First, I heard so much about Dorian's track and how erratic it was. Actually, Dorian, and all other hurricanes are simply blobs of atmospheric heat and humidity that move thanks to the weak steering winds in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere that gently nudge them along. (Think of a cork floating and drifting in a relatively calm pool of water.) If the upper winds are too strong, shearing phenomena often will decimate the storm into a cluster of disorganized thunderstorms. The fact that Dorian essentially stalled allowed the storm to strengthen as the upper air was quite favorable for ventilation and strengthening. Look at Hurricane Ginger...
Sorry...actually I was a Mary Ann type myself...but this Hurricane Ginger...a month long storm that became nearly stationary at 2 different points in its track. It made landfall as so many tropical systems do in NC as a Cat 1 'cane.
But Dorian was the strongest Atlantic Hurricane ever...NOT! Yes, Dorian was a beast to be sure! But 910 mb at its lowest pressure is good for 9th best in the Atlantic basin all time. Hurricane Ivan which was nasty for many humans equaled that low pressure...and speak of an erratic path! Dorian is like the Bryce Harper of hurricanes; generates a lot of talk, and deservedly so, but is only 9th best! Bellinger, Acuna, Alfonso, Rendon, Soto, Freeman...you get the picture. Sorry I digress; darn ADD!
Please do not take this for me down playing Dorian. This powerful hurricane single handedly beefed up the North Atlantic ACE Index (Accumulated Cyclone Energy) in one fell swoop. Yes, there were some other insignificant storms during this time period, but study the graph and the near vertical slope of the 2019 line (blue) compared to normal climatology is due to Dorian and little else. Frankly, the 3 prior storms this year were hardly worth a name IMHO...
And for those of us...ME INCLUDED...with short memories, here was Hurricane Matthew's track just 3 years prior...that storm skirted the coast of FL as a 4 and a 3 and had many in dire consternation of the end game. Check it out...
So what are you sayin' Smitty? Well, hurricanes, both strong and weak are nothing new. We have simply unbelievable technology that is both a boom and a bane for us humans when it comes to not only meteorology, but all aspects of our lives. Satellite technology is just so incredible now; I remember taking a Remote Sensing course at PSU in 1981 not even knowing what Remote Sensing was and became so enthralled with what primitive satellite imagery could do. I was like a kid in a candy shop! Now on virtually every social media and TV outlet, we all see these incredible images of the eye of these meteorological masterpieces! Galveston 1900 would not even be a "disaster" if it were that humanity had even 10% of this type of technology at best! For those of you wanting to learn more about the Galveston Hurricane, here is a brief analysis; (get by the fact that it is Fox News!)
OK...I said brief. And with that, a brief ditty to sign off. Since I'm in a rock and roll kinda mood, here you go. Enjoy! (A winter type storm vs a summer type storm; I get it...I know...but I like the tune!) And enjoy the fall-like weather that will accompany the passage of Dorian as he passes our latitude and becomes absorbed into the westerlies completing his job of trying to equalize the heat and humidity of the tropics with the cool and dryness of the polar latitudes' air masses. There are other tropical systems currently doing their dirty work, but none to truly threaten the US for the next couple of weeks. Here you go...
I'm out...
Smitty
AA: How about that 11-10 Nats comeback last night? Wow! Not sure the BoSox have that in them this year. i know the Os don't! I would not want to play the Nats in the post season. A dry spell looks to be in order over the next 10 days; might be a respite in the small engine hum over the next week or two?
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