From Near and Far

I guess I picked a good week to go on a business trip. A very quiet weather pattern will dominate. Fairly typical September stuff. Low humidity will lead to cool mornings and warm afternoons. In the middle, a ton of sun.
So for today, all I want to do is direct your attention to the Chesapeake Bay. Last Saturday, NOAA deployed a Smart Buoy at the mouth of the Susquehanna river, where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. It is the fifth in a series to track the nutrient levels in the Bay.
I could elaborate more, but I am in a hurry this morning, so click here for the full story.

On a side note, USA Today continues to tap into recent events to support it's agenda. Recently they posted a story about research showing proof that Global Warming is leading to stronger hurricanes. The problem with the research is that it is just a small comparison- back to 1981. Why not go back farther to the last height of the 30 year cycle? Say the 1950s? At least they quoted a reasonable source- Christopher Landsea who helped Dr. William Gray develop his long range forecasting for tropical storms, and currently works at the National Hurricane Center. Click here for their article.

Every End is a New Beginning

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR PA issued around Noon for SUNDAY MORNING. I'll post tonight if MD gets on board.
Today is the end of a few things... First November 30th marks the end of Hurricane Season. A season that has been marred with ridicule. First the new director of the Hurricane Center had to resign after criticizing the lack of funding for old satellites. The expected active season was a dud. Yes we had 14 named storms, 5 Hurricanes, of which 2 were major. But this article in the Miami Herald points out the miss by the forecasters. This article from the Houston Chronicle suggests that some storms did not deserve a name. I agree and had blogged about these Sub Tropical systems early in the season.
Which brings me to the new beginning: My new web site is ready! This link will take you to the What's New Page. Don' forget to look at the menu tabs for Weather Graphics, Radars, and Maryland Spotlights on County weather.This blog as you see it can be seen in my new site with a clean and simplified look. So the next time I mention that I blogged about something months ago, this archive will help you find it. For those of you that have built web sites, know the work involved. So doing this myself, and getting in by my deadline of December is a personal accomplishment. I miss my family, as I have spent a lot of my free time working on this. Thank you all for your support and allowing me to share my thoughts with you over the past few years. Now I can share more, along with your comments and pics, etc. There is still a little more development needed, but let me know what you think. Please remember to bookmark the new page.

I am waiting for the new model runs, so my forecast map for Sunday is what I am sticking with. As the cold air gets 'dammed in' from High Pressure in Eastern Canada, I still see a chance for a morning mix - especially north of Baltimore. The gradual warming will likely bring our high in the 40s at night. So mostly rain for this one, but some flurries possible on Tuesday. It can be found in my Weather Graphics

Loss of a Legend

I did not know of the passing of this legend until I got a phone call from the WCBM newsroom. They were just asking me about the pronunciation of the man who founded the classification system for Hurricanes. It's ironic to talk tropics during this cold spell, but Herbert I got the news yesterday about a legend in the Weather World. It was a call from WCBM'sSaffir (saph- her) died the day before Thanksgiving at the age of 90. I did not know the man, but I know that in the famed year of 1969, he made a contribution to the field of meteorology by categorizing tropical cyclones based on wind speed, and damage. This was expanded by Robert Simpson - the former director of the National Hurricane Center. This Safir-Simpson scale is still the best way of communicating the strength of a storm today. A sad note: Now he joins the legendary Ted Fujita (founder of the original tornado classification scale), who dies in 1998.
It's the holiday weekend, and we all have our priorities: Thankfulness, shopping, football, and my personal favorite - the return to the cold. I have been spending my free time between the rest above- rebuilding my web page. Sounds like fun, huh? Well, I wasn't sure I was going to post this weekend, despite the fact that ski resorts (Snowshoe, WV) are opening nearby.