The Atlantic Basin Goes Silent... But Not For Long

After a slow start to a hurricane season that was hyped to be anything but slow, today marks the first full day since the development of Tropical Depression #6 on August 21 (which would later become Hurricane Danielle) that we've gone without a named storm in the Atlantic basin. Although we almost did it between September 5–6 when Hurricane Earl dissipated in the north Atlantic, we were surprised when Tropical Depression #10 (which would later become Tropical Storm Hermine) quickly spun up in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in extreme northeastern Mexico. This marks a total of 36 days having a named storm, the longest such period since the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, which had remained completely active for 45 days from August 29 through October 12.

We are well into an above-average Atlantic hurricane season with 13 named storms and two unnamed tropical depressions, and there are only eight more names available for use before we'd need to break into Greek alphabet, which has only been done once in history – during the epic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. With that said, today's break in activity leaves us on edge after yesterday's degeneration of both Lisa and Matthew, wondering where Nicole is... and will Otto follow?

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) there is an increasingly likely chance we'll see our next named storm this week as an area of convection continues to flare up in the northwest Caribbean Sea which in the short-term seems to have its eyes on the southeastern Gulf coast. Meanwhile, a very small area of convection flared overnight in the central Atlantic, but development of this system is not likely in the near-term.

There is not yet an official invest on the system in the Caribbean but by day's end I would expect to see 96L pop up! At that time the computer models should have a better handle on what the system might do – where it might go, how fast it might develop and how strong it could become. To that extent I encourage all interests in the northwest Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to monitor possible development in this region as the break in tropical activity seems to be short-lived!

[UPDATE #1: As of 3:30 p.m. ET 09-27-10, we officially have 96L invest.]
[UPDATE #2: As of 11:00 a.m. ET 09-28-10, we officially have Tropical Depression #16.]

I'll leave you with 2010 Atlantic hurricane season scorecard, courtesy of The Weather Channel:

	Average (1966–2009)	2010
Named Storms	8	19
Hurricanes	4	7
Major Hurricanes	1	5

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On The Weather Channel!

Earlier today I published a blog post (see below) which featured a brief tale of the storms that moved through the New York City area last night. Well, it gets even better! This morning I was contacted by The Weather Channel, who after viewing my videos wanted to share them on the air, online at weather.com, on weather mobile and possibly on NBC, etc.

I gladly agreed to do on-air interview this morning at around 9:10 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. While these videos are not the greatest quality as they were recorded 'of' the television (not 'on' it), I just had to share!

Enjoy...





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Final Expedition of VORTEX2 Hits the Road this Saturday

This Saturday, May 1 VORTEX2 [Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes], a historic, epic and ambitious project chasing and analyzing tornadoes throughout the nations mid-section, will enter its final season, which ends on June 15. The $10 million project, funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), kicked off last year and is fully nomadic with no home base. Over 150 scientists using over 40 science and support vehicles, will roam from state to state following severe weather outbreaks throughout the region. Their fleet consists of cutting edge instruments to literally surround tornadoes and the supercell thunderstorms that form them.

VORTEX2 began last year and comes on the heels of VORTEX1, which took place during the severe weather season's of 1994 and 1995. VORTEX2 is a much expanded project and kicked off in the 2009 season and will conclude this year. The basic questions driving VORTEX2's agenda are:

• How, when, and why do tornadoes form?
• Why are some tornadoes violent and long-lasting while others are weak and short lived?
• What is the structure of tornadoes?
• How strong are a particular tornadoes winds near the ground?
• How exactly do the winds from a tornado do damage?
• How can we forecast tornadoes better?
• Can we make tornado warnings more accurate, and can we warn 30, 45, 60 minutes ahead of one?

On a final note, the 2009 season of VORTEX2 started slow but ended incredibly -- and I watched it LIVE via The Weather Channel on June 8 when VORTEX2 intercepted a tornado in Wyoming and Nebraska. It was totally, amazingly and absolutely AWESOME! Check it out here...

TWC Hires a New Eye on Hurricane Forecasts

This is inconceivable! I've been watching Dr. Steve Lyons' hurricane forecasts on The Weather Channel (TWC) for 12 years, and before him Dr. John Hope's. Yes, I've been "eye'ing" hurricanes THAT LONG!

Well, the latest announcement is that Lyons will move to San Angelo's National Weather Service as Meteorologist-in-Charge, and Rick Knabb, former Senior Hurricane Specialist at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), will be taking over as TWC's On-Camera Hurricane Expert and Tropical Program Manager. In doing so, he will help lead on-air and cross-platform tropical coverage, providing continuous updates on hurricane and tropical storm development.

TWC says Knabb will bring tremendous experience to the Channel and is no stranger to high profile hurricane activity, having worked with the NHC during the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

Here's hoping the transition goes well! Hurricane season begins six weeks from today, on June 1!

TWC to Launch Four New Original Series

The past year on The Weather Channel (TWC) featured the successful launch of several new series such as Wake Up With Al, Cantore Stories and Weather Proof. And now on the heels of those shows comes an announcement of four new programs for the all-weather network's 2010-2011 season.

These four original series will test, investigate and explore weather in a whole new light. They include:

Lightning Rod, the network’s first live program allowing viewers to interact and discuss topics including climate change and global warming.

Weather: Caught on Camera, a program that reveals the most intense, violent and downright crazy weather ever captured on video.

Forensic Weather, a program that shows how Mother Nature helps solve crimes with forensic meteorologists who take viewers on a fascinating step by step journey to uncover the evidence and the impact of weather on the investigation (see earlier blog post on this subject).

Storm Riders, a series that documents two maverick storm chasers on their hunt for supercells.

I personally think the new programming lineup is a great idea, especially Forensic Weather. It will be interesting to see how they rate. In some research I did while composing this blog post I noticed that some viewers don't find the announcement to be great news as they 'miss' the old TWC that used to report on weather and only weather.

One angry viewer was quoted, "I could use a more weather focused channel that actually shows weather. TWC is something I never watch because of their political crap and the fact NBC is jamming the anemic-looking Al Roker down the viewers throats!"

Yikes, angry viewer! We will see, we will see...

Tornado Week on The Weather Channel

Today marks the start of The Weather Channel's yearly 'Tornado Week' – a 7-day program aimed at raising awareness and recapping the powerful force of one of the fiercest weather phenomenon.

From Storm Stories to Storm Riders, and from Weather Proof to When Weather Changed History, TWC will take you into the twister and bring you inspiring tales from survivors and rescuers battling amazing tornadic weather events.

Now for the awesomeness! This year in conjunction with 'Tornado Week' you can build your own tornado online! Into the Tornado, a virtual, physics-based tornado simulator, lets users get up close and personal with a tornado by allowing you to select the tornado's wind speed, size and objects they want to test. Using the simulator, drop in a hot rod, a locomotive or even a pig to see how a tornado impacts an assortment of objects. TWC says Into the Tornado is as close as you can get and as close as you want to be – in order to understand the science behind Mother Nature's most unpredictable and violent act.

'Tornado Week' runs April 4 – 10, and kicks off tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET with a new season of Storm Stories. Check it out!

From February Fury to March Madness

We all know that February was one of the harshest winter weather months the Eastern third of the country has seen in many, many years. Just look at the following two graphics supplied today by The Weather Channel.

In the first graphic, check out the temperature extremes and just how much of the nation was affected by temperatures running well below average. That, coupled with unusual heavy snowfall amounts as a result of back-to-back-to-back Nor'easters, left major U.S. cities from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with record setting Februaries. The second graphic shows the states that reported their all time greatest snowfalls for the month of February, as well as those that reported their all time snowiest month ever!

Now as we enter the official start of the meteorological spring (March 1), we also enter tornado season! March tends to host some of the year's most volatile weather across the lower 48. The transition month welcomes cold surges from the north and more frequent warm surges from the south. The clash of these air masses typically sets up across the plains and southeast states before migrating northward and westward later in Spring.

Here's to a crazy Winter and a hopefully crazier Spring!

Big Blizzard in the Big Apple - A Video Journal

A major blizzard affected a large portion of the country today, from the mid-west to the east coast.

Direct from New York City, we recorded all day in the storm and posted the videos here and on our Facebook Fan Page. The evening videos as compared to the ones shot earlier in the day really show the rapid development of the Nor'easter and the deteriorating conditions associated with the blizzard.

Oh, and check out these photos The Northeast Quadrant blogger, Devin, took today in Central Park with The Weather Channel's Chris Warren.

It was truly a great day for a great snowstorm! Our Facebook fans thought so as well. Below these videos you will find a slideshow of photos submitted by them during the storm!













... and now for the Facebook fans' photo slideshow!

Cantore Stories: New Reality TV from The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel will premier it's newest reality television program, Cantore Stories, next Sunday, January 24 at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Hosted by meteorologist Jim Cantore, the half-hour program follows him as he endures harsh and unusual weather conditions when he visits some of America’s most amazing climates in the most unique and extreme locations, and meets with the people who live in them.

Will Utah be Blogworthy for The Northeast Quadrant?

If you've been following along you know The Northeast Quadrant is going on the road late next week. That's right, we're takin' the show to Utah (well somewhat -- we'll still blog from the east coast too)! So you can imagine the joy we felt when surfing the updates on Facebook today and saw this posting from The Weather Channel:

"If you live in the west or if you're visiting, take some time and read these Special Weather Statements from the National Weather Service. Pay close attention to Hanford, CA, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Flagstaff."

Here's what we cam across when clicked on Salt Lake City:

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER PATTERN CHANGE BEGINNING EARLY NEXT WEEK...

AFTER A SEVERAL WEEK PERIOD CHARACTERIZED BY LONG STRETCHES OF HIGH PRESSURE FOLLOWED BY THE PASSAGE OF WEAK STORM SYSTEMS... THE WEATHER PATTERN APPEARS TO BE READY TO SHIFT LATE THIS WEEKEND.

THE WEATHER WILL REMAIN QUIET THROUGH TOMORROW ACROSS THE REGION AS ONE LAST AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. HAZE AND FOG WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE VALLEYS OF NORTHERN UTAH AS THE INVERSION STRENGTHENS THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

A SERIES OF MOIST PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE REGION STARTING ON MONDAY AND LASTING THROUGH MUCH OF THE WORK WEEK. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION WILL POTENTIALLY AFFECT SOUTHERN UTAH... THOUGH MUCH OF THE STATE WILL END UP RECEIVING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION WHEN TOTALS ARE TALLIED AT THE END OF THE WEEK.

INCREASING SOUTHERLY WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PATTERN CHANGE WILL BRING AN END TO THE FOG AND HAZE ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. LOCATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN QUITE COLD OF LATE INCLUDING THE UINTA BASIN AND NEAR GREEN RIVER WILL TREND WARMER. TEMPERATURES IN THE VALLEYS WILL LIKELY SUPPORT A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW DURING THE WEEK. PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF UTAH... FOCUSING ACROSS THE SOUTH.

BE SURE TO MONITOR WEATHER FORECASTS THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS THE PATTERN CHANGE APPROACHES FOR NEXT WEEK.

Well, it's looking likely we'll have some good blog posts while we're on the road. Stay tuned!

The Weather Channel Launches New Local Weather Page

Breaking news for all your weather buffs! The Weather Channel and Weather.com today launched it's new local weather page featuring improved, new, and more robust customizable features!

With the new local weather page you'll be able to tailor your local weather forecast to your hobbies and interests, get one-click access to flight information and airport delays, air quality reports, ski and beach forecasts and more. On one page you can even view video maps, compare daily, monthly and yearly temperature and precipitation averages, see up-to-the-minute traffic information and surf web cams right in your neighborhood.

Take a tour of the new local weather page (don't you just love how the tour page showcases a snowstorm in NYC!?!)

Then visit www.weather.com and check out the weather where you're located!