07.23.10
Posted in Tropical Weather, Weather News at 6:59 pm by Rebekah
Tropical Storm Bonnie formed just southeast of Florida last night, and made landfall over southern Florida this morning.
The above visible satellite image, from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), shows the remains of Bonnie entering the Gulf of Mexico this evening.
Although the NHC initially forecast Bonnie to strengthen to a tropical storm again before making landfall in Louisiana, an upper-level high over the southeastern U.S. and an upper-level low over the Gulf of Mexico are working to steer the tropical depression towards an area of wind shear, which will prevent Bonnie from strengthening.
The 250mb map below (click to enlarge), from the UCAR RAP, indicates the upper-level high by the blue, clockwise streamlines and the upper-level low by the blue, counter-clockwise streamlines. The orange and yellow highlighted area over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico represents an upper-level jet streak (enhancing the wind shear across Bonnie’s track), with winds going from southeast to northwest.
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07.12.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:01 pm by Rebekah
Chasing today with Dean and Jeff again; we’re just west of Hays, Kansas, heading westward towards a lone cell south of Goodland. Hoping with some decent shear that it will turn into a supercell and we’ll perhaps get at least some large hail and nice lightning…
Chased yesterday in north central Oklahoma to just northwest of Oklahoma City; saw some very close lightning and torrential rain.
The day before yesterday we also chased in northwest Kansas and saw 1.5-inch hail and some incredible lightning.
Tomorrow we’ll also be chasing somewhere perhaps in north central to northeast Nebraska. For never having chased in July, we’ve been seeing some nice storms and still have (hopefully) even better storms to come, today and tomorrow.
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07.10.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:57 am by Rebekah
Off on my first July storm chase…initial target, Colby, Kansas!
Just hoping for a decent thunderstorm…hopefully a supercell!
You can track me on Spotter Network or on my tracking page on my website.
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07.08.10
Posted in Tropical Weather, Weather News at 1:01 pm by Rebekah
Late last night a new tropical depression formed off of the south Texas / northeastern Mexican coast. Tropical Depression 2 (TD2) was forecast by the National Hurricane Center to briefly become Tropical Storm Bonnie by this morning, but at 10:15 am CDT, TD2 made landfall near Brownsville, Texas.
Brownsville, Texas radar loop, from the NWS Brownsville office.
The primary threat with TD2 is heavy rainfall; this rain is coming down on areas already saturated by former Hurricane Alex last week.
Rain forecast by NWS Brownsville office.
The remnant low will likely follow a similar path to that of Alex, tracking northward up towards Oklahoma, interacting with a front and bringing more showers and thunderstorms to the Southern Plains.
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07.06.10
Posted in Non-US Weather, Weather News at 10:37 pm by Rebekah
This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Hillbrow Tower in Johannesburg, South Africa. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, Johannesburg is located at about 26 °S, 28 °E. Johannesburg’s economy is centered around the lucrative gold and diamond trade. The city is also hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, which is coming up this Sunday between the Netherlands and either Germany or Spain. Johannesburg is home to 3.9 million people (6.3 million in the metro).
A few more facts about Johannesburg (from Wikipedia):
- Time zone: South Africa Standard Time (UTC+2)
- Elevation: 5,751 ft above mean sea level
- Climate zone: Subtropical highland
- Average high temperature: 71 °F (22 °C)
- Average low temperature: 50 °F (10 °C)
- Average annual precipitation: 28 inches (713 mm)
Current weather: It is currently winter in Johannesburg, so the days are sunny and mild and in the 60s with lows near freezing. South Africa is at a latitude that is frequently dominated by high pressure, and this time is no exception, with a surface high in place and a ridge aloft, thus keeping the weather fairly pleasant (though nights could be cold). Sunday’s Weather Underground forecast for the World Cup calls for clear skies with a high of 62 °F and a low of 35 °F, while the South African Weather Service forecast calls for a high of 18 °C (64 °F) and a low of 1 °C (34 °C).
00Z (2 AM in Johannesburg, 5 PM in Los Angeles) METEOSAT infrared satellite image of Africa, showing clear skies over southern Africa. Courtesy of the GOES website. Click to enlarge.
For more information on Johannesburg, here’s a link to Wikipedia.
For weather maps and information on current and forecast Johannesburg weather, see the South African Weather Service site.
Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment on this post!
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