Good morning everyone

We got good news last night that we finally have a closing date on the home we’ve been working on over the last few months.  What a stressful process!  It’s going to be a busy next few weeks as we head into Thanksgiving and Christmas, but if all goes well, we should be in our house by Christmas.  Very exciting stuff.  I can’t wait to see little Matt with much more room to move around in.  I will certainly miss my time in Manhattan, but I’ve always been a suburbs kinda girl, so I think the transition won’t be a big problem despite the commute to work every day.  The weekends will seem like a mini-vacation!  One thing is for sure, I have so much to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving!

In weather news, we’re watching two systems right now impacting the U.S.  A strong storm pushing into the west coast is bringing more heavy rain, damaging winds and heavy snow for Washington, Oregon and Idaho down into Northern California and Nevada.  Winds could surpass hurricane force in terms of gusts especially over the canyons and passes.  Once this storm pushes through, there’s another one waiting in the wings for this weekend.  Not fun.

The other storm getting its act together is across the Gulf of Mexico bringing extremely heavy rain to Texas, Louisiana as well as Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Some localized coastal regions could get over 8 inches of rain as we head through the day.

And if you’ve been watching Fox this morning, then you’ve seen my colleague Amy Kellogg reporting on the extreme flooding across the UK.  Believe it or not, part of the moisture our friends “across the pond” are dealing with is the remnants of what was tropical storm Ida – and then transitioned  into the nor’easter that caused historic damage to the Midatlantic region and northeast last weekend.  A lot of the systems we see across the east coast eventually do make their way up towards Europe – and this one is no exception.  Some of the pictures are just devastating with water rescues and reports of people missing.

(Photo coutesy of AP:  Engineers survey the scene after a bridge over the River Derwent collapsed suddenly after heavy rainfall and flooding in Workington, England)

There’s a bit of a break in the weather today, but there’s more wet weather in store for the region this weekend.

So that’s all for now.  I’ve got some cute Matthew pictures that will be on the way shortly!

JD

Good morning everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend.  A lot of folks are cleaning up after that Nor’easter (formally tropical storm Ida) left its mark from North Carolina up into New Jersey.  Some of the pictures are pretty amazing, and this storm will certainly be remembered for years to come.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the country, a  storm moving across the central U.S. will bring rain over the southern plains, through the Mississippi Valley and into the southeast.   Where it’s cold enough for snow, we’ll see a few inches pile up over parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.   This system is forecast to stall, and bring more wet and wintry weather to the same areas.  Winter weather and flood advisories are posted along the storm’s path.  Meanwhile, another strong system will impact the Pacific Northwest with very heavy rain through tomorrow night as well as very strong winds for Washington and Oregon coastline. 

If you’re watching the Space Shuttle launch, weather shouldn’t be an issue with mostly sunny skies and 76 degrees.  Winds will be out of the NNW.

(Photo from AP:  The space shuttle Atlantis sits on the launch pad under cloudy skies Monday morning Nov. 16, 2009 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six astronauts are scheduled to lift off this afternoon on an 11-day mission to the international space station)

And, in weather-related news, this story got my attention this morning…what’s up with everyone trying to pull a fast one on mother nature?  I just don’t think any of this cloud seeding is going to work in the long term.

In funny-related news, I was in such a rush out of the  apartment this morning, I didn’t realize until I got into work that I had a huge ring around my mouth of dried toothpaste.  How embarrassing!   I should’ve taken a picture.  HA

JD

Interesting article out of China…with some debate on their recent “artificially induced” weather…

Check it out HERE

Snow-covered bicycles are seen parked along a street in central Beijing, on November 10. Chinese scientists artificially induced the second major snowstorm to wreak havoc in Beijing this season, state media said, reigniting debate over the practice of tinkering with Mother Nature.

(AFP/Frederic J. Brown)

Good morning everyone.

A rainy day at Arlington as we remember our military veterans.  In other parts of the world, it’s known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day (which is what I grew up calling it in Canada).   Watching the ceremonies right now it seems fitting sometimes to see grey skies and rain.   What’s left of Ida is the cause of today’s gloomy atmosphere, and unfortunately the Midatlantic up and up the east coast will remain unsettled for the rest of the week as the low associated with Ida moves off shore and hangs out while a non-tropical low southeast of Bermuda may get absorbed by the coastal storm.  No doubt the combination of these two systems is going to bring a powerful storm just off shore, so we’ll have to monitor things closely.   Heavy rain, strong winds, rip currents and beach erosion will be the story from the Outer Banks to Long Island.    Heavy rain will cause flooding in this region with some areas  seeing upwards of 6 inches.

On the other coast, we have some rain and snow entering the picture from Northern California up into Washington and Oregon.  Up to an inch of rain and over a foot of snow could pile up in the Cascades.

I think I published this poem last year.  It’s something I associate with Veterans Day because we used to say it out loud in class as kids.  We also used to sell little plastic poppies to wear on November 11th to commemorate the day of remembrance.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

(From the AP:  poppies placed in a fountain to mark the 91st anniversary of the end of World War I on Armistice Day in Trafalgar Square, London, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. Tens of millions of civilians and soldiers were killed during what was labeled the Great War between Germany and allied nations France, Britain and its former colonies, including the United States, Australia and Canada)

A horrible tragedy for El Salvador, as the death toll rises to at least 130.    Thousands of people are living in shelters, and many areas are without electricity and water.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this event was unrelated to Ida.  A tropical disturbance off the cost of El Salvador on the Pacific side was the main weather event that caused this horrific flooding.  This is the second deadliest weather disaster in that country’s history with the first being Hurricane Mitch back in 1998.  Just goes to show you – it doesn’t have to be a hurricane or even a tropical storm to cause massive destruction.  This system was just a low off the coast.  President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency.  And the worst part of this story?  At least 49 of the dead are believed to be children.  I’m trying to hold it together just writing this.  Please say a prayer for those in need today.

A woman cries over the coffin of Carolina Ayala, 15, who died during flooding in Verapaz, El Salvador, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Mud and rock slides caused by rain-fueled floods killed at least 124 people throughout El Salvador and left about five dozen missing, authorities said.  Photo couresy of AP.

Good morning everyone.  Came in to do Fox and Friends to cover Ida’s landfall, and am trying to stay awake since I have a bit of a sleepless night.  Matthew was up a lot, and I had a hard time getting back to zzzzzz’s  when I knew the alarm was going to go off at 3:30!  So I read a magazine and cleaned the apartment at around 2am!  Crazy.  Surprisingly, I’m doing ok, but I know the crash is coming soon!!!

So Ida is pretty much done.  The storm made landfall this morning on Dauphin Island, Alabama as a tropical storm.  It steadily weakened as it moved over land, but the rainfall is still pretty impressive over the southeast.   A widespread swath of 2-3 inches will fall from Alabama up into the Carolinas with some localized amounts of 8 inches still possible.  We could also see a few tornado warnings east of the center of the storm throughout the day.   What’s left of Ida is forecast to head offshore, and redevelop into a coastal low, however it doesn’t look like it will affect anyone in a big way as High Pressure moves into the northeast and keeps things quiet for the next few days.

In other news, the month of October was the THIRD COLDEST on record, and the WETTEST in the 115-years! ….Interesting….Hey Al Gore!  Take note, Dude!

Ok, off to get some coffee…and some cereal…maybe some toast…and bacon…HUNGRY!

jd

Hi everyone

We’re full steam ahead on Tropical Storm Ida which is weakening thankfully as it barrels towards the Gulf Coast.  I expect the system to make landfall overnight somewhere between Mobile and Pensacola.   Ida’s legacy will be heavy rain over an already soaking southeast.  4-8 inches of rain will fall causing some major problems as Ida moves inland.  There are indications that Ida will move across into the Atlantic again this week, and become a strong nor’easter for the northeast coast…so we’ll be talking about this storm for much of the workweek.    You can see the latest track HERE  (The National Hurricane Center will update this information every couple of hours as the storm gets closer to land.

Meanwhile, right around the time Ida was a tropical storm, we had a tropical disturbance on the west coast of Central America that killed 124 people (so far) with dozens missing in El Salvador.  I think a lot of the news wires were blaming these deaths on Ida, but that’s not accurate as Ida only really affected Nicaragua and Honduras.   Pacific moisture was pulled into the mountains of El Salvador, and therefore major flooding affected residents in this region.   Hopefully we won’t see a death toll like this from Ida.

I’ll check in a little later to give you another update, and say hello!

JD

Hi everyone.

It’s hard to watch the news right now, isn’t it?  I don’t really know what to write when it comes to the tragedy at Fort Hood.  It’s inexplicable why things like this happen.  I feel like I’m walking around with dark clouds over my head when I see updates about this horrifying event.  Even though I work in the 24 hour news business,  I think I might just have to turn off the tv set this weekend to focus on spending time with my family.  God Bless those in uniform whose job is to protect us and try to make this world a better place.  On days like today it’s hard to be optimistic…I can’t imagine what those families are going through in Texas today.  My heart weeps for them. 

In weather news (I know that’s a horrible transition – I just don’t know how to move on gently…so forgive me)  I’m still keeping a close watch on Tropical Depression Ida that is now going to move into warmer waters of the Southwest Caribbean, and over the weekend is forecast to strengthen back to a tropical storm.  From there, it looks like the path will lead the storm through the Yucatan Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico.  Where it goes from there, we’re not very certain of.    I don’t think we’ll be dealing with a hurricane, but maybe a strong tropical storm.   At this point, Florida looks like it could be the landfall location next week.    If you live along the Gulf Coast, probably a good idea to keep an eye on Ida.

If you’d like to keep track of the tropical updates, you can head HERE , and I will keep track of things on the blog as well.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.  We’re going to head out to the USS New York at some point either Saturday or Sunday.   I can’t wait to see the ship in person, and Sean is really excited to bring Matthew on board.  I’ll make sure we take more pictures to share with all of you!

Take care everyone,

JD

*** worth noting: in 2008 we had Hurricane Paloma,  which was a late season hurricane.  Paloma formed November 5th, and set several records for intensity and formation.  Paloma was the second most powerful November hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin.

Courtesy of  Dr. Jeff Masters of www.wunderground.com:

Historically, only about 5% of all Atlantic tropical storm activity occurs after November 1. Between 1871 and 2007, 60 tropical storms formed in November. Of these, 29 became hurricanes, and four of these, major hurricanes. There have also been two major hurricanes that formed in October and continued on into November. On average, one tropical storm forms in November every other year, and we can expect a November hurricane about one year in five.

The six major November hurricanes were Hurricane Michelle of 2001 (Cat 4, 140 mph); Hurricane Lenny of 1999 (Cat 4, 150 mph); Hurricane Kate of 1985 (Cat 3, 120 mph); Hurricane Greta of 1956 (Cat 4, 140 mph); Hurricane 10 of 1932 (Cat 4, 135 mph); and Hurricane 7 of 1912 (Cat 3, 115 mph). There have been no major hurricanes in the months December through April.

Major hurricanes in the Atlantic by month, 1851-2008
———————————————————————-
May 1
June 3
July 9
August 80
September 149
October 60
November 6

In the list above, if a hurricane was at major hurricane strength in two separate months, it is counted as a major hurricane for both months.

November hurricanes of note

The most extraordinary November hurricane was “Wrong-Way Lenny”, which hit the northern Leeward Islands as a strong Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds on November 17-18, 1999. Lenny was the first storm to have an extended west-to-east track across the central and eastern Caribbean Sea in the 135-year Atlantic tropical cyclone record, and was the strongest November hurricane on record. Hurricane Gordon was the deadliest November hurricane. It claimed 1122 lives in Haiti when it passed just west of the country as a tropical storm on November 13, 1994. Lenny claimed six lives in Costa Rica, five in the Dominican Republic, two in Jamaica, two in Cuba, and eight in Florida. Property damage to the United States was estimated at $400 million (1994 dollars), and was severe in Haiti and Cuba as well.

Three November hurricanes have hit the U.S.–an unnamed 1916 Category 1 hurricane that hit the Florida Keys, an unnamed 1925 Category 1 hurricane that struck Sarasota, Florida, and Hurricane Kate, which struck the Florida Panhandle on November 22, 1985.

Hi everyone!  A few months ago, we put together a hurricane preparedness package for foxnews.com that seems relevant to show again just incase Ida decides to pay a visit to the Gulf of Mexico!

 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,546303,00.html

(I know, I know–another shameless plug…but there’s lots of great info on there as well!)