Cape Hatteras Light, North Carolina

Awesome late Summer early Fall weather

I love September I really do! This stretch of weather we have now - leading up to the first day of fall, which arrives Sunday, September 23 at 5:55 in the morning will be spectacular. We are expecting temperatures to be in the mid to upper 20's with sunshine right into next week across Ontario, Quebec and New York. Enjoy it!

We are watching with interest a low pressure area off the Florida coast that is producing rough surf and heavy rain from the Carolina's southward. The storm is expected to cross Florida and move into the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow night. Afterwards - most models expect the system to become Tropical Storm Jerry and threaten the Texas and Louisiana coasts by the weekend. Sound familiar?It should, this is eerily similar to Hurricane Humberto last week.

I will be offline for a couple of weeks.....while I will not be writing this blog, the links at the left will remain active for your weather information. Check back often for current weather and watch for any warnings which appear in RED in the forecast boxes.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate your support - slow down and be safe!!!!

Humberto's flooding in Texas

Fall vs Summer

Lots to talk about in the weather...First and foremost I am back among the cyber living. My 7 week ordeal without the Internet at home is over. A big thanks to Cogeco for hooking me up.....I would recommend them highly compared with that other B company that kept me waiting for 6 weeks!

Now the weather......Hurricane Humberto surprised everyone when he rapidly intensified over a 12 hour period from nothing to a Category 1 hurricane. The storm caused severe flooding and wind damage along the upper Texas coast and into Louisiana. It was a very serious situation and showed us just how lethal these storms can be and how quickly they can develop.

Tropical storm Ingrid is way out in the Atlantic with no signs of strengthening, however when we say watch these things we mean watch them.

As we talk about a very summer-like scenario think about the Prairies. It was very cold in southern Saskatchewan this morning with record lows set in Regina at-7.9C (-5.0 1949), Weyburn at -6.6C (-6.0 1993), Moose Jaw -5.5C (-2.4 1999) and Assiniboia -4.2C ( -4.0 1993). Coronach in the southern part of the province was -9.7 the coldest in the province. It was the earliest freeze since 1993. There was also snow flying in the air, enough to measure in Manitoba and northwest Ontario.

Meanwhile the leading edge of that Arctic airmass is moving into southern Ontario and Quebec tonight. Ahead of the system very warm temperatures near 27C are occurring. It will turn windy and colder tonight with showers and thunderstorms. The weekend will be chilly with scattered frost before a warm up next week.

Gabrielle whips sand across NC 12 on the Outer Banks Sunday. AP Photo

Humberto forms in Gulf Of Mexico

TD #9 forms in Atlantic

Tropical storm warnings are flying tonight along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts as tropical storm Humberto has formed about 70 miles southeast of Galveston Island. The storm is expected to come onshore tonight with gusty winds to 50mph and heavy flooding rains over 10 inches in places. The area has had a soggy summer and unlike North Carolina, does not need anymore rain.

Meanwhile Tropical Depression#9 is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm Ingrid later tonight about 1130 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This storm will be closely watched over the next day or two.

Please take time to remember today.

Gabrielle on the Carolina coast

Looking a bit disorganized, Tropical Storm Gabrielle has moved inland over extreme eastern North Carolina near Cape Lookout with pounding surf and heavy rains. The weather seems to be confined to the eastern part of the state and along the Outer Banks. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Wilmington northward to Cape Charles, Va. The area is expected to feel the effects of the storm till tomorrow morning. The storm is expected to dump up to 4 inches of rain on the parched state. Most of the heavy thunderstorms are confined to the southeast quadrant of the system. Recently wind gusts to 49 mph were reported in Ocracoke and 45 mph at Cape Hatteras.
I know the area very well and will be down there in a few weeks, maybe chasing storms. Gabrielle should be swept out to sea tomorrow as a cold front moves south and east.

Riders of the Storm

Hurricane Hunter aircraft in the eye of Felix

You need to check out this awesome video of a flight by the Hurricane Hunter Aircraft into the eye of Hurricane Felix as a Category 5 before it made landfall in Mexico. http://www.airshowbuzz.com/videos/view.php?v=9f061057

Another worthy note from Hurricane Felix, the flight just prior to the one above was in a NOAA P-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter airplane N42RF (AKA "The Princess"). It had a wild ride in Hurricane Felix on September 2 as it intensified into a Category 5 storm. The airplane hit what the Hurricane Hunters fear most, a powerful updraft followed a few seconds later by an equally powerful downdraft. The resulting extreme turbulence and wind shear likely made the aircraft impossible to control. This very likely pushed the aircraft to its limits. The aircraft commander wisely aborted the mission and returned safely to their base in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.The airplane was out of commission for the next day, however, the aircraft later passed a detailed six-hour inspection to look for damage, and has been cleared to fly again.

• A Smog Advisory has been issued for Leeds/Grenville in eastern Ontario. Southwest winds are bringing hot, humid and polluted latent air into our area. It was over 30C today with humidex readings well into the 30's. Tomorrow will be evn warmer before a cool down on Friday.

Storm on east coast slow to develop
Surprise nocturnal thunderstorms in North Grenville

The low pressure area southwest of Bermuda this morning has been very slow to develop. Interests along the east coast should continue to be aware of this threat. It is still expected to approach the coast of the Carolina's by Sunday night. In what form is yet to be determined, but expect windy rainy weather from the Outer Banks northward towards Long Island by the end of the weekend.

In local weather- a line of thunderstorms formed unexpectedly overnight. Thunder & lightning and around 5-10mm of rain occurred in Kemptville. We are expecting warm and humid weather today and Friday with highs around 30C (86F).

Possible tropical threat for eastern seaboard

A Hurricane Hunter Recon flight is currently underway along the east coast of Florida about 350 miles out at sea. A an area of low pressure is expected to become TD7 and possibly Tropical Storm Gabrielle within the next 24 hours. The storm is then likely to retrograde back towards the coast as high pressure to the northeast blocks its movement. We could be seeing a tropical system moving along the coast from the Outer Banks northeastward towards New England by the weekend. There is still much uncertainty among computer models with many different scenarios as to the track of this potential storm. I will keep a close eye on the system and update the blog tomorrow morning.

Hurricane Felix at Landfall this morning in Central America.

Bits and Bites and a little complaining


Ah where to begin. First and foremost my battle with Bell continues. I have been waiting over a month for delivery of a modem promised to me in one to two business days from Bell Sympatico Internet Service. That was August 6. So far nothing so I am switching to Cogeco, I will let you know how that goes. So my entries have been limited, I apologize.

We have just witnessed a second Category 5 storm of the 2007 season to hit Central America. This is very far south for these storms, they are record breakers. Hurricane Felix followed Dean's path for awhile, but then moved a little more south into Honduras, Nicaragua and Belize. Winds gusted over 165mph as the storm roared inland with a 15-20 foot wall of water. The rain will be a big problem in the mountainous areas - with up to 20 inches of rain possible. Hurricane Mitch in 1998 hit this area with over 10,000 deaths reported mostly from flooding and mudslides. No deaths at this point.

Frost - you heard right frost is expected in the Adirondacks and Green Mountains tonight with lows around 32-37F expected. It will rebound into the 80 plus temperature range by Wednesday. You have to love fall in the north country. It should remain above freezing with no frost in North Grenville and the Seaway tonight.

What a Labour Day Weekend in The Seaway.

This is St. Lawrence Park in Brockville, Ontario this past Sunday.