Back From The Storm

Our weekend anchor Amber Moody made it back to Huntsville last night. What a wild 7 days she has had. First getting married (That will scare anybody!) and then off to an idyllic honeymoon...in Cancun!

When she got my message last week (It was short and simple.."Get out NOW!") she tried to get a flight but it was already too late. The already heavily booked flights were all full. She has some real stories to tell about howling winds and incredible floods. She made it to Merida and a flight out last night,after an all day bus ride.

Not even I would take a honeymoon to a cat 5 hurricane (Cat 4 maybe) but she had no way of knowing that the weak depression in the Caribbean would grow in 24 hours to a monster. Usually by mid October the tropics are quieting down. Not this year!

We now have Tropical Storm Beta and this one really scares me. It looks like it will hit Nicaragua. The mountains in Central America will squeeze out rainfall totals that could approach planetary records. It is such a poor country and floods and mud slides could very well lead to a major catastrophe.

Model guidance this evening has Beta up to a cat 2 hurricane in 48 hours. Let's hope they are wrong.

later,
Dan

My Kind of Weather

The warm weather crowd in the newsroom is already grumbling. This is already to much for them! For those of us that like the cooler weather, this is hog heaven!

Last night, I opened the window and turned up the old electric blanket to well done..and slept well!

This pattern is going to continue all week with a deep upper trough in the jet stream parked over the eastern half of North America. If this pattern becomes the favored winter pattern, it will be a cold one indeed. Too soon to know about that yet but do read my winter forecast blog from last week.

If you have tender plants still out, then you will want to protect them by dark on Tuesday. Widespread frosts are likely in the rural areas for sure by Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

The frost will be light in many areas but thicker in the cold pockets...like NE Madison County and in the Hampton Cove area. Need I say also in the valleys of Dekalb and Jackson counties.

We have had a string of mild winters...perhaps this is a sign that this one will be different. I for one hope so!

On another note, the cold air now moving into the Gulf should cool it down enough that another strong hurricane is virtually impossible this year.

Later,
Dan