolitan:
The holiday weather has definitely been remarkably lacking in weather-related drama. In fact, the entire work/travel week has been nice, with record highs over the last four days outnumbering record lows by 248 to 4, a 62:1 ratio)

Dense fog is not nice weather. 140+ vehicle crashes is drama.

Thanks Doc.

Thank you Dr. Masters...... The weather here in south Florida is absolutely gorgeous.

This time of the year is so boring to me. Hurricane season is calming down, the secondary tornado season peak is calming down, but winter storms haven't really gotten going yet.

Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13:
This time of the year is so boring to me. Hurricane season is calming down, the secondary tornado season peak is calming down, but winter storms haven't really gotten going yet.

I love boring

Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13:
This time of the year is so boring to me. Hurricane season is calming down, the secondary tornado season peak is calming down, but winter storms haven't really gotten going yet.

Well, it wasn't an active tornado season to begin with and there really wasn't much of a secondary peak. We could just skip to Christmas and have winter underway.

Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13:
This time of the year is so boring to me. Hurricane season is calming down, the secondary tornado season peak is calming down, but winter storms haven't really gotten going yet.

Cultivate your interests. Good time to diversify.

Edit: That sounds like a fortune cookie.

Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13:
This time of the year is so boring to me. Hurricane season is calming down, the secondary tornado season peak is calming down, but winter storms haven't really gotten going yet.

Well, after Sandy I think we deserve a good break.

This hurricane season has been by far one of the more strange ones, and certainly one of the most destructive. It amazes me though, I was looking through the news and I saw an article bashing GW and such (though, I'd rather not go into the details of Global warming), and the general idea of the article was 'oh yea, what happened to the amount of destruction in 2005, why, if the climate is changing, hadn't we seen a real destructive hurricane until Sandy?', it's like people have completely zoned out anything that's happened between Katrina and Sandy, and that somehow the only real hurricane since Katrina was Sandy, which is ridiculous.

Just had to get that off my chest.


Anyways, I really hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has a wonderful Christmas.

Here's a joke for you all for the holidays.

How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

Quoting LostTomorrows:
I wonder if that lovely swirl north o Bermuda has what it takes to become a subtropical storm, it's looking pretty good at the moment.

I somehow doubt it ... the sea surface temps are rather cool


but the low does have a lovely swirl to it link for full animation embedded

BORING.......... ENDLESS BORING TIME. HOPE 2013 WILL BE WETTER... I LOVED 2010 and 2011.

That's a same to have a NOVEMBER this DRY.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday began reducing the flow from a Missouri River reservoir, a move expected to worsen low water conditions on the Mississippi River and potentially bring barge traffic to a halt within weeks.

One result of this year's drought, the worst in decades, has been a big drop in water levels on both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

The Corps of Engineers office in Omaha, Neb., announced earlier this month plans to reduce the outflow from the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, S.D. Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer told The Associated Press that the reduction began as scheduled Friday morning. By late-morning, the flow that had started at 37,500 cubic feet per second had been cut to 35,500 cubic feet per second.

Farmer said plans call for a gradual reduction down to 12,000 cubic feet per second by Dec. 11.

The Mississippi is nearing historic lows between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill. Barges are already required to carry lighter loads and the middle of the river could be closed to barge traffic if the water level at St. Louis dips below minus 5 feet. It was at minus 0.45 feet Friday.

A zero river reading at St. Louis was established more than a century ago. It's the point at which people at that time thought the river would never drop below.

The National Weather Service forecast for river levels extends only as far as Dec. 6. It calls for the Mississippi River to get to minus 3.7 feet at St. Louis by then. Businesses that ship on the river and their trade groups expect to get to minus 5 feet by around Dec. 10.

Barge operators and those who ship on the Mississippi have warned that stopping barge traffic would risk economic catastrophe for coal, agriculture, petroleum and other interests. Some companies have said they may have to lay off workers if barge traffic is halted for any significant amount of time. More here..

get out your woolies tonight lol...........

Hope it doesnt get cold enough to kill the citrus trees..URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
100 PM EST FRI NOV 23 2012

...FREEZE WATCH IN EFFECT FOR LEVY COUNTY SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY
MORNING...

.A COLD AIR MASS WILL FILTER INTO THE AREA AND LEAD TO SEVERAL
HOURS OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES FOR LEVY COUNTY.

FLZ039-242100-
/O.NEW.KTBW.FZ.A.0007.121125T0700Z-121125T1200Z/
LEVY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CEDAR KEY...CHIEFLAND
100 PM EST FRI NOV 23 2012

...FREEZE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY
MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL HAS
ISSUED A FREEZE WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY
NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.

* TEMPERATURE...SEVERAL HOURS OF BELOW 32 DEGREES.

* IMPACTS...DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE TO COLD SENSITIVE PLANTS. PLAN TO
COVER OR BRING INDOORS THESE PLANTS DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
ALSO BE SURE TO BRING PETS INSIDE TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE COLD.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FREEZE WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE POTENTIAL OF A WIDESPREAD AND
DAMAGING FREEZE WITHIN 24 TO 48 HOURS. DURING THE FREEZE
PERIOD...TEMPERATURES MAY REMAIN BELOW 32 DEGREES FOR MORE THAN
2 HOURS.

&&

$$

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1239 PM CST FRI NOV 23 2012

...FIRST WIDESPREAD FREEZE OF THE SEASON EXPECTED OVER PORTIONS
OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA SATURDAY NIGHT...

.DEW POINTS IN THE 20S AND CLEAR SKIES WILL RESULT IN VERY
EFFICIENT RADIATIVE COOLING SATURDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES ARE
FORECAST TO DROP BELOW FREEZING FOR A FEW HOURS SUNDAY MORNING
ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE AREA THAT ARE GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF
A LINE FROM LIBERTY TO HAMMOND TO SLIDELL. TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW FREEZING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND SHOULD RISE
ABOVE FREEZING WITHIN AN HOUR OR TWO OF SUNRISE.

LAZ037-039-040-071-072-MSZ069>071-077-080>082-240 245-
/O.CON.KLIX.FZ.A.0002.121125T0600Z-121125T1300Z/
ST. HELENA-WASHINGTON-ST. TAMMANY-NORTHERN TANGIPAHOA-
SOUTHERN TANGIPAHOA-AMITE-PIKE-WALTHALL-PEARL RIVER-HANCOCK-
HARRISON-JACKSON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...GREENSBURG...MONTPELIER...BOGALUSA...
FRANKLINTON...SLIDELL...MANDEVILLE...COVINGTON... LACOMBE...
AMITE...KENTWOOD...HAMMOND...PONCHATOULA...GLOSTE R...LIBERTY...
CROSBY...MCCOMB...TYLERTOWN...PICAYUNE...BAY ST. LOUIS...
WAVELAND...DIAMONDHEAD...GULFPORT...BILOXI...PASC AGOULA...
OCEAN SPRINGS...MOSS POINT...GAUTIER...ST. MARTIN
1239 PM CST FRI NOV 23 2012

...FREEZE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT
THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...

* TIMING...TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO DROP BELOW FREEZING
AFTER MIDNIGHT SATURDAY NIGHT. ONCE TEMPERATURES DROP BELOW
FREEZING UNTIL AFTER SUNRISE.

* DURATION...TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE BELOW FREEZING FOR
4 TO 5 HOURS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FREEZE WATCH MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE.
THESE CONDITIONS COULD KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION.

&&

Quoting bappit:
How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

LOL

Quoting bappit:

Dense fog is not nice weather. 140 vehicle crashes is drama.

If you read closely, he specifically said "remarkably lacking" and not "completely nonexistent."


The prolonged calm weather, for almost the entire continent, is unusual for late fall. ...

Even north of the border, it has been relatively calm as of late, save for some snows in the Canadian prairies and, of course, the west coast. Ugh, I too am finding this extremely boring.

The temp is falling and winds are increasing in my area. Snow is beginning to mix and fall and even slightly be seen on grassy surfaces and roof edges.

Well, since it is a slow period and y'all are sounding bored, here is something fun to poke through (Caution: it's a bit woo-woo, but if you can set aside your fear of woo-woo, you might enjoy it!)

October 3, 1966, Monday

Mr. Rowland Swank, O.S.C.A.R.

Dear Rowland:

Well, I told you Thursday or Friday that I was working to turn Hurricane Inez from going West, to going North, check?

I had to do two things over the weekend... build Inez up to a hurricane again, after she died down to just a storm... then turn her toward Florida.

Enclosed is a photostat of today's N.Y. Times map of Inez... and you can see for yourself that, although last week she was coming in on Cuba, going WestXXX and according to the Weather Bureaus was not supposed to come near the U.S. - she changed direction over the weekend just as I was working for her to do, and shot toward the U.S., just shaving Electro. The paper says Inez's gales and storms are kicking the hell out of Electro, but she didn't hit Electro head on. I don't know how much of a miss this is, but it certainly isn't much. I guided Inez 1700 miles in on the target. Not a head on hit, but damn good shooting, nevertheless. Don't you agree?

I'm still trying to turn her in left for a head-on hit, because she's alongside... or if she gets out a little, I'll try to repeat Betsy over again.

Link

Quoting bappit:
How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

Kinda like Dyslexia....5 out 0f 4 people have it.

Quoting SteveDa1:

If you read closely, he specifically said "remarkably lacking" and not "completely nonexistent."


The prolonged calm weather, for almost the entire continent, is unusual for late fall. ...

Even north of the border, it has been relatively calm, as of late, save for some snows in the Canadian prairies, and, of course, the west coast. Ugh, I too am finding this extremely boring.

Coastal fog is not that unusual. Here's betting that most or all of the drivers get cited for "Driving too fast for current conditions". Houston-ites should know better. Anyone should.

8 pcola57: Predicted Soil Moisture Anomaly

Forecasting "14Nov2012-07Nov2012" ain't much of a prediction.

Quoting MontanaZephyr:


Coastal fog is not that unusual. Here's betting that most or all of the drivers get cited for "Driving too fast for current conditions". Houston-ites should know better. Anyone should.

Y'all are oblivously obvious to the dangers of patchy dense fog--which can occur just about anywhere. I think one notorious location is up in the mountains of eastern Tennessee.

Patchy dense fog can go from good visibility to basically none in a blink at 70 mph (typical speed in that stretch). Basically you are helpless no matter how far you are behind the driver in front of you. If you slow down, the driver behind runs into you. If you do not slow down you risk running into the driver in front of you at full speed. Basically a no-win situation.

Quoting aspectre:
8 pcola57: Predicted Soil Moisture Anomaly

Forecasting "14Nov2012-07Nov2012" ain't much of a prediction.

Yeah thanks aspectre..I saw that..but couldn't find any prediction farther out..started not to post it.. :)

Quoting VR46L:


I somehow doubt it ... the sea surface temps are rather cool


but the low does have a lovely swirl to it link for full animation embedded

What about the little "spin" on the clouds South of Jamaica...? Just asking..

Quoting Grothar:


LOL

I do...........

Quoting bappit:

Dense fog is not nice weather. 140+ vehicle crashes is drama.

Right on target, bappit.
That was another horrible pile-up yesterday in TX... A sad fact we have yet to devise a useful warning system for motorists, at least on interstates, with so many lives at stake... I could envision employing automated sensors / caution lights, mandatory speed reduction, etc, but with the sheer scale and amount of equipment needed to deploy, most certainly no available funding to do such... That said, it always amazes me how many people on the road appear oblivious, continuing along at high speed once they drive into totally blind conditions. But one can come upon those deadly conditions usually without foresight, with the patchy, localized nature of dense fog.

Isn't it a curious fact that some of the most dangerous, and often deadly - yet benign weather - in the short-term is fog... and in the long-term is drought!

Quoting HuracanTaino:
What about the little "spin" on the clouds South of Jamaica...? Just asking..

Very hostile dry enviroment.. don't think it has much of a chance HuracanTaino..

Thanks Dr. Masters.

Quoting bappit:

Y'all are oblivously obvious to the dangers of patchy dense fog--which can occur just about anywhere. I think one notorious location is up in the mountains of eastern Tennessee.

Patchy dense fog can go from good visibility to basically none in a blink at 70 mph (typical speed in that stretch). Basically you are helpless no matter how far you are behind the driver in front of you. If you slow down, the driver behind runs into you. If you do not slow down you risk running into the driver in front of you at full speed. Basically a no-win situation.

Guess what? There's a Wikipedia article on multi-vehicle accidents. The give a list. First one is:

"Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Tennessee, United States, between Chattanooga and Knoxville near the Hiwassee River, due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 99 vehicles; 12 deaths and 42 injuries. A fog warning system has since been installed, and the highway patrol enforces speed limits aggressively."

I listened to a story about this one some years ago. It seems that back in the 1800's people would have to get off their horses and lead them on foot the fog would get so thick. Also, the fog was very local. They built an interstate through the valley with predictable results.

Edit: here's a nice article about the problem. They have installed warning lights to alert people to the fog ahead of them.

They took some extreme measures.

"In 1993 a fog warning system was installed on I-75 in the fog zone where the accident occurred. There are 19 miles of fog lights, 8 fog detectors and 22 speed detectors that were installed at a cost of almost 4.5 million dollars. Gates were put in at several on/off ramps at various exists in the area. The gates are operated by sensors. The highway can literally be shut down and traffic re-routed to side roads."

Quoting HuracanTaino:
What about the little "spin" on the clouds South of Jamaica...? Just asking..

I dont know

appears to be a bit that came off the front



and appears to be dissipating and has alot of shear loop embedded

FWIW, it would cost prohibitive, but a remotely operated light and or gate system to shut down limited access highways should be on them all. So even if in clear weather something happens where you need to shut down the highway you could. And without having to use a bunch of law enforcement officers to do so. Also this would allow the shutdown to happen very quick.

re: #44

Yep, exactly what's needed... and prohibitively expensive to accomplish for large-scale coverage.

Quoting MontanaZephyr:


Coastal fog is not that unusual. Here's betting that most or all of the drivers get cited for "Driving too fast for current conditions". Houston-ites should know better. Anyone should.

This was "radiation fog". A type not limited to the coast. You may have seen some where you live. Also, this was on an INTERSTATE highway approx. 70 miles from Houston. May be a bit of a stretch to assume all those involved were from Houston.

Quoting bappit:
How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

If that's not a play on words, and referring to more or less the same thing as "telekinesis" then:

The concept of "moving something with your mind" is conceivably plausible within the known laws of physics.

Although the existence of a biological mechanism to produce, contain, and direct whatever energy is involved to control the manipulation, well, that seems far fetched to believe it hasn't been found yet, though again, not entirely implausible.

After all, we have lots of similar things in science:

Savants can do decimal math to a higher degree of precision than computers.

Electric Eels store electric charge in their muscles, and consciously release it in deadly amounts. While not existing at comic book levels, obviously, it's the best example of conscious "anything-kinesis" that I know of in nature.

All fish appear to have at least one extra sense compared to humans.


Is the concept possible? Yes.

Is a mechanism possible? Yes. Humans are experimenting with the "Spooky action at a distance" as per Quantum Entanglement in laboratories all the time now.


Is a biological mechanism possible? Most likely.

Does it exist? Who knows. Almost everything you can conceive has existed at some scale, at some time in Earth's history of life.

Quoting bappit:

Dense fog is not nice weather. 140+ vehicle crashes is drama.

Well, dense fog is hardly severe weather. In fact, fog is a stable-weather phenomenon. And that wreck, bad as it was, was in but a single location in Texas--hardly indicative of the nation's delightful Thanksgiving weather as a whole, and nothing on a par with, say, a massive multi-state winter system inconveniencing tens of millions. (Too, there are about 17,000 motor vehicle accidents in the U.S each day; the Texas wreck just happened to involve far more motor vehicles than normal.)

Quoting PalmBeachWeather:
I love boring

Unless it's unseasonably hot, droughts are periods of wonderful weather that just go on and on to the point of being boring.

Too much good weather just might be a drought.