HOW TO DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF THE HURRICANE'S EYE FROM WIND DIRECTION
I keep track of those who log on to www.globalweathersolutions.com with Traffic Facts supplied by www.godaddy.com, my hosting enterprise. Along with statistics relating to numbers of people logging on are the words they use on their search engine to find my site. One of the people who logged on wrote, "Which direction does the wind blow during a hurricane?"
I logged on to the user's url and brought up a question and answer site with the respondent's answer, which is repeated below. He or she stated they could determine the direction of a hurricane's eye from the way palm fronds pointed, that is since a hurricane's winds spiral inward toward its' eye (see image of a hurricane off the Florida peninsula above) the fronds point directly at the eye. See image of palms blowing in a hurricane's winds above. My answer to the question follows the respondent's entry.
The winds spiral around the eye and do move toward the center of the storm but at any one point in its' geometry those winds are at a right angle to the direction of the eye. Therefore the eye can be found by facing the wind and measuring 90 degrees to the right.
Log on to www.globalweathersolutions.com and look at the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE, which not only can find the eye, track the eye, without any help from electronics, TV or radio, and using detailed reports from the National Hurricane Center paint a picture of the storm on the HURRICANE FINDER CHART showing the direction and strength of the wind days before the arrival of the storm at any place within the geometry of the hurricane. Your front door for instance. This text book relates to everything hurricanes, history of latitude and longitude, finding distance and direction of the storm, and includes the unique HURRICANE FINDER CHART on which you can track the storm and place your location within its' geometry showing the effects of the strength and direction of its' winds.The HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE and its' accompanying
HURRICANE FINDER CHART may save your life and property when electronics fail.
RESPONDENT'S ENTRY
What direction does the wind blow during a hurricane?
[Edit]
Having observed the winds through hurricanes Francis and Jeanne, which hit about 60 miles North of me and Wilma, where the eye passed over my home and tropical storm Fay, I have learned that I can judge the relative position of the storm - at least the direction of it with respect to my location. My observations are that the prevailing winds blow towards the center of the storm. I watch which way the palm fronds are pointed and if the storm is close enough to see on weather radar, the palm fronds are always pointed towards the storm.
Note that I said the prevailing winds. Gusts can come from many directions.
MY ANSWER
THE OBSERVATION ABOVE IS INCORRECT.Winds in a hurricane, tropical storm, cyclone, any cyclonic storm in the northern hemisphere blow in a counterclockwise direction around the eye, the center of the storm. South of the equator they blow clockwise, all this due to the Coriolis Effect.
To find the eye of an approaching hurricane, when you are experiencing its winds, the eye will be 90 degrees to the right of the prevailing wind. See the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE on www.globalweathersolutions.com or Google John's Musings Bermuda Meet Bertha Four Days From Now. Using the HURRICANE FINDER CHART, included with the guide, you can track the eye of the storm and paint a picture of the storm at your front door days in advance using information from The National Hurricane Center.
I also experienced Fay on the Caloosahatchee Waterway on my boat NEREIS, and you can read about it on John's Musings. Just Google John's Musing, Dancing With Fay.
Thank you for your indulgence.
That's that for this
Take care,
JB
PREDICTING STORM SURGE WITH THE HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE
Below is a storm surge map of the Cape Coral/Fort Myers, Florida area published today in The News-Press, the local paper I read every morning primarily for The New York Times crossword puzzle which I do for mental prowess. Prowess seems to be ok so it must be working. I'll let you be the judge.
The storm surge map shows areas which should be evacuated in various hurricane storm strengths. The map came from the Southwest Florida Evacuation Behavior Study whose link follows below.
Certainly while hurricane winds should be feared it is storm surge, (flooding caused by winds blowing toward the shore.) Onshore winds push water up estuaries and over low lying topography. Storm surge does more damage than wind and causes the most hurricane related deaths. (See additional entries on these subjects on John's Musings.) Flood damage is a separate issue for insurance companies and the prudent home-business owner must purchase separate policies.
However how do you predict storm surge? Using the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE, found elsewhere on this site, you can track the storm, without any help from media, TV, the National Hurricane Center, etc, using only a compass and your senses. Additionally you can paint a picture of the hurricane on the HURRICANE FINDER CHART showing wind direction and strength in your area days before the storm arrives. Days before it arrives. This gives you time to decide how to protect your family, home, business, boat, etc days before the storm arrives.Download the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE and save your stuff.
STORM SURGE EVACUATION MAPClick on the link below for the Storm Surge Evacuation Study.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?template=zoom&Site=A4&Date=20090624&Category=WEATHER01&ArtNo=90623083&Ref=AR
HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE
MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE WHEN
ELECTRONICS FAIL.
That's that for this.
Take care,
JB
HOW FAR AWAY IS IT?
Every morning during the hurricane season I check THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER/TROPICAL PREDICTION CENTER. The image above is from September 2, 2008. It was an active morning. You can see where danger is but how far away is it from from your front door?
Scroll down from the image on the NHC site and you will come to a lat/long distance calculator. To go to the Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculator click here ->
Lat/Lon Distance Calculator
Latitude/Longitude Distance
Calculator
Lat/Lon Distance Calculator
adapted from the Great Circle Calculator
written by Ed Williams
Enter your latitude and longitude, easily obtained from GOOGLE EARTH and the latitude and longitude of the storm to find the distance between danger and your home, business or boat. Isn't technology grand?
But what are you going to do when your TV, Weather Radio, everything else fails when technology stops working? If you have the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE, advertised elsewhere on this site have no fear. This comprehensive text book not only teaches you how to determine distance on your own picture of the storm drawn by you on the HURRICANE FINDER CHART showing where your site of interest is located but will also indicate direction of the wind and its' strength days before arrival of the storm.
Remember technology always fails just when you need it most. Download the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE and use it to save the lives of your family and property.
Knowledge is power. Get some power today.
That's that for this.
Take care,
JB
SALTY RAIN
THE SUN
WEATHER MAKER
Someone Googled, "Why don't hurricanes produce salt rainwater?" There are many hurricane related keywords on this site and the question brought them to www.globalweathersolutions.com . I fear the answer to their query was not found in the large amount of information on hurricanes and related subjects here so in the interest of full disclosure I humbly
submit this answer.
Rain is produced when liquid water on Earth's surface evaporates due to insolation (heat energy from the sun.) The water may be any variety, fresh non-salty pond water, very salty seawater or even polluted water from some landfill. Heat from the sun is absorbed by objects on earth (insolation.) When heat is added to liquids their molecules move more rapidly. You can see this when waiting for a pot of water to boil. The molecules eventually gain enough energy to escape their weak molecular attraction to their mates in the volume of liquid water and in this case rise as steam.
Caution do not watch the pot directly or it will never boil.
Gotcha! Remember that old homily, "A watched pot never boils." Surely you remember that. Yes you do you just don't want to admit it, and please don't call me Shirley.
Enough of this drivel. Steam rising from your non-watched pot is water vapor, a gas. Remember water can exist as a solid (ice), liquid (water) or gas (water vapor.) Water vapor consists only of H2O molecules. Sun's heat energy does the same thing as the flame under the boiling pot of water, but with less vigor to bodies of water on Earth. When saltwater evaporates the salt and everything else in the water remains behind and only water molecules ascend into the atmosphere.
These water molecules are moving rapidly and rise above the earth's surface. Temperature usually decreases with altitude, that is it gets colder the higher you go up into the atmosphere. These water vapor molecules, individual H2Os begin to slow down as they rise, loosing energy, and eventually electric forces within allow them to reconnect to one another and form tiny droplets of pure water. Eventually the droplets grow in size and fall as rain, consisting only of water molecules. This rain may sweep up various things in the atmosphere on their way down like soot, and close to a breaking ocean wave perhaps even salt , but the process of rain production involves only H2O molecules.
Salt can not exist as a gas, it is a solid and while heat makes their molecules of NaCl (sodium chloride) move faster they do not rise into the atmosphere.
And that's an answer to your question. I'm sure there are those among you who could write a better explanation and I invite you to do so in the comment section following this article.
That's that for this.
FRANNIE THE WATCHFLAMINGO
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB
THE WAITING GAME
There has been some change in the Atlantic Basin since my last entry but there are still four, that's four, systems operating.
However the one thing that has not changed is a waterlogged Florida still sticking out like a sore thumb in the path of danger, soon to resemble a prune-like four-year old who's spent too much time in the wading pool. What's a prudent mariner to do?
For now it's a waiting game and unfortunately there's no grinning hair-challenged MC offering suitcases filled with cash for our choosing. This is a real reality show and the audience is not cheering on the contestants. We be the contestants as well as audience. Its up to the vagaries of our beloved mother, Mother Nature that is, to decide our individual roles.
ATLANTIC BASIN SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
There's Gustav still wreaking wet-havoc in America's lower mid west bringing more flooding to a landscape which may be completely washed away at the end of this hurricane season. When is this going to end? What's a prudent mariner to do?
Well I'm glad you asked. Look at HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE and advice given on the HURRICANE PAGES of this site. Who knows, when you have become your neighborhood's hurricane guru you may be called a hurricane whisperer too. Not a bad title and knowledge does give solace, and power also. I'm sure about solace but still waiting for the power part of that homily.
TROPICAL STORM HANNA
SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
Heeeeeer's Hanna. Briefly a hurricane and forecasted to become a category one storm before brushing southern coastal states and skirting the entire eastern seaboard, spreading her southern-charm.
The hot Atlantic basin is ridding itself of heat , moving it northward with needed fresh water from the skies for a thirsty planet, stirring the atmospheric soup. Yes hurricanes do serve a useful purpose. Read CHICKEN SOUP AND HURRICANES on the HURRICANE PAGES of this site for more.
HURRICANE IKE
SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
As of this morning, September 4, 2008, Ike is now a category four storm. You can see by its forecasted track that its up to no good. This is the one that may be remembered folks. The Bermuda High is either our savior or nemesis in this equation. It may steer Ike into the Florida Straits and onward to beleaguered southern Gulf states or directly into Miami and across Florida or up the eastern seaboard or out to sea in a northeast direction. What's a prudent mariner to do?
If you think knowledge of this storm's movement, specifics on forecasted wind direction and strength at your front door could help in the coming days download HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE. Come on, you know you want to. Remember solace is guaranteed and you may gain some power in the knowledge gained. Become a hurricane whisperer.
TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE
SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
And here's Tropical Storm Josephine which seems to be destined for the Coriolis dance, arcing the Atlantic only to bring a tropical deluge to the palm trees of Ireland. Not sure what the Coriolis dance is. You can find out in HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE. Come on. You know you want to.
POLITICAL ASIDE
I learned last night that the difference between a HOCKEY MOM and a PIT BULL is lipstick. I wonder if the reverse is true. Imagine your friendly grinning neighborhood red-lipsticked pit bull driving down some suburban street in a van filled with puppies clutching hockey sticks. Interesting scenario. Ay? By the way ay is a Canadian eh. See all the things you can learn on this site. We aim to serve in all ways.
THAT'S THAT FOR THIS.
FRANNIE THE WATCHFLAMINGO
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB
ATLANTIC BASIN SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
TROPICAL WEATHER ATLANTIC BASIN
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
This is a graphic from The National Hurricane Center showing activity in the Atlantic Basin on Monday morning September 1, 2008, Labor Day in the United States. Is this not an image to strike fear in the heart of a prudent mariner?
There's Hurricane Gustav which as we speak is crashing with fury on the Louisiana coast about fifty miles west of the embattled city of New Orleans. After today it may literally be a new New Orleans, perhaps unrecognizable
in the memories of its fleeing residents. What's a prudent mariner to do?
Then Tropical Storm Hanna lurking with ill intent ready to eat the Bahamas just to the east of the Florida peninsula. The circles out in the central and east Atlantic are tropical waves whose intensity and propensity to develop further is indicated by the color scheme explained on the bottom of the graphic. What's a prudent mariner to do?
I believe ground zero of HURICANE GUSTAV is at Morgan City a place I have fond memories of from a long-ago journey from Texas to Florida when I began this trek on NEREIS almost fifteen years ago. The first time I heard Cajun-Speak, the charming accent of those who have lived for generations in this historic landscape full of the cries of mating alligators. Well not full of but I remember hearing their out worldly bellows in the dead of night when anchored in an isolated mangrove surrounded creek off the intra coastal waterway leading to the Mississippi River. And the fears experienced when traversing through the enormous Industrial Lock from the Intra Costal Waterway to the mighty river still linger in those fond memories. There are locks on both sides of the river that allow a downriver jaunt to the other side as the ferocious current would sweep a small boat downstream, out of reach of sanctuary, and eventually out into the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps its topography is being rewritten even now as we speak.
What's a prudent mariner to do?
HURRICANE GUSTAV
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
When you click on the icons in the first graphic above you get specifics of each threat. This is Hurricane Gustav as of 6AM Central Time already pounding the coastline. This is certainly a tragic time for residents of this historic region filled with the accents of America's past, however there is a reason for all things. Read CHICKEN SOUP AND HURRICANES on the HURRICANE PAGE of this site for our beloved mother's slant on beneficial aspects of these magnificent storms. That's Mother Nature I'm referring to.
TROPICAL STORM HANNA
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
And in the Atlantic lurking near the Bahamas is yet another threat to more hapless inhabitants of our embattled planet, poised to wreak havoc as we mere humans attempt to survive Nature's onslaught.
What's a prudent mariner to do?
Well I'm glad you asked. Take a look at HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE found elsewhere on this site. There are things we can do to protect the lives of our families and property. Take a look. You know you want to.
That's that for this.
FRANNIE THE WATCHFLAMINGO
WATCHING OUT FOR ALL OF US
TAKE CARE,
JB
STORM SURGE REVISITED
Sunday morning August 31, 2008 on the southwest shore of Florida two tropical cyclonic storms lurk on both sides of the peninsula. Gustav on the way to an embattled New Orleans mere hours after the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina whose effects are still painfully visible on the landscape. As of this moment the entire city of New Orleans is being evacuated as government's efforts to rebuild levies still proves to be effective. Another set of what ifs awaits the hapless citizens of Louisiana.
With this in mind lets revisit a previous blog titled STORM SURGE which we at Hurricane Central bring to you as a public service. Storm surge is the killer folks. Good luck New Orleans.
The following is a reprint of SURVIVING HURRICANE EVACUATION published last year that bears repeating with the onset of a new hurricane season.
Hurricane season 2008 officially begins June 1st but our beloved mother, Mother Nature that is, will begin producing these magnificent storms when she damn well pleases. She knows who's in charge and puny humans are
often just along for the ride.
On April 9th Dr Gray will give us his prognostications on the upcoming season, and by all accounts it may surpass last year's production. North America was relatively free of hurricanes in 2007, see Hurricane Season 2007 in John's Musings, but the Caribbean was hit by two category 5 storms and we escaped only because our beloved mother allowed it. Keep up the good work mom.
The following reprint is about surviving hurricane evacuation and the danger of storm surge, that rising of water, often deep inland, that can inundate those fleeing the storm's wrath.
We are soon to get a new weapon regarding prediction of storm surge by a partnership of Google Earth and the National Hurricane Center with real-time maps of your particular evacuation route which often pass through flood zones. This is hopefully to be operational by June 1st of this year. If you haven't already downloaded Google Earth now is the time to do it. You can visit all those vistas of youth, even your house from the height of a cell phone tower.
All of this futuristic magic is grand but when your electricity goes down you can always rely on HURRICANE FINDER, which may save your life when electronics fail.
SURVIVING HURRICANE EVACUATION
More than 50% percent of hurricane related deaths result from flowing water caused by torrential rains and storm surge which inundates coastal areas due to onshore winds that funnel water up rivers and creeks and over lowlands. 25% of that number die in vehicles attempting to flee. Every hurricane survival plan should include information on the dangers involved in evacuation. Know before the event if your home or business will be flooded with HURRICANE FINDER a device that predicts the direction and strength of hurricane's winds days before the storm's arrival and the possibility of flooding by storm surge.
FLOWING WATER CAUSES MOST
HURRICANE RELATED DEATHS
WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THIS CAR
GET OUT OF A STALLED CAR IN FLOWING WATER
Standing water should be avoided as it may short out your car's ignition system and leave you and your family stranded as storm surge continues to rise around you. As little as twelve inches of moving water can sweep your vehicle into even deeper water. If in doubt turn about.
I was once driving under an overpass during torrential rain caused by a late season hurricane in New Jersey and into what seemed only inches of flowing water. The car lost traction, began floating veering to the left. Opening the window to avoid flooding the car I leaped out, crying to my wife to steer, in retrospect a useless request as the car had no rudder, and was now a rapidly sinking raft. Running behind I quite easily pushed the station wagon to high ground where we restarted the car and escaped to the astonishment of a fellow driver safely stopped on the other side.
The water was only about a foot deep, I was amazed how easy it was to push the car, how readily it floated, and how fast it moved with the current. In seconds we were rapidly going downstream. However water did get in and the car's carpet smelled forever after, perhaps the odor of doom, or maybe just New Jersey's industrial waste. Its hard to tell as they have similar hues. Sorry N.J. that area is full of stuff best not mentioned. However its slogan THE GARDEN STATE is apt as many areas to the north and south still retain that Eden-like quality I remember from my youth. You can't go home again except in memories, bitter-sweet as they may be.
CAR CAUGHT BY A SINK HOLE
What appears to be mere standing water may be a collapsed road caused by rapidly flowing storm surge concealing a sink hole beneath. Always test the depth of water before attempting to drive through. If in doubt turn about.
MARINA PARKING LOT COVERED BY STORM SURGE
AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD FLOODED BY STORM SURGE
The people in this flooded area should have left many hours before any evacuation order to avoid horrendous traffic jams. Calculate if your area is prone to storm surge by knowing the strength and direction of the storm's winds using HURRICANE FINDER advertised elsewhere on this site. This simple device can predict days in advance possible flooding of your home or business.
CARS STREWN ABOUT BY RUSHING STORM SURGE
The force of rushing water is tremendous as shown by these cars doing a two step after the storm or maybe a waltz, never could get those straight.
THIS DRIVER WAITED TOO LONG TO SEEK HIGH GROUND
CAR BURIED IN BEACH FRONT SAND
A PARKING LOT STREWN WITH HURRICANE DEBRIS
TRUCK SWEPT OFF THE ROAD BY RUSHING WATER
These evacuees have picked an inappropriate time to begin their escape. Know the possibility of flooding and leave many hours before in daylight to avoid traffic and the perils of darkness. Drive slowly and steadily through standing water, don't attempt to bull along. After passing through pump your brakes to dry them out.
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO BRING, WHERE TO GO
Prior to hurricane season prepare a family disaster plan giving everyone a role, even small children can learn lifelong survival skills through such an experience that will endure throughout their lives. Decide where to go to seek high ground. Arrange with off site family members or pick a motel or other place of refuge well before the event, make reservations to ensure you have a place to stay. Make prearrangements for pets, many motels or shelters do not make provision for them. If you take them with you provide food and water. Don't set them free to fend for themselves, particularly boa constrictors or other large snakes as they tend to cause post hurricane problems of their own. This is only slightly in jest as large snakes have recently appeared here in Florida after just such an event.
Prepare a disaster pack including food and water sufficient for at least three days, a gallon of water a day should be provided for each family member.
Have money available, ATM machines will be the first things to go, either running out of funds or breaking down with the loss of electricity. Be prepared for high prices of everything, greed follows disaster as readily as rising fuel costs with any mid east outbreak. Whats a born-again passive-aggressive to do?
Gas up your vehicle and have spare fuel in jerry jugs available. To ensure the fuel remains fresh use it after the hurricane's passing, even if you haven't evacuated, and replace it upon another emergency outing.
Provide each person with a flashlight and extra batteries.
Bring a cell phone, CB or shortwave radio, and battery powered AM-FM radio. A portable GPS receiver is a good investment and not only gives your latitude and longitude, which you can compare with forecast coordinates of the storm but those units with mapping capability can indicate the best route to safety and provide information on nearby businesses of interest, such as gas stations, restaurants and motels.
Remember a hurricane crises can bring out the best and worst of people you encounter. Bad people will continue to be bad, their badness emboldened by your seeming vulnerability. Have some type of protection, there may be no one else to help. Police are elsewhere on high ground perhaps directing traffic. At the least carry pepper spray, Easy Off Oven Cleaner can substitute in an emergency. Be prepared.
Part of that preparedness might be HURRICANE FINDER a simple device that works even when everything else has washed away. Self reliance is a good thing.
HURRICANE FINDER MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE WHEN ELECTRONICS FAIL.
Thats that for this. Here's another view of Frannie the watchflamingo. Don't you admire her eyes? The confused cormorant who has been bedeviling her of late seems fascinated by them. Who knew?
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB
DANCING WITH FAY
TROPICAL STORM FAY
TUESDAY AUGUST 19, 2008
As you might imagine as the person who designed HURRICANE FINDER I keep a close watch on tropical weather during the hurricane season. The tropical wave in mid-August that became my nemesis began to worry me as it approached Puerto Rico and when my mentors at the National Hurricane Center began to describe a path that would take it west across the Dominican Rebublic and Hatti, then turn north over Cuba and head toward Florida I started to think of the what ifs. Prudent mariners and those of us paranoid about tropical cyclones constantly go over the what ifs and plan for their eventualities. Where is the safest place? How will I get there? What do I have to bring? What do I have to do to make sure that my boat is seaworthy? When should I go? And many other items forgotten now in the aftermath.
For three days the NHC put the center of this storm off the west coast of Florida, specifically three miles west of my slip in Cape Coral.
NEREIS AT CAPE CORAL YACHT BASIN
As you can see there are lots of boats surrounding my little floating home of fifteen or so years and other stationary hard things surrounding Slip No. 48 at the Cape Coral Yacht Basin. Using techniques developed in HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE with the HURRICANE FINDER CHART I determined the hurricane's winds would initially be southerly and then the strongest would come from the east and as the storm passed would continue to back, move counter clockwise, to the northwest and eventually into the southwest. I spoke with my dock mates, showing my calculations, with directions and forces of forecasted winds and when storm surge would occur with a possible forecasted rise of four to eight feet, according to what my friends at NHC were prognosticating. Rise of water causes more damage and deaths than wind during the passage of a hurricane and must be added to the mix of solutions.
CAPE CORAL YACHT BASIN
You can see in the picture above looking west the plethora of hard things in the Cape Coral Yacht Basin and its proximity to the Caloosahatchee Waterway. The Gulf of Mexico is only three miles away.
CAPE CORAL YACHT BASIN OVERVIEW
Here's another view of surrounding waters. The waterway here is over a mile wide at this point. The canal leading to the basin would quickly absorb inflowing water and flood this entire region, if the forecast proved to be correct.
CAPE CORAL YACHT BASIN CLOSE IN
Slip No. 48 on the south side of the center dock, three slots from the outer end, is where NEREIS and I live. My car resides in the parking lot to the left, west, in the third slot from the harbor master's office, under a light. Planning is important. You can see the potential hazards to and from movable objects in this scene. Everyone in this environment is not as capable in protecting their property as others, ropes are old and sun damaged and skill levels vary in mooring techniques. This picture is one of potential disaster.
AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA
Need I say more? This could be the Cape Coral Yacht Basin or any marina after a hurricane. Marinas are not safe havens in a storm with all the hard things and boats ready to crash into your particular dream. Need I say more?
What does the prudent mariner do when faced with all these what ifs?
The storm's center was forecasted by my mentors at the NHC, I know this is a repeated phrase but they're the primary game in town, to arrive on Tuesday August 19th three miles to the west of slip No. 48. What's a prudent mariner to do?
On Saturday I shared my conclusions with my dock mates, jumped in my car, and went to gather supplies and scout out other venues to escape to. I bought a case of bottled water, another 100 feet of 3/4 inch nylon line, NEREIS was already stocked with food, water and other supplies. I gassed up the car, bought fifteen gallons of clean diesel in jerry cans, and drove toward Labelle some forty miles to the east, to where I had weathered previous hurricanes and threats of hurricanes. There's a small cove on the south side of the river just to the east of Port Labelle, three miles upriver from the Labelle Bridge where a particular mangrove tree was waiting for my arrival. The tree was gone! You can never count on those things and progress had improved the cove with additional hazards. Additionally the Labelle Bridge was closed to traffic due to repair work and I surmised would not open for my eventual passage.
Next to the bridge is a small dock where I've moored on numerous occasions and where there are additional trees and stumps to tie to. The best part was there were no other boats present. Get away from boats and other obstructions, move away from the predicted center of the storm, get away from storm surge by traversing the Franklin Lock. What could be better? Note I did this scouting and provisioning on Saturday three days prior to the forecasted arrival of the center of the storm, three miles from Slip No. 48 at the Cape Coral Yacht Basin.
LABELLE WATERFRONT
This is the Labelle Bridge. The small dock mentioned above is right next to the west, left,side of the bridge. Note the powerboat on the end of the dock, this is about where I moored. The old ox bow of the original river to the upper right of the picture houses Bell Hatchee Marina and Boatyard where I once resided. I also spent a time of storm threat in the small lagoon near the entrance of this part of the old river.
It's beautiful in this historic place where I've witnessed manatees with child, alligators mating and some weeks later sixty or seventy alligator hatchlings guarded by a very vigilant mom. All of this has been chronicled in TILLER TALES.
I couldn't get through the bridge to my now deceased mangrove tree or even into the ox bow so I opted for the Labelle City Dock.
LABELLE CITY DOCK
Here's a close up. These pics are from Google Earth. This is a great program. Download it and view every scenic area of your youth.
Labelle is an historic town. The building to the south of the dock is Barron Public Library and the area to the right of the bridge Baron City Park where the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival is held. When this part of Florida was first colonized by U.S. citizens at the turn of the century, twentieth century that is, it's hard to realize the twenty first is already here, a hotel stood at the site of the library built by Captain Hendry who was prominent in the development of the Caloosahatchee Waterway. Great history here. Steamboats brought prospective land buyers to the area from Fort Myers to the west. Not much has changed in the hundred years gone by. I wonder how the mortgage industry managed in those times. All of this is chronicled in TILLER TALES in a chapter called MOON OVER NAPLES actually an obituary of an old friend who ran a book store a hundred and fifty feet south of the dock.
Calusa, alternate spelling Caloosa, Indians lived here when Spanish exploiters first arrived . One of them killed Ponce de Leon who was searching for the so-called Fountain of Youth. Don't know if he ever found it in the Thousand Island region about fifty miles to the south of this dock at the edge of the Everglades. Some of the mounds the Calusa built are still present in the area. One just to the east of the Labelle Bridge is now the site of a modern Floridians house. There are wild pigs that live there also along with Florida panthers.
By the way the male members of this pig herd are never invited to any parties. Why you ask? Because they're boars. Hah! Gotcha! Just trying to keep your attention. Interestingly there's a little bar/liquor store about a quarter mile south of the bridge that has a boar's head on the wall. I guess he's invited to the parties that go on there. Lets amend the above statement to invitations only offered to boars when they're dead.
Enough of this drivel. I got everything ready on Saturday and woke before dawn on Sunday to a dead calm. Always the way. Partly cloudy, nice day. I got underway horsing NEREIS around like a canoe out of the slip and pointed east. This boat, like many sailboats, just doesn't like to back up under power.
The trip to Labelle took nine hours, one more that anticipated, through a river populated by power boaters and jet skiers seemingly unaware that the boogie man was approaching with fury from the south. I have to assume they weren't prudent mariners. My philosophy has always been move your boat twenty-four hours before anyone else thinks about it to get the preferred spot.
I arrived at Labelle Sunday afternoon and in calm conditions circled around several hundred feet on the north end of the bridge and dropped a stern anchor with eighty feet of chain and about fifty feet of stretchy nylon rope in the 20- foot deep channel. The chain has to go uphill to the shallower side of the river and thus has greater resistance to breaking free. I then attached eight nylon lines, preferred because they're elastic, to pilings on the dock and trees and stumps on the land. I was facing south and lines to the east and west prevented movement of the boat which would have contributed to failure of the anchor.
Geometry is important in mooring, just as it is in forecasting direction of a hurricane's wind. You can learn how to do it with the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE. Incidentally what did the acorn say upon reaching adulthood? Geometry. Gotcha! Just trying to maintain your attention.
In late afternoon all of this mooring activity took about two hours. I finished and walked up to a nearby grocery store and got some fish which I cooked with rice and veggies.
The next morning on Monday the storm was still predicted to pass three miles west of Slip No. 48 in Cape Coral and I made sure my lines in Labelle were properly placed and added more. The library's computers allowed me to check on the storm and send e-mails to family and friends. Tami Gilliam, my web master, is in Key West and was even then experiencing the storm as it passed over Cuba and continued on to its destiny.
Ah! I'll sleep well tonight I thought. Not so. I was up checking the marine weather forecasts on VHF radio and early in the AM its path was still as predicted, three miles from Slip No. 48 in Cape Coral. At about six thirty that morning I checked again and there was a "slight" revision of the track. RIGHT AT ME! Well I still was alone, away from other boats and hard things. In retrospect still the only decision I could have made given the same forecast.
The first picture above showing Fay crossing Florida was taken about ten o'clock on Tuesday morning, August 19. Note the clear circle in the center to the west of Lake Okeechobee. That's where I was. We experienced winds of around seventy knots, someone in the area said they had a gust of 84 knots. I was on the dock arranging and tightening lines, nylon stretches, got to adjust, always got to adjust, in all things. Have to change as conditions and situations change.
At the height of the storm, as I moved on the dock, at times fighting for balance in the wind, a TV van pulled up on the berm next to the bridge and started filming me. My heavens. A pleasant young woman and her cameraman came down to the dock and the first thing she said was, "Can I call someone to help?" I think I replied, "Goodness no." In all that chaos I knew it would turn out alright. We spoke for a while, she interviewed me and both of us wished the other good luck as they left.
I never got to see the broadcast being busy with other things, saving my boat's life, but the next morning a woman pulled up in her car and jumping out cried, "I saw you on TV, you're a celebrity!" Wow! I didn't know that. Just doin' my job ma'am, just doin' my job.
FAY'S TRACK
Well as you can see by the above pic Fay has had an interesting journey crossing Florida four times and dumping scores of inches of rain. Flooding is still occurring. Even now as I write this on Monday the 25th of August in Cape Coral NEREIS is riding high in his slip under sunny skies. Lovely day.
Yes I meant to write his slip. Nereis is a guy. We're a team of guys, sometimes profane, both of us occasionally pass noxious gases and look after one another, he in his realm, I in mine.
FAY'S WIND HISTORY
This is a graphic from the NHC showing the wind history of the storm, winds of tropical storm force. Looks like a cartoon snake doesn't it. Very odd storm, it's still wreaking havoc in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, dropping still more rain.
THE TRIP HOME
A TOUR OF THE CALOOSAHATCHEE
On Thursday I left Labelle to return to Cape Coral. There was a lot of rain and some wind as Fay danced around Florida, refusing to go away. The first bridge about five miles west of Labelle is Fort Denaud Swing Bridge, another historic name from pioneer days.
FORT DENAUD SWING BRIDGE
A pleasant woman answered my call on VHF channel 9 and opened the bridge in the rain wearing a yellow slicker. She had to push a button on the roadside to close the gates stopping traffic and then walked to the center of the bridge to open it with controls located there. We both wished each other good luck as I passed.
ALVA BASCULE BRIDGE
Another five miles or so I approached Alva Bridge, which opens in the center like two hands opening invitingly to allow passage. A couple of hundred yards east of the bridge when I was going to Labelle I passed a boat moored at a dock on the shore and was hailed by someone who knew my name. It was an old friend from Mexico named Chick who with his wife Anita is rebuilding the boat after their trimaran began breaking apart on a previous trip from Isla Mujeres, Mexico (The Island of Women) to Florida. They escaped with their lives but alas Conk Quest did not. We talked briefly on the radio and they visited on Wednesday after the storm. Chick and I share the same sense of humor. It really is a small world. Particularly among sailing folk.
The bridge tender opened promptly and the morning progressed with much muck in the river and increasingly more rain and wind. Our progress was stalled briefly when the prop picked up tangles of vegetation as I passed pleasantries with a herd of cows on the north shore.
Remember that old line, "Have you herd of cows?" Of course I've heard of cows. Who cares what a cow heard. Like that. You know.
The wind increased even more in early afternoon and my faithful engine was overheating slightly and as I prefer calmer weather when approaching Slip No. 48 decided to spend the night above Franklin Lock at the docks in the campgrounds there.
FRANKLIN LOCK AND CAMPGROUND
Wind calmed briefly as we, NEREIS and I ,approached the docks visible on the promontory, looking like a shark's tail, at the top of the pic. However God has a sense of humor and three times as I sculled into the slip the breeze increased, pushing us out. Just showing who's boss I guess. Eventually I managed to get lines ashore and checked in at the kiosk on the road to the north. I couldn't find my Golden Age Card and had to pay full price, now $24 a night.
I tidied up, added water to my main tank, cleaned out the water intake for the engine cooling and dove on the propeller to clean off accumulated weed that had wrapped around it in my trip through a flooded river. A quick shower with the hose and relaxed in the cabin waiting for calmer weather. Surely Fay would move on. I remember fervently thinking that.
I called the lock tender on VHF channel 13 at seven AM the next morning and he got everything ready for me and a quick transit was made back into salt water.
WILSON PIGGOT BASCULE BRIDGE
The Wilson Piggot Bridge is named after a WWII war hero and the operator opened the bridge in perfect timing with my passage. Sometimes these things mesh just right. Reminds me of a dance done synchronously.
I have an electronic self-steering device called a Tiller Pilot, actually four of them after loosing the only one I had years ago in Belize on a voyage from the Rio Dulce in Guatemala to Mexico. Back-up after back-up. Remember that prudent mariner thing. And yes NEREIS has a tiller, no ostentatious wheel thing for us. Ships have wheels, sailboats should have tillers. There I've said it and glad of it. After a while you tend to become opinionated about some things but always open to new ideas......... when they make sense. Who decides when they make sense. I do!
There is a remote device for the Tiller Pilot with which I can change direction while looking toward my destiny forward that makes the whole thing easier. Pie and cake, a line from some novel of yore. Your what? Yore past of course. Just another joke to pass the time.
I mention the Tiller Pilot here because it plays a part in the narrative later on. Laying the groundwork. Like clues in a mystery story, sowing the seed. You know how it is. Yes you do.
BEAUTIFUL ISLAND RAILROAD BRIDGE
A couple of miles past Wilson Piggot Bridge is the Route 75 Bridge with a fifty-some foot clearance, followed shortly by the Beautiful Island Railroad Bridge, which seemingly is always open as I think only one train passes daily, some sort of sight-seeing thing.
Between bridges is a manatee zone in which these gentle creatures winter in the warm waters given off by a Florida Power and Light plant on the south shore. There's a warning sign that states, "MANATEE ZONE. IDLE SPEED OUTSIDE OF WATERWAY, 25 MPH IN CHANNEL."
It's really nice the powers that be are looking out for these lumbering beasts. I can imagine a manatee family group crossing the dreaded channel, mom, dad and tot, when dad looks up and says, "Hey kids let's speed up to thirty knots to avoid that powerboat." These thing move at a one-year old's crawl pace. How ridiculous is officialdom? Well this is an example. Sort of like, "Read my lips. No new taxes." Well you know.
OLD ROUTE 41 AND EDISON BRIDGES
Progressing west the Caloosahatchee Waterway widens and one of the rain bands of Tropical Storm Fay, the storm that just wouldn't go away, moved in from the northwest. Some interesting lightning, what a treat lightning is on a sailboat with an aluminum lightning rod projecting invitingly above, with attendant huge booms ushering in blinding horizontal rain and a west wind that hovered around 30 to 35 knots for the next two or three hours.
My Tiller Pilot refused to work under such conditions and gave up forcing me to steer manually. Drat! The wind and waves so turbulent that our progress dropped below manatee-speed. Now that's slow. Approaching the first set of bridges wind funneling through the bridge openings with turbulent current induced eddies came close to driving us into the bridge fenders. We crawled through ever on the edge of broaching-to, which would have ruined an already arduous trip.
MIDPOINT BRIDGE
Wind and seas increased with the incoming tide opposing a rushing river as we approached the Midpoint Bridge. Inching through the opening I spied a trawler laying back indulging our snail's pace progress. Not so a large Bay Liner-type powerboat which roared by close on the port side. I could not point into their wake as NEREIS was on the verge of broaching and all sorts of carefully stowed gear rained down on the cockpit floor. These folks could have taken a page from a sports fisherman, equally sized, who called on the radio shortly thereafter and informed me he was passing on the starboard, thankfully at slow, non-wake making speed. Some are polite, some are not, some are school-yard bullies, some are not, some will go to heaven, some will not.
CAPE CORAL BRIDGE
Wind and concomitant seas abated somewhat as we passed through the Cape Coral Bridge, now only a mile or so from home at the Cape Coral Yacht Club, whose fishing pier projects from the point of land on the lower left of this pic. You can see the marina up the canal.
HOME AGAIN
I talk to God frequently and at times he replies. Approaching day marker
number 78A the wind and seas reduced even more. and I sighing fervently made the turn into the canal. I had planned to lasso a piling at the end of the center dock and lay bow-to if the wind remained blowing at thirty-odd knots and wait for calmer conditions before sculling into Slip No. 48, but He given our close relationship decided to give me a break. Thank you Lord!
I put the engine into idle at the entrance to the basin and sculled with the tiller, this is just another reason to have a tiller, into my slip. Lines ready I inched silently into the slip throwing a stern line over an outer piling and walking forward stepped onto my finger pier with a bow line in my other hand. Two friends were chatting at the stern of the power boat next to me and didn't notice me until I said, "Good Morning!" Ah what a relief to be home.
Wind and rain returned ten minutes later as I completed the tie-up process. I did mention that God has a sense of humor. Remember? Well he does, that's why humans have one too. Well I think so! Told you I was opinionated.
It was Saturday, eleven days plotting the storm and completing the journey. Eleven days of anxiety. So much anxiety that on Sunday I was so tired I could barely move. It's Monday now, Fay is still sending rain bands but little wind. I feel great. Full of energy. Ready for more. Well maybe next week.
I just took a break and checked the National Hurricane Center's website and as of this afternoon Tropical Storm GUSTAV has formed in the Caribbean. Where is it headed you ask? Right at the Florida Keys after crossing Cuba, following in the wake of Fay. God has a sense of humor. I remember writing that just recently. Please spare us this one Lord. Please.
LAST WORDS
When I designed HURRICANE FINDER I didn't intend it to be a device which would allow hurricanes to find me. Well maybe these storms had a meeting and decided that we're too good at forecasting them and tried to eliminate the threat by sending Fay to get me. Or not. Who knows?
FRANNIE THE WATCHFLAMINGO
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB
THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF .....
This is what you see as you ascend the Rio Dulce after checking in at Livingston, Guatemala on the Bay of Honduras. Right around the bend you enter the Canyon with trees clinging to sheer rocks rising on each side. Beauty surrounds as you motor on to adventures yet to be.
This is what the new owners of Sunday's Child dreamed of as they began their maritime life anchored in Monkey Bay, an idyllic spot upriver where Howler monkeys serenade the evening as contented boaters salute exotic scenery in this peaceful setting.
RIO DULCE GUATEMALA
SAILING UPRIVER TO MARINA COUNTRY
Those of you familiar with John's Musings know that I spent several years on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. While there I wrote several articles on what life is like as a cruiser in this dichotomy. Interestingly one of the chapters in TILLER TALES is called RIO DULCE DICHOTOMY. Take a look at the excerpts found elsewhere on this site.
One of the articles I wrote there that saw publication was called MUERTE EN EL RIO DULCE (Murder on the Rio Dulce) which chronicled the execution of the night watchman at Suzanna Laguna, a marina I stayed in off and on over the years.
RIO DULCE MARINA COUNTRY
Suzanna Laguna is located just below the 6 indicating the Rio Dulce Bridge, behind the spoil island on the right. Lago Izabal, a twenty-odd mile long lake can be seen opening to the bottom of the picture. The isolated white square to the upper right on the north shore of the river denotes Mario's Marina, Monkey Bay Marina is on the opposite shore and Monkey Bay is next to it. This is where Sunday's Child was anchored last Saturday night, in sight of the marina and some houses owned by privileged Guatemalans, Los Ricos, and many Guatemalans not so privileged seeking a living, some in any way they can.
OVERVIEW OF THE RIO DULCE
Two incidents occurred almost within hours of each other. The first in Monkey Bay indicated by the X on the lower left.
SUNDAY'S CHILD
IN HAPPIER TIMES
I got an e-mail from a cruiser friend I met in Mexico who included an AP article describing a boarding in Lago Izabal describing the killing of a man anchored on the lake and critical wounding of his wife.
I spent a week on this lake in a convoy of five boats in 2003. We were very careful in our travels and kept watch over each other as even then there were incidents of violence.
I e-mailed another friend who presently lives on the Rio Dulce, a mile or two downriver from Monkey Bay asking what happened. Here's what he wrote.
Good Morning John,
The AP supposedly interviewed Nancy, but apparently added some flourish to their story.
OK the straight scoop. Apparently around 9:30PM on the 9th, Dan and Nancy of Sunday's Child were at anchor in Monkey Bay, not too far from Luvi's new Marina. They were in the cockpit enjoying dinner and drinks and 4 men/boys started climbing onto the boat. Dan told them to get off and one of them grabbed Nancy and put a knife to her throat and the others shoved Dan below, demanding their dollars (which they didn't have any). Dan apparently grabbed his attackers knife hand and the other one stabbed him repeatedly in the chest/abdomen area and the one behind him with the machete, stabbed him clear through. Nancy was stabbed in the upper shoulder, area and left for dead and the guys left. She called on 68 for help and Monkey Bay John heard it and responded, Marcos from Marios heard it and called Luvi and he responded and Marcos told English Frank and he responded and they all tried to get Jungle Medic, the firefighters or anyone else and received no response, so Frank and a nurse from a boat at Monkey Bay drove her to the hospital in Morales. Apparently it did clip the lung, but all is well now....
Hope that sort of tells you the story. Luvi told me the police have good intel, but want to make sure before the cuffs go on. The only feeling I get from my fellow gringos, is anger, they don't want the police involved they just want the suspects killed. BUT nobody was hacked..... The above info came from English Frank directly and Luvi directly, both were on the scene. And you know I'm armed...
Jim and the very lovely Ruth from the Rio Dulce River, Guatemala.
Here's another view from a cruiser's web site on the river. I got the pic of Sunday's Child and the map showing sites of the attacks from this article.
Deadly Attack on Cruisers
The News - Latest News
At approximately 10 p.m. on Saturday night, 4
men with machetes boarded an anchored vessel,
with apparent intent to rob. When they were met
with resistance, it became a cruisers biggest
nightmare.
Dan and Nancy Dryden had bought SUNDAY'S CHILD
several months ago, and were looking forward to
years of pleasant sailing experiences. They
were anchored off the small cove near Monkey Bay
Marina and Lubi's house when the incident
occurred. Details are still somewhat sketchy,
but in resisting the robbers, Dan was killed and
Nancy, although seriously wounded, was able to
use the VHF radio to summon help.
The stations and boaters that still had their
radios on at that hour came to assist, and Nancy
was transported to a private hospital in
Morales, reportedly with a punctured lung.
The vessel has been secured, and all officials,
including the U.S. Embassy, are aware of the
attack. If anyone has information that may be
pertinent to this incident, please make contact
through the Chisme Vindicator at
photoeditor@riodulcechisme.com This e-mail
address is being protected from spam bots, you
need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The community is mourning Dan's senseless death,
and understandably, is in shock that this could
happen to one of us. Family members are en
route from the states, and friends here are
doing what they can to help Nancy until they
arrive.
Latest update: (edited) "4 men with machetes
boarded an anchored vessel" Nancy has undergone
surgery, and is doing well, expected to have no
complications. She stated that she could
identify the attackers in a line up.
Rick at Ram Marine has offered to put the boat
on the hard at no charge, for as long as she
needs.
Update:
The Vice-President of Guatemala, Rafael
Espado, has taken an personal interest in this
incident. He phoned the hospital today, reported
Dr. Rolando, and would like to meet with Nancy
Dryden. As he is unable to travel here at this
time, after several proposals on how the
logistics would be worked out, it was agreed
that the family members would be picked up upon
arrival in Guatemala City Monday night, and
flown to their mother at the hospital in Morales
on Tuesday morning.
The Inguat people are invaluable in
coordinating, and will be assisting in the
movement of Dan's body from the funeral home in
Fronteras to join the family for a flight back
to the city, where Nancy will enter a private
hospital for another day or two. It was
important to Nancy for the children to see their
dad before he was cremated. Thanks to the Vice
President, this will happen. Dan will be
cremated, and the family will be here with Nancy
for an undisclosed period of time.
We are all sending best wishes to Nancy, who is
recovering very well, according to the doctors.
She appreciates all that is being done for her
and is very grateful to the boaters that
assisted, as well as all the Guatemalans who
have shown how much they, too, care.
Another boat boarding last night
Three boats anchored between Livingston and Texan Bay were
coming to Texan Bay today. We made radio contact with one of
the boats, Mima, owned by Mark and Sue with their two young
children last night after dark. They said they were about two
miles from Texan Bay and would arrive here sometime this
morning. During the night, five Guatemalan men boarded one of
the three boats with machete's and one of them had a gun. One
of the boats attempted to call Mima on channel 68 on the VHF
radio to warn them of the danger. Mima was not boarded. They
made radio contact with a cruiser at Texan Bay who offered
assistance if needed. They also contacted Raul in Livingston.
The men demanded US money. No one was hurt and Mima was not
boarded. We have no other details at this time. However, all
three boats were badly shaken by this event and no longer plan
to anchor in the river. We are all happy that they were not
hurt by the robbers and they are safe today.
Just thought you might want to make mention of this on your
site.
Thanks,
Dayna McMullen
sv SeFue at Texan Bay
These guys wanted Dollars........could it be the same ones who
boarded Sunday's Child???
_________________
Don Gato
Super Senior River Rat
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:12 am Post subject:
....if it is the same gang, very logical that they relocate
downriver, to get those dollars from the boats before they
change them into quetzales.
they sure aren't looking for quetzales, are they?
_________________
...so sayeth the crone
Well there you have it. Been there, done that, not yet been killed.
I've been contemplating another trip to the Rio. Not sure yet if I will. There are murders seemingly every week here in Cape Coral and southwest Florida but here it seems more isolated. We live in scary times.
I want to see the Rio Dulce Canyon at least two more times.
I'll let you know what happens. Keep in touch.
FRANNIE THE WATCHFLAMINGO
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB
BERMUDA/BERTHA MONDAY JULY 14, 2008
HURRICANE BERTHA CONE OF PROBABILITY
JULY 14, 2008
We began writing about Hurricane Bertha on July 4, 2008 as it arose in the far eastern Atlantic. It is now a tropical storm after several days of hurricane status as it wandered toward the island paradise of Bermuda.
SAINT DAVIDS LIGHTHOUSE
The two-story white house with the red striped awnings has been our focal point for the last several days using HURRICANE FINDER CHARTS to predict wind specifics, strength and direction, so that the residents could make plans for actual conditions today, Monday July 14, 2008.
On July 11, 2008 using HURRICANE FINDER CHARTS and the HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE we predicted that winds would be between 40 and 50 knots from 22 degrees or from the north northeast.
As the storm passes the wind's direction will "back", that is it will turn counterclockwise, at first toward the north and then around to the west, southwest and finally from a southerly direction. Therefore residents of the little white house with the red striped awnings must prepare for changing wind directions and conditions.
Usually as the storm moves away winds will decrease in severity but knowledge is power and this awareness of hurricane anatomy from HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE may save your life when electronics fail. Be powerful, get some knowledge.
As weather systems pass a geographic point wind direction will typically change. With the approach of cold fronts in the northern hemisphere wind will usually turn to the south and then "clock" turn clockwise to a northerly direction. Weather people refer to this changing of wind direction as clocking and backing. Knowing that changing wind direction presages changing weather conditions gives you another bit of knowledge for your power arsenal.
Since that entry Hurricane Bertha has become Tropical Storm Bertha and has gone through several transformations, in its journey to Bermuda.
We just checked the instruments at L. F. Wade International Airport, Bermuda's airport in sight of our little white house and present conditions today July 14, 2008 are:
WINDS 33 TO 47 MPH
FROM THE NORTH NORTHEAST
The track and severity of Hurricane Bertha has changed during the last several days but we've given the residents of the little white house with the red striped awnings an almost exact picture of wind strength and direction several days in advance so they could plan for specific weather conditions.
We've not yet learned the names of those residents but wish them good luck as they weather this particular storm.
We at HURRICANE CENTRAL stand ready to assist in planning for future tropical cyclonic storms worldwide as Earth continues its journey around the fiery inferno.
THE SUN
AKA FIERY INFERNO
That's that for this. Good luck Bermuda and those
yet to be affected by this and future storms.
ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU
TAKE CARE,
JB