Hanna and Ike and Josephine... oh my!

It's Sky Watch Friday post time!!(Please visit Tom, Klaus, Sandy and Imac's SKY WATCH BLOG (click here or on the logo) to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. It is so interesting to see skies all over the world!!! I highly recommend it!) For my sky shot, I have decided to post my sky from yesterday morning. I was intrigued by the wispy cirrus combined with the cirrocumulus patchiness that seemed to cover my entire sky yesterday morning, and as the sun rose into the sky, it actually formed a mackerel sky pattern.Remember, yesterday, I posted the strandy cirrus which fed into the cirrocumulus? I think, above we are actually looking at more of a combination of cirrocumulus and altocumulus, as some are less translucent and seem to have a bit of a grey shadow... most likely as the temperature fluctuates and they lose heighth.

Cirrocumulus clouds are high-altitude cloud, usually occurring at 16,000-40,000 feet. By appearance, the cirrocumulus is a small, white patch or tuft without a gray shadow. It occurs in patches or sheets along with other cirrocumulus. These often are organized in rows like other cumulus, but since they are so small, cirrocumulus patches take on a finer appearance, sometimes referred to colloquially as "herringbone" or "mackerel".

The cirrocumulus is distinguished from the somewhat similar altocumulus in several ways, although the two cloud types can occasionally occur together with no clear demarcation between them. Cirrocumulus generally occur at higher altitudes than altocumulus, and thus the "cloudlets" appear smaller as they are more distant from observation at ground level. They are also colder. Cirrocumulus clouds never cast self-shadows and are translucent to certain degree. They are also typically found amongst other cirrus clouds in the sky, and are usually themselves seen to be transforming into these other types of cirrus.

TROPICAL UPDATE:

TD GUSTAV

Tropical Depression Gustav still very saturated as he moves over the central part of the United States, dumping buckets and buckets of water. Tropical systems this year seem to just be full of it, and they just keep going... and going.... and going...

TS HANNA

The impressive Tropical Storm Hanna has done her loop-dee-loop down by Haiti and is now making that north northwestward movement that mostly all the models forecasted. She now has her sites set on the Carolina coast line. She may not look very impressive... but...

LOOKS CAN CERTAINLY BE DECEIVING. HANNA HAS NOT BEEN PRODUCING VERY MUCH DEEP CONVECTION... AS THE UPPER-LEVEL LOW TO ITS WEST CONTINUES TO IMPOSE STRONG SOUTHERLY SHEAR. NEVERTHELESS...HANNA HAS A LARGE AND ROBUST CIRCULATION

Hanna is expected to make landfall on the South/North Carolina coast as a hurricane sometime Saturday. The coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas are under a hurricane watch in anticipation of Hanna's arrival.

HURRICANE IKE

Ah, the impressive Hurricane Ike... though convectively asymmetrical, packing a powerful punch, having quickly ramped up overnight to a very dangerous category 4 hurricane. Hurricane Ike's pressure dropped 61mb in 24 hours, going from a strong Tropical Storm to powerful category 4 hurricane in just one day. What a difference a day can make. Not just that, but it looks like Ike is wanting to seriously follow in Hanna's footsteps, with the current trajectory taking her close to the same course. Of course, as we have learned... ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! Unfortunately, even the models feel that way, taking Ike anywhere from the Gulf of Mexico, potentially making a Gulf Shore landfall, to the east coast of Florida, making an easy chase for Jeff, or perhaps, following Hanna still on up to the Carolinas, or even possibly carrying him out into the wide expanse of the Atlantic as a fish. All eyes on Ike... after we're finished watching Hanna, of course. The official forecast being that...

IT IS STILL TOO EARLY TO SAY WHAT LAND AREAS ARE LIKELY TO BE IMPACTED BY THIS HURRICANE.

... and we have...

TS Josephine

Then, on Hurricane Ike's trail is Tropical Storm Josephine, a relatively strong tropical storm, is expected to hold its own under the current shear environment for a spell and then as shear weakens over time, intensification is expected, eventually putting Josephine in the position Ike will have been a few days prior, which is right over the area Hanna is just now leaving. If you have vacation plans in the Bahamas anytime soon, bring your galoshes.

That's all I've got for the Tropics... whew.

Have a wonderful day!
~Dewdrop