Mexican coast braces for impact

There we have it, the earliest June hurricane since 1995, Hurricane Alex spins in the Gulf of Mexico, as an intensifying category 1 storm. Hurricane Alex is a huge storm taking up half of the Gulf of Mexico, with outer bands stretching well inland, dumping barrels of rain on many areas in the south.Hurricane Alex is really getting his act together, with a tight already well-formed center and a visible eye. He will most likely make landfall in northern Mexico late tonight, possibly as a strong category 2 hurricane after a little time over those warm Gulf of Mexico waters.

Aside from that and back here in my world, we had a thrilling adventure this past weekend. We went thrill seeking down some dirt roads in the area, just to explore and see what we found. Here's what we found...... and this this was the reward in the end.... and some weather to boot, nice little thunderstorm.
Have a splendid day!
~Dewdrop

Alex is gigantic.

Is it just me, or is Tropical Storm Alex (now, almost a hurricane) HUGE?! We are getting outer bands today.I hope to post that other soon.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

Tropical Storm Alex enters the Gulf

We have our first Tropical Storm on the scene, introducing Tropical Storm Alex, suddenly a HUGE story because of the potential impact on the coast with regard to the oil spill disaster. All eyes on Alex as a trough directs him further to the north with each pass. Already, TWC mets are on the scene to discuss with anyone who will entertain them about the "impending doom" The current trajectory puts Alex over Mexico, but the forecast cone is currently putting him anywhere from Texas down into Mexico. The part that has some worried is the size of Alex's convective field, which they fear will stir up waves impacting disaster aid. I'll share about my weekend another time.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

Storms brewing.

We've got weather... notice how it's bowing around me... Dewvoid...~Dewdrop

P.S. Guess who's back!!

Amazing clouds

Sometimes the sky just blows me away...

Melting the Sky

I'm in the middle of a crazy program at work, but Sky Watch Friday is very important to me, so I wanted to share a shot from our weekend.  We spent our time at a local amusement park to attend a concert that Steven Curtis Chapman was putting on.  It was terrific!  We had a truly wonderful time, except as you see, it was so hot, the sky was melting.

 

Have a brilliant day!

~Dewdrop

Mythbusters is decapitating tornadoes! :-)

Mythbusters is decapitating tornadoes! :-)

HOT AS... well, you know...

Well, I was walking through the lobby, where the door is propped open, yet we have been without A/C since Thursday, and the thermometer caught my eye. The offices are actually hotter, but that bottom right reading 89.5° is the inside the lobby temperature reading. Insanity. I'm melting, melting... what a world, what a world. Hazardous working conditions.

~Dew

Ring around the sun

It's Sky Watch Friday!!  I want to share with you a picture from the girl trip Mini-Dew, my dear friend, her daughter and I took to Busch Gardens in Tampa, this past weekend.  Actually, I guess I will share my 3 favorites.  We had such a terrific time!

 

The first is the effect of viewing a solar halo through sunglasses.  I love the sepia effect.  I saw it in the windshield of a car as we were leaving Starbucks and knew it was up there... so when I looked up... kapow!

 

The second is a wonderful mixture of altocumulus and cirrcoumulus clouds.  The ride in view is the Cheetah Chase, but the sky is what captured my attention.

 

The third is self-explanatory... you know they do hair...?

 

Stay cool!

~Dewdrop

What about Hurricane Season???

I was out of the loop with a horrible stomach bug on Tuesday, the first day of hurricane season, and so yesterday was a busy catch up day.  Happy Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season 2010. 

 

Here's what's being said about it...

 

According to Joe Bastardi, chief long-range meteorologist for Accu-Weather.com: Hurricane season will start early and stay late this year. My biggest fear is that it goes beyond the nasty season I have forecasted since February.   2010 may be remembered as the hurricane season from Hades.   ~source

Beach escape, hidden blessings

Well, it’s that time again… SKY WATCH FRIDAY, and boy have I got a story to share. It won’t do it justice to simply show all the pics and tell the wonderful story. We were invited over the weekend to visit with some of our dear Colorado friends (he wrote the lyrics in the margin), while they were pastoring a retreat. We had no idea what to expect, but we were eager to have the opportunity to spend time with dear friends while they were in the general vicinity. We woke up early on Saturday and made our way to Seaside, FL (which coincidentally was the same spot Mini-Dew’s 5th grade teacher and her son, her classmate decided to vacation the same days, just two cabanas over --- small world). What a beautiful and quaint hole-in-the-wall beach town.

The charming little village was charming with their perfectly named shops and cute little novelties.

It was precious, well, everything but the prices. They were awfully proud of their food… Fortunately, our accommodations were covered as a part of the retreat, where they had plenty of room for us in one of the two houses they had rented for the week. A couple of the pastors weren’t arriving till late Monday, so we were good. We had a wonderful time splashing in the oil-free waves and sunning in the sand, seeking fresh clams and crabs… enjoying time with our dear friends and their adorable little ones.
The best part of the weekend was the ministry work. It was presented that we were on a vacation. They wanted us to sit back and relax and enjoy, not lift a finger and be totally catered to, but that is not my wonderful groom and my (and I found Mini-Dew, too) way of doing things. They were putting us up in wonderful accommodations, allowing us a great opportunity to spend time with friends, enjoying the beautiful Gulf Shores and phenomenal thunderstorms (no, no water spouts). We were going to work to earn our keep. We started off just contributing a little effort in the kitchen, then, in one of the group prayer sessions, I learned so much about the amazing group of women and children and the workers and volunteers from Chattanooga along for the retreat. Kelly, the leader, started out as a case manager, working soup kitchens and offering what limited assistance she could in that capacity, realizing… these women had no hope… these women were trapped and bound in their circumstance, an endless cycle of dependence on the government, trapped in the cycle of welfare. It wasn’t enough, so she (Kelly) formed the Oak Project, which introduced these women to the life-saving power of Jesus Christ, turning their life and circumstance around... teaching them the glory of earning, and how they could find the peace that surpasses understanding. The retreat was an opportunity for them that many had never experienced, time away from the distractions and temptations of life, experiencing new things in a positive environment... as a family. Ministering to these wonderful ladies was a surprising and amazing blessing. Seeing how far so many of these women had come inspired me, it enlightened me and it poured into my life in ways that touch me deep down. These beautiful, powerful, strong mothers, these phenomenal and outstanding women ministered to me, way more than I could have ever ministered to them, and I am blessed to have had the experience. God bless Kelly for hearing a call, an urgent need in the lives of these women and for taking that leap of faith. My thoughts and prayers are with you wonderful people.

Have a truly blessed day!
~Dewdrop