Posts

Children, Seat Restraints, and Auto Safety

By -
Image
I saw this and it brought a number of thoughts to mind.......... Before anyone thinks bringing these back is a good idea: I testified in a lawsuit by a mother against the State of Florida in Palm Beach in 1992. The girl, 4 years-old (older than the boy pictured), was standing in the front seat and was leaning on the dashboard.  A downburst stuck a construction site as the car was passing through it. It picked up a square road sign. The corner of the sign pierced the windshield and the child's skull. She died almost instantly. So, this type of 'restraint' is certainly insufficient.  Perhaps surprisingly given these facts, the jury found in favor of the mother. A downburst in 1991 was practically unforecastable and it would have been nearly impossible in the 70+mph winds for the crew to scurrying around gathering all of the signs (and the one that caused the injury was weighed down with sand bags).  Turns out that in Florida, and in many other states, there were  laws ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Update on Hurricane Lowell, 5am HST

By -
Image
The Island of Kauai and the Island of Niihau are now in the "cone of uncertainty" regarding major Hurricane Lowell. While this is a long way from a hurricane warning, I make two suggestions: If you are traveling to or from Hawaii, please consider this in your plans. If you live on Kauai or Niihau, please be thinking about preliminary preparations.  Regardless, there will be extreme, dangerous surf with this storm irrespective of whether a landfall occurs. 
Post a Comment
Read more

[Updated, For the Worse] Worsening Weather Service Woes!

By -
Image
As of 4:10p CDT, the Cheyenne office has been down 77 hours and counting! No one, including the people in the office, know when they will be back online. This morning, the Jackson KY NWS office was down 11 hours.  --- original post --- National Weather Service Office in Cheyenne, Wyoming  In the United States right now, we have ... A tornado watch in New York state. Record flooding in parts of Texas.  A hurricane threat to Hawaii. Extreme heat in the Midwest  Yet, when you attempted to get un updated forecast from the NWS's Severe Storms Forecast Center this morning, you received this: Some of the SPC's forecasts were not available. That would be bad.  But -- worse -- the National Weather Service office in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has been down 54+ hours and counting!  The reason "Cheyenne" is red in this image is because its rather radar is not available. The office cannot create or send warnings, create or send forecasts or even  answer its phones! ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Strong Tornadoes Possible Upstate New York

By -
Image
The threat increases through 7pm. More below. -- original post 5:45p --- Note that  strong tornadoes, 2" hail and 70 mph thunderstorm-generated winds are all forecast. At 5:46p, there are two tornado warnings in SW Ontario and these storms will move into New York in the next couple of hours. Please keep up on the latest weather information! Bright red polygons near Kitchener = tornado warnings. Dark red = tornado watches. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Update 11:20a HST Wednesday: Heads Up: Hawaii. Hurricane Lowell is a Threat

By -
Image
The National Hurricane Center is pulled their 5th day forecast (8am Monday) farther to the right (east) which would tend to increase the threat to the western Hawaiian Islands.  If you have travel plans, please consider the threat from Hurricane Lowell. If I were vacationing on Kauai, I might consider heaving home now later than Sunday night.  If you live on Oahu or Kauai, please consider preliminary preparations.  11am Hawaii time photo Original Post: The two best hurricane forecasting models in the world show the potential for a major hurricane to pass near -- to the west -- of Hawaii Islands. However,  the trend of the models has been for a gradual shift east in the track forecast. The latest ECMWF wind speed swath forecast is below. About the only time Hawaii gets major hurricanes, which almost always come from the south, is during El Nino years and we have a strong El Nino at this point.  The timing of the approach Hurricane Lowell will be the early part of...
Post a Comment
Read more

250th Trains: The Coolest Thing I've Seen in a Long Time

By -
Image
America's Railroads Celebrate America's 250th This occurred Friday evening. It is an event for the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Each of the railroads that painted one or more locos to celebrate America paraded their engines at this event with horns blaring. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Edouard Now Inland - 5pm Update

By -
Image
The National Hurricane Center did a great job with this one.  5pm. Appears the storm is still strengthening. Port Arthur just reported a wind gust of 90 mph.  5pm Radar It came inland at the Texas-Louisiana border and has been producing gusts up to 71 mph.  The storm is forecast to move northwest and dissipate by the time it reaches the general vicinity of the Metroplex. Heavy rain will occur along its path.  The forecast for Edouard is below. It depicts the dissipation area.
Post a Comment
Read more