1 Volcano , Hurricane Prep, Weather Channel Sex Storm

Chaiten Volcano Erupts

After more than 9,000 years of silence, Chaitén Volcano in southern Chile erupted on May 2, 2008. The plume of ash and steam rose 10.7 to 16.8 kilometers (35,000 to 55,000 feet) into the atmosphere, reported the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. According to news reports issued by the AFP news service, ash blanketed the town of Chaitén, 10 kilometers away, forcing the town’s 4,000 people to evacuate by boat.
On May 3, ash and steam continued to billow from the volcano. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this photo-like image of a long, cloud-like plume flowing southeast from the volcano’s summit on May 3 at 10:35 a.m. local time (14:35 UTC). The plume rises high over the Andes Mountains, drifts across Argentina, and dissipates over the Atlantic Ocean. Ash closed schools, roads, and an airport in Argentina, hundreds of kilometers away from the volcano, said AFP.

Hurricane Preparation
While the death toll of the Tropical Cyclone in Myanmar continues to develop, Baltimore County held a mock hurricane drill yesterday. They staged a Category 4 event to prepare for evacuation, shelters, emergency management, etc. While I applaud the effort, I have to ask who came up with Category 4? Maryland has had only one direct hit from a hurricane in over 100 years, and it was a category 1.

Mother's Day Outlook

Here is another look at the Canadian model which for the second day in a row is showing an approaching storm on Sunday. While there are a few more days to sort out the details, it looks like a return to an active pattern for us. So plan for rain on Mother's Day- at least moving in the afternoon. Right now I would hedge my bets on brunch- but any morning sun will quickly fade as this storm approaches.



Sex Storm at The Weather Channel
A woman I briefly knew at Cornell is in the middle of a battle with The Weather Channel. The Smkoing Gun has more...