The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Thursday, August 28, 2008

Could someone put the tropics back to sleep...?

Happy Sky Watch Friday!! Here's my post!!! (Please visit Tom, Klaus, Sandy and Imac's SKY WATCH BLOG (click here or on the logo) to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. It really is so much fun and interesting to see skies all over the world!!! I highly recommend it!) My Skywatch Friday picture today is in honor of the extremely limited visibility I had this morning while I drove to work. The radiation fog was so thick that in some spots I couldn't see 50 yards in front of me. I certainly couldn't see the "sky".Now, I did not take this picture this morning... but it was taken on a foggy morning, such as today. There are a couple of elements of the shot that I especially love... 1. My anemometer (tool for measuring windspeed) is silhouetted in the sun radiating through the fog. 2. The dew (I'm a big fan of Dew, aren't you?) is evident on the tree in the shot. You cannot have fog without Dew. :O)

Fog is really cloud that forms near the ground, and like cloud, fog forms as a result of condensation. Probably the most common form of fog is radiation fog, so named because it is produced by radiational cooling of the ground. This happens at night, when heat absorbed by the Earth's surface during the day is radiated back into space. The highest degree of radiational cooling occurs on clear nights, when there are no clouds to reradiate the heat back to Earth.

Radiational cooling produces condensation in the air layers immediately above the ground. If only a thin layer of moist air is present, Dew will form; if a thicker layer is present, radiation fog (and dew) will form. [Such as on the day this shot was taken, back in January.]

It is often difficult to predict when dew and fog will occur together. It is possible to have dew without fog, but it is not possible to have fog without dew. The ideal conditions for dew are a still, clear night, high humidity in the air next to the ground, and low humidity in the air above. ~source
OK, enough about the sky, or the lack of sky in my case... onto the active tropical Atlantic. I have been talking a lot in recent days about Fay and Gustav... they are still there and doing their thing... we also now have Tropical Depression 8! TD 8 is hot on the heels of Gustav, but is a larger, currently better looking tropical system. Again, I don't want to in any way discard or detract from Gustav, most models build him into a very dangerous MAJOR hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico after this weekend, with sites set somewhere along the Gulf coast! Louisiana's governor has already declared a State of Emergency, which activates the assistance of the National Guard, no doubt motivated by the lingering memories of the devastation caused by category 3 land-falling Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. The currently barely under hurricane strength (having gained strength overnight), intensifying, most likely future Hurricane Gustav could have a similar course, and I am relieved to hear that they seem to have learned a lesson. Hopefully, it won't have to be tested in the same way, but let's hope everyone has and preparations along the Gulf are hard underway! Gustav is really pulling it together this morning, and with only Jamaica in the way... I expect him to be back at hurricane strength at the next advisory (if not sooner). He should be quite a force by the time he gets up into the Gulf. Currently, they are not forecasting any landfalls between now and then... which means, strengthen, strengthen, strengthen...Of course, there is still TD Fay wreaking havoc and dropping buckets of rain everywhere she goes. Fortunately, she is headed offshore soon and will leave us alone. There is talk that Tropical Storm Fay might have her name placed in the Hall of Retired Storms and we will never again see the name Fay. It's not common for tropical storms to have their names retired, but not unheard of... The last time a tropical storm name was retired was back in 2002 when they retired 2001's Tropical Storm Allison.
Hurricane Allison 1989, having replaced retired Hurricane Alicia, a hurricane that brought heavy damage to southeast Texas, coincidentally caused great damage in the same area. Even more unlikely is that though Hurricane Allison was not retired, another Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 again devastated southeast Texas, with its name retired in 2002 and replaced by Andrea for 2007.

And yes, we have Tropical Depression number 8. Don't get too comfortable with that designation though because I expect that TD 8 will be called Hanna by this afternoon. She is looking very well organized, is in a favorable environment, AND they expect the soon Tropical Storm Hanna will become a hurricane within 3 days.
THE HWRF AND GFDL MODELS ARE MORE AGGRESSIVE...PREDICTING AN INTENSE HURRICANE.
Florida... this looks like yours.

I won't even get into a discussion about the stuff coming off the coast of Africa right now... but... sheesh.

11AM UPDATE:
1100 AM AST THU AUG 28 2008

...HANNA BECOMES EIGHTH TROPICAL STORM OF THE SEASON...
Bingo! Oh, and Gustav's pressure dropped 5mb. You can expect a hurricane classification prior to the next advisory.

Have a lovely day!
~Dewdrop

49 comments:

  1. "1. My anemometer (tool for measuring windspeed) is silhouetted in the sun radiating through the fog."---What a wx geek!!!

    "2. The dew (I'm a big fan of Dew, aren't you?) is evident on the tree in the shot."---very much so...

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  2. Love the glow in the first picture. The exposure is lovely. I love photos of branches too. :)

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  3. Mike said...
    "1. My anemometer (tool for measuring windspeed) is silhouetted in the sun radiating through the fog."---What a wx geek!!! ---> WELL, IF THAT'S NOT THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK?! :O)

    "2. The dew (I'm a big fan of Dew, aren't you?) is evident on the tree in the shot."---very much so... ---> THANKS! lol

    Thanks, Beth!

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  4. nice skywatch Friday. Thanks for the explanation of my skywatch photo.

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  5. Dew: Beautiful sunrise through the fog. You captured it really well.

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  6. I love foggy shots, and this one is superb!

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  7. You always have such interesting posts! Great photos as well. I loved the sunrise with the fog! Thanks for sharing...

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  8. Sometimes the skies you can't see are just as beautiful as the ones you can!

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  9. thanks for sharing this.. it gives me some information about the place...

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  10. Great info and photo.
    Look out for 8.

    Enjoyed this post.

    Nice "Sky Watch" today.
    Come visit, The Fire Storm.
    Troy and Martha

    PS: Fog photos are among my very favorites.

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  11. It's been raining here in my parts of the woods for days now! thanks for the info!

    Drop by if you got a chance, HERE.

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  12. Thanks for the info! Happy SWF!

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  13. Skywatch weather man - with a great post and photo.

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  14. Enjoyable and informative, as always, Dew! As I read, I couldn't help but think of Burl Ives singing "Foggy, Foggy Dew."

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  15. Oh my - you show nice pictures and bring scary news. It seems it'll be very active this season. So dew don't like that. Cheers, Klaus

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  16. Lovely shot Dew!
    We had some fog yesterday after the rain and I honestly thought of you because I wasn't sure if fog was the proper term. :)
    Your photos in the post below are wonderful too.

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  17. Nice photo, I like fog too, i'ts comforting or, on a clear cold morning can be exilarating.
    An anemometer is always handy.
    Your weather info. is a bonus.

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  18. I like the first photo very much; it's a good composition of a tree against a sky. It's mysterious at the same time.

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  19. Perfect catch for Skywatch! Mine's up too hope you can drop by,,,,asking for you vote too... Thanks a lot! Happy weekend!

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  20. Der!!! so sorry "Weather Woman"
    You may slap my wrist.

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  21. I love the first photo. Great shot!

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  22. I love that photo for SWF. It's beautiful, and it alos captures the eerie feeling of fog.

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  23. We're hitting triple digit today so your lovely foggy shot is well received here.

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  24. Nice sky it that top shot. Thanks for sharing.

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  25. Always such comprehensive informative posts with stunning pics.

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  26. I love the shots. Something special about a foggy morning.

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  27. The first picture looks wintry. I love it!

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  28. Thanks for this explanation. I didn't know fog is a low-flying cloud! Beautiful photos.

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  29. Wow beautiful pictures and informative blog. Great combination.

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  30. These are absolutely stunning photos

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  31. Sunrise is always marvelous!

    May be a great explanation!
    My english is so "small" to umderstand all!!
    Have a nice weekend!

    Santilli

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  32. Great photos. I find fog extremely fascinating but I really hate driving in it. It's one of those things that can be both beautiful and frightening depending on where you are in relation to it. Great post

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  33. ohh beautiful sunrise! the effect of the sun on the fog creates a smooth glow of light. :)

    happy skywatching!

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  34. Loved the softness of the first pic and the second pic is a dream!

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  35. we only see tropical storms on tv - thankfully!

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  36. I frosty mornings when the dew is still on the ground and hanging from the leaves on the plants - wonderful - your photos capture it all, love Judyx

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  37. Thanks for the talk about Fay, Gustav and....oh, NO!...Hanna. This is turning out to be another busy hurricane season.

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  38. Perfect shots for Skywatch!
    Love the first one.

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  39. Great SWF. And I enjoyed reading about fog and dew, and the storms...Thanks!

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  40. The foggy glow is beautiful. Nice storm chasing too!

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  41. I love the mystery in fog!

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  42. Lovely pictures - very impressive research on the hurricanes!

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  43. Thanks to everyone who made such kind comments about the fog shot and the hurricane update. I am glad to share all of it.

    Tommy, You're very welcome. Any time. :O)

    Lirnoe, I agree!

    Troy, 8 does appear to be headed my way, doesn't it?

    Yen, Hang in there. Perhaps it'll stop soon.

    Lol, Imac, you're forgiven. Man, tee hee. I won't slap your wrist...

    Pat, Foggy, foggy Dew... love it!

    Klaus, Dew likes it ok.

    Carletta, so sweet to think of me. Certainly, it was fog.

    Arija, I love having weather instruments.

    2sweetnsaxy, I hate to drive in it, as well.

    YEGTG, Yes, a very busy year!

    Chanpheng, THANKS!

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  44. Very informative and beautiful pictures/graphics. Thank you for sharing!

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Dew comment, please...