Hurricane Harbor

A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Storm of Discussion on What is in a Name. Invest 91L vs Tropical Storm Bill? Texas Prepares for a Tropical Storm. Upgraded

Upgrade in process.


Will update with graphics as they come out..

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God Bless the NWS really!
They do an amazing job, every day all across the USA.
With a name, without a name they are there.
Writing discussion
Issuing watches and warnings
Informing the public of weather dangers


Excellent discussion from NWS Houston


There has been a storm of discussion all afternoon why the NHC did not upgrade Invest 91L to Tropical Depression or Tropical Storm status earlier. Without being designated they cannot put out watches, warnings and lots of pretty graphics for the public. The general public, the Average Joe or Bill doesn't usually respect a weather unless it has a NAME. That is one reason the TWC went ahead and began naming Winter Storms. People pay attention to a name. The term "anonymous" gets old fast. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/hurricane-sandy-recap-historic-storm-from-storm-surge-to-snow/2012/10/31/9a7c56d8-2362-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_blog.html

When Sandy was making landfall in New York they downgraded it just prior to landfall. People were upset, confused and the NHC had said they would not go through that again and find better ways to keep the public alert and informed. True this is far from a Major Hurricane about to make landfall near New York City. But, it is a large, wet tropical system that is making landfall in an area that just had record flooding. 

There is a discussion on the Brown Ocean Effect with this storm as the ground, the brown ground is still wet and still filled with moisture. In this case rather than falling apart rapidly this storm may in fact hang in there and get more impressive over the very brown ground.  


http://mashable.com/2015/06/15/texas-floods-brown-ocean-storm/


Time will tell. Timing is everything, especially with regard to tides so I am posting tidal information below for the area most likely to be where this storm makes landfall.



Tide information ...Timing is everything



People are being asked to evacuate low lying areas


(looks nice there... I'd like to see it)

Everyone is watching this system come together



Flood watches are going up.



Understand the ground in Texas is not like in South Florida
South Florida is porous.
When it rains the water goes down through the limestone... 


http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=geog_fac_pub

In some places Down South the ground is hard red clay.
When it rains it just stays there sort of "mushy"

I see it when I'm in NC
Blows me away.
Stays that way.

Brown Ocean Effect

One explanation why it may intensify or hang in over land.
Read the links above.

Again time will tell and that time is coming soon

There has been a lot of criticism of the NHC
Luckily between the NWS, TWC and Local Media
People are taking this seriously


I hope they are taking it as seriously as they should.
Especially inland away from the coast.

And, when I say "coast" be aware it's a long coastline.
Lots of islands
Low lying areas
Bayous


Up close...



Very low lying barrier islands.
Lots of fisherman and seasonal tourists.

Flooding from Tropical Storm Allison



The problem with this storm is that it will merge with a front
(well tropical systems often do...)
And create a swath of weather over a large area.

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You can watch as this storm makes landfall

http://www.spaghettimodels.com/cities/galveston.htm


My bottom line... 

Convection looks better.
Some banding.
Signs of Outflow
Low pressure center...
...tho not a "pretty center" it's a "center"
Moving towards land.

Needs a name.
Needs warnings.

I'm not the NHC
I am just giving my belief.

In truth... 
Employers don't respect "no name storms"
People respect "names"
People respect NHC advisories

I wish the NWS got that sort of respect

Put in NWS Briefing into a browser

I got this


When you put in NHC Briefing... 
Press Conferences


Become familiar with your NWS

www.weather.gov


They are there all the time.
A defined circulation center or not.
If there is weather... 
...they are on top of it
24/7
365 Days a Year

Besos Bobbi

Ps. Bonus video of John Hope covering TS Allison on TWC

















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