The Flight of a South Georgia Storm Chaser

April 27, 2011...

2011-12-28T11:10:00.002-05:00

I just want to share this account with whoever might be interested. My dear friend, Mike, a fellow storm chaser, along with Rick and JB, all members of the Southern Weather Brigade, were chasing storms on that fateful day April 27, 2011, when much of Alabama was devastated by an onslaught of tornadoes that left the state ravaged and hurting. The loss of life that day was historic and tragic. It was 8 months ago yesterday, and my friend Mike, who witnessed it firsthand and even prayed for the victims, as he watched helplessly, is just now finally able to share the details of that traumatic day... His story.

God bless all of those still coping with the devastation of those storms.

~Dewdrop

Deck the Halls

2011-12-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

Weather geeks are some of the funniest, geekiest people I know, myself included. This year, NOAA has put out their rendition of "Deck the Halls" using a commonly heard voice, that of the NOAA Weather Radio. It's music to my ears.

Have a Merry Christmas!!
~Dewdrop

Be prepared!

2011-12-07T09:39:00.004-05:00

Well, if you listen to me, you have hooked up, or you immediately went out to purchase your weather radio. Hopefully, you purchased one that is SAME (Specific Area Message Encoder) code enabled. If not, don't freak, just having a weather radio could mean the difference between life and death. If you got one that is SAME code enabled, you are able to program your radio using specific codes, so your radio will only alert you when weather advisories pertain to that specific county. You can find codes for the counties you want alerts for by selecting your state at this link. Now what? Well, you wait for "inclement" weather. You will hear weekly tests of the EAS (Emergency Alert System), so the broadcasters can be certain the signal is going out properly. Anyone who didn't hear the National test of this alert system can recognize the value of the test. When inclement weather is present, the test will not occur. Generally, the alert in your area will start with a watch of some sort. Ideally, a severe thunderstorm or even a tornado watch will be issued for your area. A watch simply warns you that conditions are favorable for the weather described in the watch to occur. This should alert you to be aware and mindful of rapidly changing conditions, have your emergency kit ready. You should always have a disaster kit ready, but now's your chance to freshen it up, double check those batteries. Be mindful and vigilant. A watch means that the weather could happen.

Then, you might just experience a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning. When that is issued, it means one of two things, either those conditions have been witnessed by a credible source (SKYWARN spotter or law enforcement) or the radar that the National Weather Service meteorologists are observing is showing an imminent threat. If you are in the path of the storm, this is the time to get below ground, or if no basement is available, an interior room, away from windows. Cover up with a mattress; wear a helmet; put infants and small children in a car seat. Most injuries and deaths from severe weather occur when degree becomes projectile. Stay there until the warning expires.

... and that is how you stay prepared.
~Dewdrop

The first step... awareness

2011-12-02T11:38:00.003-05:00

Oh hey, remember me? Probably not. I don't blame you. I've sort of dropped out of the blogosphere into several other social media outlets. I miss having a place to share and teach weather though, so I have decided that I would like to turn this back into a current weather teaching site. I am firm in my position that awareness (regarding weather) saves lives. I think that knowing some key information can help you to be proactive in preparedness. Being as passionate about weather as I am, many friends have taken to calling me during severe weather outbreaks. This scares me to death sometimes. The NWS has a very important tool in place that is designed to help people in the event of a weather emergency, the weather radio. I think every home should have one. You wouldn't believe some of the excuses I have heard from people about why they don't use theirs... it was annoying me with all those weather alerts... being the scariest. LUDICROUS!! They are there to warn you, to help SAVE YOUR LIFE! Don't turn off the alerts and worse... DON'T NOT HAVE A WEATHER RADIO! I think all homes should have weather radios built in. I think it should requires like smoke detectors. So...

STEP 1, LESSON 1: BUY A WEATHER RADIO!!

That is all!
~Dewdrop

One of the Biggest Thrills of my Life!!!

2011-08-02T11:53:00.009-04:00

I am just now getting around to posting about my wonderful adventure in whitewater rafting. It was my first experience, and I will tell you right now... if I could have, I would have had them drop me off at the top of the river and do it right after I finished. It was AMAZING! It was SUCH A RUSH! It was EXHILARATING! It was AWESOME! If you haven't ever done it before, you should. What are you waiting for? Stop reading and go hit the rapids. My next time will be with my wonderful groom. :) No, this time it wasn't. We had a Women's Weekend with my church group, and it was quite an adventure. One of the buses had no A/C... then, it got a flat tire... seriously... then, when we arrived one of our big vans lost its transmission. Kudos to our leader who handled it all like a champ, handling high stress with her classy touch of grace. Back to rafting though! We loaded the big yellow boat and got our instructions. Listen to your guide. Your guide is good. Guide is wise (sorry, a little Twister throw back). Anyways, we had the most awesome guide ever... Lucas with White Water Express (ask for him and tell him you want to ride bull "hero style". He'll hook you up!) So, we set off on the Ocoee River somewhere in TN (or were we back in GA?)at the midway point, right there before Grumpy. It was such an adventure. We rode it all the way down, and I had a silly grin on my face the whole time! See????I'm the one in the bright pink shirt, which makes me easier to find in the subsequent shots. So, we're riding along, and as I mentioned, Lucas gave us the option of hero style or chicken style on an upcoming rapids. Well, hello, this is me he's talking to... HERO!!! The raft was split. Three wanted to go hero style and three wanted to play the part of the chicken, so our trusted guide, Lucas decided to try a little something new. He situated us in the raft accordingly for the evil scheme and well, I'll let the pics do the talking at this point.
Incidentally, only the wanna-be heroes took the plunge, so in that last shot, Lucas is celebrating his success. I'm the one in pink with pink shoes... As one of the ladies in our group pointed out, she didn't even know it was on her bucket list till she did it. Now, it's back on there to go again and for her to ride bull this time. After taking the plunge, I was completely fearless, so I hopped on the front of that raft and "rode bull" staying on through the grand finale rapids. Again, again!!!

Have a great day!!
~Dewdrop

A trip down Memory Lane

2011-07-14T10:50:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend spending time with family and extended family in the foothills of the Appalachians... the Smoky Blue Ridge. The kids are great, having gotten quite used to me taking constant pics of just general life, they are excellent about pointing out beautiful shot potential. This was one of those moments. I was absorbed in mountains and scenery... and the kids shout, take a picture this way in a minute... wait for it, wait for it. Kaboom!!!They were dead on!!!

It was a perfect weekend, the weather, the activities, the togetherness, the nostalgia... you see, back on July 26, 2008, my wonderful groom (well, at the time, bf) took me to this same exact location to make a very special Proposal... ahh, the memories (I'm getting ahead of myself here). When we arrived at the cabin, it all came rushing back, the sounds, the smells, the memories of one of the most beautiful weekends ever (our wedding weekend is number one!)

So I, of course, explored Aunt Liz's beautiful garden, which was absolutely amazing!! I won't get off on my flower tangent like last time, but I will share with you a few of my very favorites...
Aren't they just sensational?! It was a great opportunity to play with my new camera, and it got my inspiration juices flowing for when we are laying out our garden next year. By golly... I haven't shared anything about our garden this year. Well, that's another post. Anyhow, what was I saying??? Oh yes, the nostalgia of this mini-family reunion was enough to take my breath away many times, but the "New"ness of it was pretty awesome, as well. You see, we were visiting my wonderful groom's uncle's house, but his father was also there, and then, it was coordinated that one of the other brothers would come up from Miami for a special visit. We had 3 brothers together, as well as portions of their extended family. It was wonderfully heart-warming, and I was honored to be a part of that. There were kids galore, and everyone had a truly terrific time. We roasted marshmallows for S'mores at our cabin. We played cards. We hiked. We rode an ATV. We visited. We cloud gazed (oh, nevermind, that was just me.) We explored the swimming hole. We climbed. We laughed. We read. We ate. We cooked. We picked blackberries. We chased butterflies. We talked. We caught up. We had a truly GREAT time! It was precious... and of course, we visited my wonderful groom and my special spot, Dry Falls in Highlands, NC. My new camera did it justice... I think. :D
Have an amazing day... as I write this, I hear rumbles of thunder. :)
~Dewdrop

Shelf, Severe, and a Rainbow

2011-06-24T10:01:00.007-04:00

What a wonderful weather day yesterday was!!! I was finishing up on my Thursday afternoon, when this great cell moves into the area. The cell spanned 4 counties... and in Georgia, the counties are HUGE! Well, anyhow, the radar capture here, translated to this beautiful shelf...
With this beautiful cumulus congestus (that I watched bubble up)...
Produced this severe wind damage...
And ended with this beautiful reminder from God...
All in all, a great day!
~Dewdrop

Chasing and Chaser Convergence... a little different in the south.

2011-06-21T10:56:00.007-04:00

It's so nice to have access to my blog back. I've missed it. I had a dud of a chase attempt on a date with my wonderful groom on Friday. We were getting ready to talk out the door for some sushi (which I had been craving like a mad woman) when my weather radio goes off... severe thunderstorm warning on a cell 5 miles south of me?! UGH! So, we quickly loaded up and trying to get under it (no rotation) to possibly nab some hail. There was some associated straight line damage, trees and such, but by the time we got on it... can you say dissipation?! Oh well, maybe next time.
After we finally gave up and gave in to our hunger, the line organized and produced some decent hail and wind damage. We missed all that, but the sushi sure was yum-diddly-ummy. The guy sitting behind us at the restaurant was being contacted about a tree down on his business. Oops.

On Sunday, got a rare treat, Meso Mike back from his tour in Korea was in the area getting ready for his PCS to Germany... eww... not much storm chasetunities in Germany. Oh well, at least we got a chance to visit with him before he takes off. Rick and I went up to see him. Here's what I got with my new Rebel;).

Always an adventure when you get the Dew involved...
~Dewdrop

Double Rainbow

2011-06-08T09:22:00.003-04:00

Looky, looky what we saw yesterday. Mini-Dew saw it first and shouted, "LOOK!" I love a rainbow. A double is even better!

I love rainbows!
~Dewdrop

Checking out the Hurricane Hunter

2011-06-07T09:11:00.007-04:00

Looks like blogging is off the IT Nazi radar for now, so I am going to update you on a partial dream attainment from this weekend. Well, I say dream attainment, this was just a portion of one of the items on my "Dew's Must Dew Before I Die List" (see right sidebar of my blog). You see, flying into a hurricane on one of the Hurricane Hunters is on my list (not an easy goal as a civilian), but I did get to tour one! On Saturday, the Hurricane Hunter was on tour at the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. My storm chasing pal, Jenn (yes, there is another storm chasing Jenn in Georgia-crazy) pointed the tour out to me, and we quickly set plans in motion to rendezvous there. Woohoo!!! What a thrill it was to finally see the converted C130 face-to-face, to walk through, to sit in the pilot's chair, to chat with the crew! Loved it. Only thing better would be to fly into a hurricane on it, or as I was suggesting to Jenn and Jesse (another storm chasing pal who met me at Peachtree City)... I could fly on the Hurricane Hunter into a hurricane and then sky dive out... fulfilling several things on my list at once... hurricane chase (check), flight into hurricane on the hunter (check), sky diving (check!)... but I realize that will not likely happen (the sky dive, not the hunter flight... still holding out hope on that one.) So anyways, a full day of Hunter touring, NWS touring, CoCoRaHS training and chaser convergence... That makes for a great day! A few of my friends suggested I should "take pics"... do they not know me????

Have a splendid day!
~Dewdrop

Exploring...

2011-05-18T10:03:00.004-04:00

Well, I decided that I've missed this, so here I am, back again for another exciting post. I had the craziest thing happen to me, a dear friend and excellent storm chaser invited me to go on a Plains Chase event with her for an all woman chase... sigh. No annual leave left after a couple of days here and a couple of days there, so I am missing out... Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time with my dear loved ones during the course of my mini-cations, but now, as I ponder Peg and Mel... Jess and Jenn and the author, Jenna Blum, ironically of the book I happen to be reading right now thanks to another dear friend seeing it and seeing my name all over it... Storm Chasers... go figure... oops, got off track... where was I?? Oh, as I ponder them (minus Jenn and Jess - who are in the same boat as me) out there in the plains, my heart sinks... and I feel a longing. It's all right though, Jenn and I are already on a mission to stock-pile leave and be ready for next year! Even if it's just the 2 of us, we will be in the plains together, chasin' us some naders. Work is always getting in the way... I won't focus on the fact that for today, tomorrow and Friday (while I would have been out there) there is a slight risk planted right there in prime chasing territory, in the same spot for all three days... how crazy is that?! I'll just keep my sites set on next year.

I do want to quickly share with you something my wonderful groom and I stumbled upon while on one of our fabulous lunch adventures yesterday. We like to find roads and "like-roads" that we've yet to explore and well... explore them. We did just that, found a dirt road that led to a path clearly laid out for us (not really, but we pretended), and we took it to see where it would lead us. It led us through the woods, where we just looked to see what we can find. We ended up finding a train, a pod plant, a dragonfly, a gopher turtle/rattlesnake hole or two, AND some exotic flowers. Well, color me happy. Check out this one, which has now been identified as a Maypop Vine, Passion Flower Vine - Passiflora incarnata.

Isn't nature awesome?! Go explore.
~Dewdrop

A dream come true!!!

2011-05-16T16:14:00.004-04:00

I know... you're like... Whoa! Dew's posting something in her blog! I know, I know. It's been a while. I know... there are no excuses. Well, I Have some exciting news! I fulfilled a 25 year old dream today!!! How many people can see that?! How many people have 25 year old dreams? Well, mine is actually 25 years, 3 months and 18 days old. You see, when I was a little girl, I sat with my class and watched in awe and devastation as the Space Shuttle Challenger launched into the sky, only to meet a tragic end with so many people watching in utter horror. That day, strange as it probably sounds, a seed was planted deep within me... a seed which branched out taking many forms... first, I wanted to become an astronaut, went so far as applying and being accepted at Georgia Tech into the Aerospace Engineering Program. Well, that didn't quite end up happening. I am just an accountant. The other dream, a more obtainable, yet till just today (25 years, 3 months and 18 days later) that dream reached a point of fruition, after countless scrubs, after sweeping Kennedy Space Center, after listening to my wonderful groom watch, after missing chances because the timing was all wrong, I finally witnessed (at a relatively close distance) the Space Shuttle Endeavor launch triumphantly blast into space, well... into a bed of frustratingly thick altocumulus clouds, but I saw it happen!!! I heard the rumble. I felt the shake. I am awed beyond words.Have a bright day!!
~Dewdrop

Global Warming... yeah ok.

2011-02-09T12:49:00.003-05:00

I know, I know... it's been forever. It's such a challenge trying to get on here; I've nearly given up. I love my blog, and I am grateful for your readership, but with the dreary winter pattern, I don't even have much weather to discuss with you. Unfortunately, rounds of winter devastation have dipped into the south (not here--whew!) and ravaged the north. Arctic blasts, snow and ice.... eek! Boy am I glad to be in south Georgia, and thank goodness for Global Warming; otherwise, can you imagine how much more awful it would be??? (wink, wink... someone get Al Gore on the line. Thankfully, last week, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow... which, according to the prognosticator of prognosticators, means an early Spring. I'm not sure how all that works, but I know some people who are awfully sick and tired of winter, and then, I know some storm chasers eagerly awaiting that exciting instability, lift moisture and shear mixture...

Anyways... with everyone everywhere, except here (well, it is sort of cold), experiencing treacherous weather, I thought you might like to see a lovely sky that God shared with us yesterday. I love sundogs!Have a bright day!
~Dewdrop

I'm still a fan!

2011-01-18T14:39:00.005-05:00

I was terribly disappointed that the Patriots didn't take the Jets in the Play-offs. I had high hopes for an exciting Super Bowl. I had temporary tattoos and everything. My wonderful groom was even sweet enough to patronize my Pats by wearing some cheek art...Unfortunately, even though I got a bunch of support gathered for my team, they still didn't win the game on Sunday, and I got a great chance to eat a little crow. I still love my Patriots! They'll get 'em next year!!

Anyway, I wasn't writing for that... I wanted to share this great sky shot that Mini-Dew took coming back from Tampa. How cool is this? She's got quite an eye.Have a great day!!!
~Dewdrop

Agh! Stay away, cold!!!

2011-01-10T11:18:00.005-05:00

Well, the crazy winter storm is sort of consuming the Weather Channel. Unfortunately, where snow and ice are a regular part of winter in some parts of the country, such things in the southeast just aren't frequent enough for these areas to be fully prepared fiscally and resource-wise. Even more unfortunately, this is a bad scenario, given the lack of snow removal equipment and salting mechanisms. The area first received rain which froze in their freezing temps, then, snow piled on top, which might get a slight chance of melting some before sleet and or freezing rain pile on top of all that mess with temps below 32°F until Wednesday. EEK!Fortunately, the bad stuff is staying north of us, but just barely. I'd rather not participate, thank you. I'm content having plenty of milk and bread. Mini-Dew and I did note at least 100 power and tree removal companies headed north out of Florida, while we were headed to and returning from Tampa this weekend. It was good to see them getting ready and realizing the extent of the storm damage. Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee had all declared states of emergency last I heard... apparently Mississippi has "got this". They're special. I think that if I were Governor of Mississippi, I would go ahead and declare that emergency, just in case... you never know.

Speaking of Tampa, while Mini-Dew and I were headed down, I spotted this great patch of cloud iridescence... cool stuff. I think it was part of the 22½° solar halo, but the only patch I saw was this iridescence, so I grabbed my camera.While we were down there, we stopped at a 5 Guys Burgers and Fries to partake in the best burgers in the universe and I decided to grab a skyline shot.Have a bright day!
~Dewdrop

Miss me???

2011-01-03T10:28:00.004-05:00

Wow... with limited access, it's hard to be motivated enough to take the measures required to break into blog-world. Sorry, folks. I do love you... it's just such a pain in the kiester. I have been super busy, and we have had very little speakable weather. We had a ridiculous cold-spell, which tried to rob us of our garden-grown tomatoes, but we foiled the plan of the evil frost and rescued our tomatoes and other plants. Unfortunately, the peppers and squash didn't make it. We had a heavy rain on New Year's Day which just about creamed our tomato plant, but once again, I foiled Ma Nature's evil schemes.

New Year's Eve and Day were record setting severe weather days... no, not here, but west of here (way west), there was a deadly outbreak of tornadoes. We just got the (much needed) rain and now, the cool weather, but it's actually quite mild here except for the morning frosts... Our New Year's was atypically uneventful, unless you consider my wonderful groom's rotator cuff/reattached bicep fully involved shoulder surgery. What started out as a likely partial tear 6-week recovery arthroscopy, turned into a 4 1/2" incision, drilled bones, 12-16 week recovery... my poor wonderful groom... he's been a good sport though, recovering well. I hope the doctor's wrong about the recovery time, and we sure would appreciate prayers to that end. We did have minor celebration, but the pain he had sort of took him out of the partying mood. Just as well...

I did get one exciting sky shot in all the time since I've spoken with you last. On Christmas Eve, while we were headed over the river and through the woods, to Grandma's house... I did spy a complete solar halo, complete with LOWER tangent arc. That was quite the treat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to zoom out enough to capture the whole thing... but here you are... you get the picture.
Have a brilliant day!!!

~Dew

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T12:04:00.003-05:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Mini-Dew and I with some dear friends traveled down to Busch Gardens in Tampa and I found my new favorite ride, the SheiKra. The weather was perfect and we had a terrific time!
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!
~Dewdrop

Exploring new horizons

2010-11-18T11:24:00.008-05:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Happy Sky Watch Friday. I wish I could visit each of your blogs like I used to… but IT Nazis have seen an end to that. Internet browsing is heavily policed, and we are restricted from visiting the bible or blogs, but we can watch Youtube and hang on FB. Go figure… oh, and they missed the Temple of Elvis site as religious… so I can go there if my heart desires… P.S. It doesn’t. This is a picture I shot facing the water from the Cape San Blas lighthouse. I love the way the sun sparkles in the shot!!!My wonderful groom and I took a much needed mini-cation to the Apalachicola and Port St. Joe area for a relaxing exploration of the area. It is wonderful to explore an area, find local food delights and explore the nature that surrounds it, talk with shop owners, just sit back and see what all God has in store for us. We had such a wonderful time! We watched crabs and eagles and butterflies dance and saw a lighthouse and wandered through cute little shops, ate the local food… it was wonderful. It was great time to unwind with the love of my life. Here is a photographic summary…

I loved the surge markers placed around Apalachicola!!! SO COOL!

Have a brilliant day!!!
~Dewdrop

Finding peace through my lens

2010-11-11T09:47:00.004-05:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

You know, with my IT Nazis limiting access to everything, it’s just not as fun to blog anymore. I used to really enjoy it. It was my “smoke break” of sorts, an emotional escape from the office blahs. Of course, being stranded here now, in my cement block cell, I think it’s time just to take a minute and find a picture that offers me peace. This is a nearby private lake, which offers splendid sunsets much of the year. It’s one of my favorite places to go and just take it in… In this shot, a random little girl was walking by looking at me, wondering why I had all that picture-taking equipment (I wish I had more!) facing the lake… I get a lot of strange looks exploring my photography hobby, but it’s so worth it to me. Photography is such a peaceful hobby, a way to truly see what God has placed out there for me to discover and share it with anyone who's interested.

Have a wonderful weekend. My wonderful groom and I have exciting plans this weekend. There will be pictures. Yes, there will be pics.... oh, and java chip frappuccino... ;)
~Dewdrop

Scrubbed... again.

2010-11-04T10:05:00.008-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Monday, scrubbed – mechanical (gas leaks). Tuesday, scrubbed – electrical. Wednesday, scrubbed – residual electrical. Thursday, scrubbed – wet weather. Friday, most likely scrubbed – windy weather. Saturday… I can’t go!!! Sunday – window closes… So, then, I pull up my Yahoo! to check messages and you may or may not know, but the sign on screen usually has some big image, usually of some interesting geeky person. This time, with the people at Yahoo! no doubt, mocking me, this was their welcome screen:How rude! In all honesty, when the Wednesday launch (which was our 2nd best opportunity to experience it) was scrubbed, I knew that today’s weather would be a barrier, and even after NASA’s lengthy meeting yesterday, I knew that weather would prevent a launch today. "id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535699165852098002" />One, they have 100% chance of showers and thunderstorms… Two, the clouds are there regardless. There’s no way they would launch that thing in those conditions. Problem is, it’s a cold front working its way in. That means on the other side of this much needed rain, we will see crisp, beautiful, blue skies… and wind. Wind played a role in the Challenger disaster (Beginning at about T+37, the shuttle experienced a series of wind shear events over the next 27 seconds that were the strongest recorded to date in the shuttle program. ~Wikipedia)… so they will not launch on Friday. 70% chance of a go, per this article, but NASA puts it at 60% - link. I just want to see a launch up close, is that so wrong???

Let us remember to pray for Haiti, as yet another natural disaster threatens to steal lives in that depressed country, as the potential Hurricane Tomas makes his way toward them. Earthquake, Cholera, now potential mudslide inducing rain... with Tomas. God be with them...

~Dewdrop

Spooky...

2010-11-02T12:34:00.006-04:00

So, we had yet another terrific Halloween. It was a little cram packed full, and NASA knocked the wind out of my sails by rescheduling the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, but we had a terrific time. We covered the traditionals, complete with trip to pumpkin patch and carving. We had a terrific Halloween party packed with great fun and yummy food, and my wonderful groom and I got to show our true colors as I portrayed (get this) a weather geek and my wonderful groom portrayed a nerd. I know, so far out of character for us. It was so much fun!

Tomorrow, we hope, the shuttle is expected to launch. Unfortunately, where the PERFECT forecast prevailed on Monday (not to mention the timing was PERFECT, but I’m not bitter), it looks like the launch will be contending with some cloudiness and chance showers. I dread the thought of going all the way down there to have the blasted (punny) thing cancelled. This is an item on my "Must-Dew-before-I-die" list, and with our much esteemed (cough cough) president swiping funds from this beloved program, I am running out of chances. Somehow privatizing the space program will save money, per President Obama; yet, public health is a good idea. It’s a shame they perform lobotomies on all politicians before they take office. I digress...

My heart aches for Haitians as they face yet another wave of potential disaster, with the potential Hurricane Tomas breathing down their necks. A voluntary evacuation has been put out there… where are they supposed to go… and pray tell, how are they supposed to get there?? I think I'm grumpy. I blame NASA.

Have a bright day.
~Dewdrop

Fall...

2010-10-26T12:53:00.004-04:00

My wonderful groom and I went to a fall festival hosted by our church this past weekend. It was a great gathering of folks having a great time and great food. I was a little distracted by the awesome cloud streaked sky. We had a great time!!
Today, I have kept half an eye on the system that passed through... Roaring wind, tornadoes... crazy! It's still going and there is a high risk for severe weather. People in the outlined area should be mindful of rapidly changing conditions.
Be safe and have a great day!
~Dewdrop

P.S. Incidentally, we got NO SEVERE WEATHER yesterday. It was a total Dewvoid event.

Seasonal Fog

2010-10-21T12:15:00.004-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

The fog has been dense each morning, as we are entering into the fall season. I love the way the sunlight tries to pierce the fog, creating dramatic scenes on my way to the office. Don't be surprised if you pass me along the road from time to time with the camera hanging out the window capturing a breath-taking shot. Most people look at me like I have two heads. Nope... just revelling in God's creation. I do that a lot. This was the view I had the other morning, while I was leaving my neighborhood. What a great way to start the day!

Though I've been keeping an eye on Typhoon Megi over by China (I have a dear friend over there in Hong Kong - she is not worried.), my heart is usually in the Atlantic Basin with regard to tropical activity. As of the 11AM advisory, we have Tropical Storm Richard. Tropical Storm Richard is our 17th named storm of the season, and it is one that has a slight chance of hitting the U.S. The models are sort of all over the place with him, but the general consensus is that he will strengthen. Time will tell. Keep an eye on him if you live near water... how's that?

Have a bright sunshine-y day!
~Dewdrop

More fulfilling adventures with God and my groom

2010-10-20T10:09:00.002-04:00

My wonderful groom and I have something beautifully special. We both see the world around us as a blessing from God, and we are intent on enjoying that gift. When the weather is perfect like it’s been (well, except for the lack of real weather, but… you know what I mean), we love to get out into creation and see it. So many people walk through life without ever “seeing” what God has placed all around them to enjoy. My wonderful groom and I seized the opportunity during our lunch excursion yesterday. We love to explore roads we’ve never been on before. Yesterday, we found a little dirt road off the main road and took it. We ended up on a beautiful oak and moss covered drive, with a scenic barn and wooden fence backdrop. It was a great setting for a yummy Macadoos, I mean Michael’s lunch. It was beautiful. It was serenity. We had a great time. Here’s what I got.
And… here’s how we played.
Just an update: possible development of Richard in the Caribbean. Keeping an eye on it.

~Dewdrop

Blue skies...

2010-10-14T12:21:00.005-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

My wonderful groom and I took a wonderful butterfly flight inspired adventure over the weekend. We had a great time just chasing life and laughter. We saw so much, but here are a couple of the skies from that trip that I want to share (in light of the monotonous blue skies we've been experiencing here-I wanted to get a little creative with what's in the sky.)There was also just some nice scenery and stuff to enjoy along the way. Here are a couple of my favorites.
I'd talk about weather, but I don't want to get people all riled up about nothing. The once strong little Hurricane Paula is now just a tropical storm over Cuba... no worries, Florida.

Have a brilliant day!
~Dewdrop

Going wild!

2010-10-07T13:44:00.007-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

After a complete deluge from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, we have experienced nothing but strikingly blue skies and cooler temperatures, which has been nice for getting us into the fall mood. Having lived in the far south for a long time though, I know better than to get too accustomed to the cooler weather. I know that we will get another heat blast, it's just a matter of when. As the weather has been so delightful, my wonderful groom and I went to the local amusement park and had a great time exploring there.That's what inspired my sky watch shot this week. This is not me or anyone I know, but I loved capturing the shot, and I am anxious to catch Mini-Dew doing this... it's her favorite thing to do, my little dare-devil child. Speaking of... she is on the last car here.Then, of course, I went to play with the animals in the petting zoo. I don't know what it is, but I feel right at home there.Have a great day!!
~Dewdrop

P.S. We do have Subtropical Storm Otto... not expected to impact us, so I don't really feel like talking about him much... though, we did have tornadoes in Arizona yesterday... the annual average in one day! Rare!

Have a bright, SUNflowery day!

2010-09-30T10:46:00.007-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

For Skywatch Friday, I want to post a few inspirational skies and one interesting sky. The first was just a powerful homecoming sky! What a beautiful way for the Lord to welcome me “home” after a dreary day. I snapped this shot driving into my neighborhood!
The next is just an amazing sky on fire shot, one summer evening. I love it when that happens!
The last one, I took Monday. We had some crazy weather with severe potential throughout the day, and I looked around to notice this eerie yellow/green sky after a hard rain. Of course, me and my optimism were seeking out some slight sign of rotation to no avail, but the sky was notable to the point where people talked about the eerie yellow/green sky all day, even kids.
What a tropical mess! Tropical Storm Nicole was such for a matter of hours, but between her and the non-tropical low over the east coast, rain has been and will be unrelenting. We had a line of storms trained over us for the ENTIRE day yesterday! It was some obscure little lost line of storms that literally started before work and didn’t stop until after I left. The low pressure system over the east coast was sucking all the moisture out of Nicole and just inundating everybody. We survived it. It was actually nice to have such rain after such a long spell without. My thoughts turn to the central coast though. They just had that frontal system pass through which offered up record rainfall 10+” in a day. Now, they are experiencing a steady stream of drenching rain… they are facing 20+” in 3-4 days time. That is deadly flooding potential. Incidentally, flooding is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., with approximately 93 deaths per year (the 30 year average). It is so important that if you see water over a road, you do NOT attempt to drive in it. Turn Around, Don’t Drown™. I can assure you that some of the infrastructure of those areas cannot support that much rain, in that short of a time. This is a deadly recipe…

I know it’s totally off the subject, but I wanted to share with you that my wonderful groom surprised me with a beautiful (weather-related… SUNflowers) bouquet of flowers yesterday, in celebration of our 3-year Date-iversary. I am so blessed to have him to share my life with!! Definitely a heart smile...

Have a glorious day!
~Dewdrop

Could we have the beginnings of Matthew???

2010-09-23T09:17:00.007-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Well, here we are facing the highly likely development of Matthew in the southeastern Caribbean. This is one that has piqued the interest of many, as many models have brought this disturbance into the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Depression Lisa is barely churning in the far eastern Atlantic. The remnants of Julia are trying to act organized, but it’s the low pressure in the Caribbean that has everyone in a tizzy. Tropical Depression 15 will likely take center stage as a US media hog by the end of the day.

Here is a sky shot for your soul…A sunset not too long ago...

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

A little pick-me-up...

2010-09-16T14:59:00.008-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Sorry for the delay. I've been down and out with my recovery, but I want to post a cool sky from the other morning. It was my first morning on my own taking care of Mini-Dew in the morning after surgery, and God decided to offer me a little pick-me-up... not altered except resizing. This is how it actually looked (except better)...
Also, when my wonderful from and I worked on our garden, we put up a couple of hummingbird feeders, and much too my delight, they have already found them. We have 3 visiting that I know of. This is one of them that I caught in action. I hope to get some great shots along the way as they get more comfortable with me.

I am thrilled to have these whimsical guests to entertain me during recovery!

Have a glorious day!
~Dewdrop

P.S. The tropics are active, but nothing should directly impact the U.S. in the near future. Interests in Bermuda should have both eyes on Igor though!

Here I am...

2010-09-10T06:48:00.003-04:00

OK, so I've been out of the loop for the last week. I had a tonsillectomy on Tuesday, which really sucked the life out of me. I am just now starting to feel somewhat like myself, so I figured I would pop in and say hello. During my absence, we had two more named storms pop up. Tropical Storm Hermine was actually a remnant of Pacific storm 11E, but it crossed over into the Gulf before being named, so it earned the name Hermine and inundated Texas with way too much rain, causing devastatingly deadly flooding. It also spawned some tornadoes. Now, we have Tropical Depression Igor way out in the Atlantic, expected to regain strength.... then, there is the area in the Caribbean, which has a slight chance of development. When that season kicked in, it kicked in with a bang.

I'm going back to bed.
~Dewdrop

Halo...

2010-09-02T10:08:00.003-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

I just wanted to take a break from all the hurricane chatter, so here you are... A brilliant solar halo!!!

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

Africa just keeps waving at us!!

2010-09-02T10:03:00.006-04:00

Hurricane Earl, now a very powerful category 4 storm, refused the dry air that infused earlier this morning, and came through it just a strong. I am concerned for the impact that Hurricane Earl will have on the coast. The good news is that right now, he is a fast moving storm, so the impact won’t last for a long time, but the size, the power and the proximity to land will impact interests along the east coast, whether he comes ashore or not. Already States of Emergency have been declared from North Carolina, up into Maryland. They are still not ruling out a landfall. We’ve seen storms do very unpredictable things as they approach land. A forecast is just an expectation. It is imperative that people prepare for the unexpected. Only 11 mph distinguish between what Earl is now and a catastrophic category 5 hurricane. Sadly, I think some level of devastation might be unavoidable. I pray that people are heeding the evacuation orders, that they have rushed preparations to completion and that impact is less than expected. Go east, Earl!

Fortunately, it looks like Tropical Storm Fiona is too caught up in the outflow of Earl to make much of an impact. The expectation there is that Fiona will quickly move eastward, possibly moving over Bermuda, but she should not pose a threat to the US coastline. The one many have a hard eye on is Tropical Storm Gaston. He is currently just hanging out in the Atlantic, but models are doing some scary things with that system, potentially even moving him into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. That is far from ideal. He is already forecast to become a hurricane before reaching the Lesser Antilles. Everyone has an eye on Gaston… that is while keeping the other on Earl. I’m not even going to get into the next wave that has rolled off the coast of Africa. Could we have Hermine???

Have a beautiful day.
~Dewdrop

Busy season...

2010-09-01T10:18:00.006-04:00

As Hurricane Earl breezes by the Bahamas, leaving everyone along the east coast wonder what type of impact he will have on their Labor Day plans, Tropical Storm Fiona starts to intensify. Having placed some distance between herself and the powerful category 3, Fiona has had an opportunity to strengthen slightly. The forecast does not have her reaching hurricane strength, but they do have YET ANOTHER problem area highlighted for another wave that has rolled off the African coast, where they are giving that one an 80% likelihood of development into a tropical system. We could see the beginnings of Gaston.
Back to Earl though, Hurricane Earl, a powerful category 3 storm, just downgraded to a category 3 storm after losing a bit of his bite through an eye-wall replacement cycle. Unfortunately, it appears that Hurricane Earl has regrouped and the eye-wall looks as strong as ever, which would lend to some likely intensification, but that is a typical ongoing process for major hurricanes, fluctuations in strength. All eyes are on Earl as he races across the Atlantic, the cone of possibilities slowly creeping westward with each model run, which places a more imminent threat on interests along the coast. Anyway you look at it, the east coast (and much of it) will be impacted by Hurricane Earl, just how badly is yet to be seen.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

Hurricane Earl, a powerful hurricane!

2010-08-31T06:48:00.004-04:00

Earl is a very powerful category 4 hurricane, with an intensely low pressure. Hurricane Earl is a force, and people all up and down the east coast should be on guard and ready just in case his course moves westward. Even in the best case scenario, impact from Hurricane Earl will be felt with waves, winds and rip currents. It is possible that Hurricane Earl will move over the Outer Banks as a major hurricane. Then, there is a chance he could move over Massachusetts. Be watchful and vigilant.Incidentally, we also have Tropical Storm Fiona, and another wave behind her that could become something. I think Fiona will suffer in Earl's wake, but who knows for sure?

Stay tuned!

~Dewdrop

Next up, Hurricane Earl takes center stage!

2010-08-30T10:18:00.006-04:00

My, oh my… Hurricane Danielle did take the turn and is now headed out to sea, where she will only impact the Titanic expedition and other ship traffic. She passed far away from the US, leaving us with strong rip currents, which resulted in numerous water rescues and at least one death, as a swimmer was carried out in the current. At the strongest, Hurricane Danielle was a category 4 hurricane, and she is now losing her tropical characteristics as she soars into the frigid northern Atlantic. Hot on her heels though, with must less impactful patterns, is now Hurricane Earl. Already Hurricane Earl, a strengthening (though already strong) category 2 storm, is forecast to strengthen after leaving its impact on the Lesser Antilles. The concerns now are for the east coast of the United States. Apparently, each model run puts Earl further and further west, making an east coast landfall more and more likely. I know TWC has plans to be in Boston. Unfortunately, hot on the heels of Hurricane Earl, is yet another tropical wave with a 90% certainty of development into something over the next 48 hours, and behind that, yet another wave. It’s a parade of tropical action.

Have a beautiful day!
~Dewdrop

Hurricane Danielle, a category 4!!!

2010-08-27T10:06:00.001-04:00

Well, there you have it... a 1,2,3,4,5,6 punch. We've got very powerful category 4 storm in the central Atlantic, which is forecast to take a turn to the north, so it shouldn't make a huge impact on the Atlantic coast of the US, except with rip currents and increased surf. Of course, soon to be Hurricane Earl is a whole other story. Unfortunately, it looks like the patterns will bring Earl further south making him more of a threat to land, which is not good news. He is also forecast to become a major hurricane, and if he impacts land... it could be bad. Additionally, they have expressed good odds of the wave behind Earl of becoming a tropical system during the next 48 hours, and behind that are a line of waves over Africa!!! If Earl doesn't get us, there is a chance one of the others might...

~Dew

The Majesty of His Power

2010-08-26T07:17:00.013-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

As I was saying, hurricane season is not over till it's over. We've now got a 1,2,3 line up of tropical action, all siblings off the coast of Africa barreling across the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Danielle, now, once again a category 2 hurricane after some interaction with dry air has rebounded to be quite a storm, now showing indications of eyewall development. She is actually forecast to become a major hurricane, but I would expect her to become a fish storm, staying out to sea. Unfortunately, her little brother, Tropical Storm Earl, hot on her heels, is also forecast to get close to major hurricane strength, but he is expected to take a more southern track, which makes him a contender for some US action. I can almost hear the headlines... "Goodbye Earl!" "Earl's Gotta Die!" What a storm to impact the US... sigh. The third system, still just is wave (an impressive wave!), is hot off the coast of Africa, but some are already talking Fiona...It looks pretty impressive to me!

Tuesday was a crazy day for me. I had a wonderful afternoon excursion over lunch with my wonderful groom, and we went and explored in the jeep some! It was yet another great adventure for the two of us. We saw some really interesting things along the way including crews working to break down some rail cars that had de-railed. I had never seen that before, so it was really neat. Then, I went to the doctor’s and got some icky news about a test he wants to run. I’ll survive it, but I am not excited about it. As I was leaving from Wally World, someone backed into my van… bumped in the side door. It’s only cosmetic… no one was injured and the mechanics of the door were unaffected, but seriously… what a day! I had a great meeting at church after that, but then, when I went to pick up Mini-Dew from practice, the sky had a hint of mammatus clouds popping. Of course, I stuck around out there, shooting a few pics until they were no longer visible. The pretty much fizzled out, just in time for sunset. Doesn’t that figure? I went in to get Mini-Dew and when I came out… KAPLOW!... and then it followed me home!!! What a spectacular demonstration of God's awesomeness. He has a beautiful way of encouraging me, in the perfect way. I love my little love letters from God! Wasn’t it sensational?!

Have a mammatus-ful day!
~Dewdrop

Danielle reaches category 2!!

2010-08-24T09:45:00.006-04:00

Just a brief Danielle update… sure enough, Danielle gained hurricane strength over the course of yesterday. She has quickly now, strengthened to a category 2 hurricane. Hurricane Danielle is way out there in the Atlantic and sort of meandering her way across. She doesn’t look all that impressive to me. Interests in Bermuda and the fools doing the Titanic robot project (during hurricane season, duh!!!) should take notice, but really, she could do anything in that amount of time. Most of the models do present her as a fish storm.
Unfortunately, hot on Danielle’s heels is yet another tropical wave off of Africa, which is looking ripe for action.Much of its precipitation is over the Cape Verde Islands, and it is trying to organize as I type. The National Hurricane Center-Tropical Prediction Center has got a 90% likelihood of tropical development for this area of low pressure.

IT APPEARS THAT A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD BE FORMING

So you see how quickly things can change. Unfortunately, complacency may have gotten too strong of a grip on the American coastline in the meantime. As I’ve said before, it only takes one!!! Be on guard, people. Just because it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it won't.

Have a marvelous day!
~Dewdrop

Another day, another adventure

2010-08-23T13:11:00.010-04:00

Well, like I said, it’s not over till it’s over, and here we are with the soon-to-be Hurricane Danielle, breathing down our necks, taunting us with wonderment at where she might set her sights. She has rapidly intensified, and is expected to be upgraded to a hurricane during the next 24 hours. The current trajectory sets her on course for Bermuda, but there is so much distance and time between now and then, that it’s safe to say that ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! Tropical Storm Danielle is not too far off the coast of Africa, and as we’ve seen with storms of the past, she can go anywhere. I’ll keep an eye on her and keep you updated.

Friday, while I was coming home from work for some yummy fried green tomatoes that my wonderful groom had cooked up after stopping at the farmer’s market a couple of towns over, I had to stop to admire some swelling cumulus and some great cloud iridescence. Cloud iridescence is one of my favorite cloud phenomena with the clouds taking on an appearance of a puddle of oil, with the swirly rainbow-like appearance. It was very cool, so I decided to try and bottle both up… LOL.
Over the weekend, we decided to take the kids on a great adventure. We drove to a relatively nearby adventure park complete with go-carts and laser tag. You could even feed alligators, if you’re into that kind of thing. Along the way, my wonderful groom was sweet in stopping at some beautiful views. I was ready, camera in hand. We had a great time with the laser tag, which was my absolute favorite. We had a truly wonderful time! Here are some pics from that trip.
Have a beautiful day!
~Dewdrop

It ain't over, till it's over!

2010-08-18T09:37:00.003-04:00

I have heard much ho-humness regarding this year’s hurricane season. TWC is acting like it’s a lost season. Some chaser friends are reminiscing about days gone-by.

We are just now entering the peak of hurricane season. It is not terribly common to have significant activity in June and July. Unfortunately, our memories return to 2004 and 2005 and use that as a the basis for comparison and judge that the season is virtually over. The season is not over folks, and please realize that ANYTHING can happen. So, we’ve had a couple of years with no real US impact… what a blessing!!! The people of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts should breathe a sigh of relief and use that money saved to prepare for the ones that don’t end up missing them.

Do you realize that Hurricane Andrew, the third most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the US, formed in mid-August?! That’s right, you know, where we are right now… major hurricane, catastrophic hurricane, which made landfall in the US and devastated that region. It only takes one. Let’s consider last year, 2009, we had 9 named storms that year. At this time last year, we were on Hurricane Bill, which thanks to God, missed the United States. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very powerful category 4 hurricane because it very much was. Unfortunately, we did still have a US death related to Hurricane Bill up in Maine, closer to where landfall did occur. We are already looking at 3 named storms this season. At this point, we are looking to the tropics, and some are thinking “What a boring hurricane season!”… “Boy, were those forecasters off their rockers or what?!”… “El nino? HA!” Well, I say, it ain’t over till it’s over. Stay tuned.

As I type a nice big wave is about to eject into the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. I think we might just have ourselves Danielle, and anyone’s guess where she might be headed.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

We've got rotation!

2010-08-15T15:40:00.011-04:00

What a day yesterday was!!! It started out like normal... a little work around the house, headed down to the church for a work day. Then, I joined up with my wonderful groom, to head out of town for Tallahassee for our market adventure. Well, before we were able to get out of town, we ran into a little thunderstorm action. Well, better than that... we ran into a ROTATING WALL CLOUD!!!! Of course, we did the only thing we could. We chased that bad boy, and we got into position to let that really awesome structure pass right on by. If you look at the series, you can see the rotation. (If you are on my Facebook, you can click through the pictures fast and see the rotation clearly!) I took video, but it's terrible, and I am terrible with video anyway. I much prefer pics. These pics are zoomed out all the way. This is how close we were to it!! We could feel the inflow of the storm, sucking all the air in to it. That's experiencing weather! We were in the perfect spot!

Of course, I was in heaven. I hadn't been on the computer all day, so I had no idea what the weather looked like. I hadn't seen any radar and am still utilizing a stupid phone for the time being, so I called into VA Mike and AL Mike to get some information about what we were looking at. They both saw a notch in the radar and an indication of broad rotation. DEW-yah! I did call into into the NWS to report the rotating beast, but it did dissipate, and they never warned it, but I experienced it, so it made my day!!! It was SO CLOSE to the ground!!!

***Incidentally, if you ever see anything like this, get indoors, lowest floor, in your safe place. It could potentially drop a tornado and be extremely dangerous.***

Have a beautiful day.
~Dewdrop

I love damaging winds! :)

2010-08-12T11:21:00.005-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

I got the funniest email from a good storm chaser friend and member of the Southern Weather Brigade that literally cracked me up. We are a strange group of folks, very interested in weather and the spectacular power and surrounding beauty of God. We are blown away by it, so to speak. It can be a little disturbing to some... Anyways, the email came from Storm Chasing Mikey, in response to a “Lucky Dog” message I sent to him regarding a severe thunderstorm watch he had just been issued. I have to show you, because in all my geekiness, I could lose you describing it.
Incidentally, I love damaging winds too, so today, I decided to share with you pictures of my FAVORITE damaging winds experience. This was a shelf cloud near Murdo, SD, on June 6, 2007. This storm produced one tornado and blew over a tractor trailer traveling down the interstate. A shelf cloud is an arcus cloud that is associated with and attached to a thunderstorm, and it is where outflow winds (straight line winds) are generated within a thunderstorm, called a gust front. (See? Geekiness) In this case, the outflow winds raged around 65-75mph or greater. The shelf cloud was the most ominous one I have ever seen, and the wind was… AWESOME! It was a total grey out with the sand that was carried in it. In fact, I snapped a shot at the worst of it. See? This was a wonderfully memorable day for me, even if we missed the ONLY tornado generated during this High Risk day. I’m not bitter.

Have a day that blows you away!
~Dewdrop

Bieber Fever

2010-08-10T19:17:00.004-04:00

Well, my wonderful groom and I witnessed a lovely rainbow traipsing across the sky on Friday night. It was a full bow, but I especially loved where it was playing with the clouds.
Aside from that, a special treat for Mini-Dew and her cousins, their terrific moms took them to the Gwinett appearance of JUSTIN BIEBER. (Insert outrageous screaming here). It was last night, and I am still recovering. It was a long drive up, and a way too early drive back. I am such a cool mom! The concert wasn't actually all that bad. It was LONG, but I had a great time with my sister-in-law.I have also defined Bieber Fever... the craze hitting tweens and young teens and some really sicko moms everywhere:

Bieber Fever-The sickness you get when you hear Justin Bieber's name too much.

~Dew

... and then, there was tonight...

2010-08-03T22:57:00.001-04:00

DEW-YAHHHH!!!

Lightning!!!

2010-08-03T17:10:00.003-04:00

So, I was headed home last night from a wonderful birthday celebration dinner with my wonderful groom last night, when I couldn’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye, God was having Him a little fireworks display up in the clouds. It was so powerful driving up the ride with the side of my face frequently radiating in the brilliant light. Well, then it happened, I turned eastward toward where the storm was, and what a show. Intoxicating explosions of light emanated from deep within the enormous cloud structure which covered the entire sky. It was mesmerizing. The sky was awash with a fascinating purple glow. Driving into that was quite a distraction, as you can well imagine.When we arrived home, I did the only logical thing, I grabbed my camera and started shooting from the safety of my metal cage sun room. I stood in the door way with the lens pointed to the sky and snapped away. I caught a couple of shots, nothing to write home about, but the sky… ahhh… nice to experience that.
We do have another tropical storm, which was named this morning. Tropical Storm Colin was named between Africa and the Windward Islands, and though it is still really too early to tell, it looks like Colin might miss the Leeward Islands to the north and actually become a fish storm never even making it to hurricane status. I’m sure that would have many in the Gulf breathing a sigh of relief, but please realize, it’s still early, ANYTHING can happen!!

~Dewdrop

A Distinguished Award!

2010-08-02T09:57:00.003-04:00

I was so honored to receive notification of this award from Online Schools

What a great honor! Thank you for recognizing me.

I guess I need to step up my posts a bit to be considered worthy.

FYI, Tropical Storm Colin and possibly Danielle are currently in the making as waves that have just rolled off of Africa. It is too early to know where they might be headed or what will come of them, but stay tuned.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful groom!
~Dewdrop

Thank God for the Light

2010-07-29T08:59:00.006-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Yes, yes, I know I haven't been posting like I used to... I have been swamped with my summer program, so I catch what I can. I do love sharing my weather knowledge, just haven't got much time to spare.

Last night, while my wonderful groom and I were taking our 2 mile walk around the neighborhood, I looked up to see quite an amazing thing. A cumulonimbus structure was impeding the light coming off the, already below the horizon, sun, which offered a dramatic cloud shadow so dark that it actually blocked our ability to see the altocumulus/cirrocumulus mix in the area beneath it. It was powerful and dramatic, and as soon as I got back to the house, I ran in to grab my camera, so I could share it with you today.You can see the richness of color outside the shadow, where light was still grasping out from beneath the tree line, begging not to relinquish itself to night. The powerful light offered the opportunity for this amazing shadow. I don't know about you, but I thank God for that powerful light.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
John 1:5

Have a brilliant day!
~Dewdrop

Tropical Storm Bonnie arrives

2010-07-23T10:39:00.003-04:00

Tropical Storm Bonnie enters the scene as a minimal tropical storm, racing toward the southern coast of Florida. Unfortunately, she doesn't have Florida in mind as a final destination and is booking a follow on through the heart of the oil mess into Louisiana. Unfortunately, that scenario doesn't seem optimal.Have a beautiful day!
~Dew

Ahh, the amazing sky

2010-07-22T08:54:00.005-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

I couldn't decide which shot was more significant to me this morning, so I just chose to post both. They are both from the archive. I haven't captured many sky shots lately. I need to get back to that...
I can't think of a time when I have seen a 100% chance of tropical development, but here we are looking at the scraps of moisture that will certainly soon form Bonnie or at the least Tropical Depression 3.

THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS HAS BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED AND A CLOSED CIRCULATION HAS FORMED.

It looks like the 11AM update will give her some sort of tropical designation.

Boston, Mass.

2010-07-15T08:41:00.007-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

I feel like I should find some sky shots from my trip to detail a little more completely the wonderful time we had... I love Boston. I wouldn't want to live there, but what an amazing place to experience and wander around. The historic value of a visit is immeasurable. The Paul Revere Statue is one of the most recognizable and highly photographed statues in Boston. Here, I have captured him from the backside with the quite charming St. Stephen's Church in the background, which I think is a lot more photographable than the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung at Paul Revere's request. According to my family, Paul Revere is a grandfather of mine, so this capture held special meaning for me. Here is the Old North Church.

Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End of Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent.

Paul Revere told three Boston patriots to hang two lanterns in the steeple. The lanterns were displayed to send a warning to Charlestown patriots across the Charles River about the movements of the British Army.
~source

Not sure what building that is, just thought it was a cool shot!

Have a beautiful day!!
~Dewdrop

It's a weather thing, you wouldn't understand.

2010-07-13T09:02:00.007-04:00

So, while I was in Boston, enjoying a trip down Nostalgia Lane, someone broke out the photo albums at Grandma's house. It was fun to look at old pictures of everyone and remember how things were. Then, I came across this old clipping from the local paper when I was 8 years old. They were closing my elementary school, (Chase Elementary School, coincidentally), and I said, "I think it's kind of good they're closing this school because sometimes you don't like to come here because it's either too hot or too cold." Yep, I've been a weather geek all of my life.

Here is a summary of our wonderfully adventurous trip to Boston!

Happy Independence!!

2010-07-08T11:24:00.005-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing GuyI had a wonderful trip to Boston with my family during the absolute best holiday to be up there, except for the unbearable heat streak they endured while we were up. It was a wonderful trip regardless, and I got to see THE BEST FIREWORKS DISPLAY EVER!!! I will create more posts covering the trip as time permits. Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July!!!Incidentally, Tropical Depression 2 has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is headed for the same place Alex went with buckets of rain, just what they need... more rain.

Have a beautiful day!!
~Dewdrop

Have a terrific 4th!

2010-07-01T09:10:00.004-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy
I have a busy day ahead, but I wanted to share something uplifting. This is an amazing display of crepuscular rays. Another spectacular love letter from God.

Have an amazing and safe 4th of July!~Dewdrop

P.S. Alex is done.

Mexican coast braces for impact

2010-06-30T08:40:00.006-04:00

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.

2010-06-29T13:36:00.002-04:00

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

2010-06-28T10:03:00.005-04:00

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.

2010-06-25T15:20:00.001-04:00

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

P.S. Guess who's back!!

Amazing clouds

2010-06-20T15:38:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the sky just blows me away...

Melting the Sky

2010-06-17T13:58:00.001-04:00

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! :-)

2010-06-16T20:15:00.001-04:00

Mythbusters is decapitating tornadoes! :-)

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

2010-06-10T14:57:00.003-04:00

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

2010-06-10T09:29:00.001-04:00

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???

2010-06-03T10:14:00.001-04:00

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

2010-06-03T09:49:00.009-04:00

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

Sensational Skies!

2010-05-28T16:19:00.003-04:00

Yesterday's near sunset was amazing. What a powerful display it was! I was struck by the dynamic colors and the sensational crepuscular rays that reached up to heaven! Spectacular! I love the special little love letters God sends me.

~Dew

Sky watch...

2010-05-27T11:40:00.001-04:00

Sky Watch Friday

Thanks to Klaus for allowing me to share my post with everyone. Unfortunately, I am still impeded from visiting everyone by the annoying pursuits of the IT Nazis.

I want to share a picture of what our moon looked like last night. Picture this... a speckled cirrocumulus/altocumulus strewn sky, that resembles a scattering of cotton balls across the sky... Imagine, poking though that, a brilliant golden, nearly full moon, around it layers of a multi-colored corona radiating with a brilliant, reddish amber color. I didn't grab a picture because we were saying goodbye to my dear son and grabbing the kids to catch a glance, but I've seen it before. It was better last night, though...

Have a beautiful day!

~Dewdrop

Sensational skies

2010-05-26T11:30:00.001-04:00

OK, so no, I haven't seen any real storm action in 10,000 forevers, but I have had some great clouds, and I'll take that. We are actually getting into a more summer-like pattern of afternoon and evening, scattered showers and thunderstorms.

On Saturday, though, my wonderful groom and I had a fantastic light show, coming back from a friends house. There was a nice cloud-to-cloud show going on, but given how late it was, we just hit the sack rather than chase it down. The above shots are some sample skies from the past few days.

Have a great day!

~Dewdrop

P.S. Alex didn't ever happen... nothing in the hopper either. So much for a pre-season appetizer.

First blip of the year in the tropics

2010-05-24T09:44:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like we have a decent shot at the first named storm earning its name before the official start of the 2010 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season, which starts June 1. There is a significant wave in the Atlantic that they have given a 30% chance of developing into a tropical or subtropical cyclone during the next couple of days. If this system rates a name, it will be called Alex.

Aside from that, the plains are still very much alive with severe weather with tornado reports every day for the past 6 days. One wedge over the weekend in South Dakota was on the ground for 24 minutes. Crazy.

Have a beautiful day!

~Dewdrop

Sky Watch Friday brought to you by Dewdrop

2010-05-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately, the IT Nazis still have their noose held tightly around my neck. I am still held prisoner in my cement block office, and I still cannot visit blogs, sign up for Sky Watch Friday or even update my own blog in conventional ways without a tremendous amount of hassle and grief, so I am going to just share a sky shot today that makes me happy for this beloved Sky Watch Friday event.

Yep, the crawler shot with the magnificent purple sky definitely brings a smile to my face. Hopefully it will do the same for you!

Hope your day is grande.

~Dewdrop

Fwd:

2010-05-19T17:51:00.001-04:00

Tornado warnings in Oklahoma

2010-05-19T16:32:00.001-04:00

Two cells in OK have already been tornado warned. They were the first two to develop this afternoon.

1st severe warned cell of the afternoon

2010-05-19T16:16:00.001-04:00

Heading into Dew-ey County of all places.

Resources and information for people in the OKC area

2010-05-19T13:33:00.001-04:00

Dangerous Storms expected in Oklahoma today!

Weather Briefing from Norman, OK weather briefing office

Local Forecast Information

Forecast Discussion

What You Can Do To Be Prepared

It is important to review safety information before the threat of severe weather materializes. Have a plan and know how to react.

Severe Weather Safety Checklist
Tips on Receiving Severe Weather Warnings
Tips on Developing a Severe Weather Safety Plan
Monitor the latest weather forecasts
Know where you will be Monday afternoon and evening, and be prepared to react to warnings in those situations.
If you have a severe weather safety plan, now is the time to review that.
Learn more about "the cap" and the concept of instability by watching this briefing.

Elevated to a high risk over central Oklahoma

2010-05-19T13:18:00.001-04:00

The SPC has elevated the risk for Central to a High Risk, now warning that there is a 30% chance of EF2 or greater tornadoes within 25 miles of the points included in the outlined area.

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG TORNADOES OVER PARTS OF OKLAHOMA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. SUPERCELLS WILL BE LIKELY WITH TORNADOES...VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. A FEW OF THE TORNADOES MAY BE STRONG

I would expect a PDS(Particularly Dangerous Situation) Tornado Watch soon. The very hard part of this is that the target is over a highly populated metropolitan area. If tornadoes form, they are more likely to have an impact on lives and property.

~Dew

It's like De'ja vous

2010-05-19T09:30:00.001-04:00

Watching TWC this morning, and hearing the banter leading up to today, I see that Oklahoma (the same area pummeled with a massive tornado outbreak a week and a half ago) is facing a moderate risk for today. There is a 90% chance according to TWC's Tor:Con index. According to SPC, there is only a 15% chance today that an EF2 or greater tornado will occur in their hatched area.

A Public Severe Weather Outlook has been issued and conditions are favorable for a significant outbreak again today and tonight.

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER  PRIMARILY OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

   THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE

          PARTS OF WESTERN ARKANSAS
          MUCH OF OKLAHOMA
          SMALL PART OF NORTHERN TEXAS

STORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA BY MID AFTERNOON AND QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR LARGE SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL INCLUDE A THREAT OF NOT ONLY TORNADOES BUT VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

We have seen reports of softball sized hail in parts of these areas with recent storms. I can't even imagine an updraft required to generate hail the size of softballs. That is amazing. I mean think about the weight of a 4.5" diameter chunk of ice. Imagine air strong enough to lift that up into a cloud to refreeze a layer of rain on it. Hard to imagine...

People in the highlighted areas should be mindful of the weather, especially in light of the fact that these storms will likely turn severe quickly. Be ready to get into your safe spot.

I read a note from my sis, quoting her daughter while they were watching TWC. She said, "Yay, they are making my Saturday beautiful for me..."

Have a beautiful day!

~Dewdrop

Big skies

2010-05-17T20:29:00.004-04:00

I got a call from my wonderful groom about a magnificent cell to our south. He was driving home from work, and I was inside cooking dinner, so I ran outside with my camera in hand... he wondered what radar on it would be. As it turns out, it was the top of a cell that was about 30 miles away, and I was looking at it just in time for show time. That's right, sunset.

Oh, and this one boomed for me on Sunday! :DHave a great night!

~Dewdrop

2010-05-17T13:16:00.001-04:00

2010-05-16T18:35:00.001-04:00

Chicago-live

2010-05-15T20:43:00.002-04:00

The Promise

2010-05-13T09:19:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately, the IT Nazis are prevailing. Not only am I not able to update my blog the conventional way, I am not able to list my blog on

Sky Watch Friday

... which is a definite source of frustration and dissappointment in my life, but Klaus (one of the hard working members of the Sky Watch team) has graciously agreed to link my blog when he posts his link. Unfortunately, I am not able to visit any blogs anymore, which sort of breaks my heart because it's a wonderful escape to be able to see skies around the world each week. It gets me out of my concrete block prison cell for just a few moments and know that God has placed this beauty around the world to encourage and uplift us. I will not be discouraged. I know that God is still there making beautiful skies. Our God is just that awesome.

Have a brilliant day!

~Dewdrop

The 2010 Oklahoma Outbreak

2010-05-11T10:37:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, I get the feeling like I know too much about the weather. I watch the radar, and I see signatures on the radar that suggest immediately to me that devastation is imminent, and it breaks my heart in two. I hate to see a powerful supercell racing toward a city, and area I know is populated, knowing that people's lives are about to be changed forever or stolen by a vicious beast of a storm. I am saddened to the core. I see it clearly; I see that a cell has strong rotation, is likely on the ground, all indications point to a powerful tornado, and a city lies in wait as it races toward it... Five lives were stolen in yesterday's tornado outbreak, which was referred to by the Storm Prediction Center as a high risk, with a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) tornado watch issued ahead of the storms. They saw, and I am sure they cringed... their hearts broke much like mine, knowing that this would mean bad things, devastating things to these people in the path of what was to come.

Details about the storm

Storm Reports

As a storm chaser, I know what weather has in store. I know it's phenomenal power and the devastation it can cause. I know the horrific destruction it can leave in its wake. Sure, I think that nature is amazing, awesome even, but the destruction is... surreal, heart-breaking. I am glad that the guys I was assisting with Nowcasting made it safely home (they were on storm track #6 as it literally breezed by them, most likely as a tornado-- the 2nd graphic shows some storm tracks during yesterday's outbreak). There were a total of 37 tornado reports, as depicted in the 1st graphic. Unfortunately, storms line up for the same area over today and tomorrow.

Outlook

My thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted during yesterday's outbreak.

Peace that surpasses all understanding,

~Dewdrop

They are safe

2010-05-10T21:41:00.001-04:00

They are safe. It has past, but they are out of daylight.

In position

2010-05-10T20:52:00.003-04:00

They are in position on I40, just east of the rotation. Exact location, just east of the intersection of 165 and I40, just east of Warner, OK, at Charlie's Fried Chicken, with the nicest people ever.

The chase is on.

2010-05-10T20:12:00.009-04:00

Mike and JB are south of Wagoner, AL, hoping for an intercept with a tornado that is currently showing powerful rotation on radar. They are racing south to try to get into a safe position south of the rotation. I am praying hard for their safety.

Incidentally, they are the red dot, slightly to the east of all this mess. 25 28 34 tornado reports already today.

~Dew

Holy cow...

2010-05-10T16:55:00.002-04:00

Watching this tornado coverage on the news now. It was a huge wedge with multiple vortices. They were all winding with one another. This is the Wakita tornado.

Likely a tornado, a large tornado in Wakita, OK

2010-05-10T16:51:00.001-04:00

Mike and JB after a newborn cell

2010-05-10T16:48:00.001-04:00

A tornado warned cell in Wakita, OK seems to be producing significant rotation and some sizable hail. Reports that it has damaged buildings are coming through. Mike and JB are the red dot mark near Orlando, OK, and they are headed north for an intercept of the newly severe warned cell. Mike and I suspect tornado warning soon on it.

Did I call that or what?!

2010-05-10T14:37:00.001-04:00

TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
CENTRAL AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 125 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

More Mammatus!!!

2010-05-10T13:33:00.000-04:00

What a special blessing it was to step outside Saturday evening to be greeted with a sky covered in mammatus, bold and well defined mammatus, hazy mammatus looking more like orbs, and billowing rows of mammatus. The sky was covered in them, and I was in heaven. I was literally hanging out the window taking pics of the sky while my wonderful groom drove. The hazy ones in the last shot are exactly as they appeared.

Down the road, we pulled over to grab them with sunset, but they faded as the sun dropped beneath the horizon. I view it as a wonderful early Mothers' Day gift from God. It encouraged me and uplifted me... especially after not being able to chase the severe and tornado warned cells that were very nearby.

As an aside, while we were pulled over, the property owner/developer stopped to offer to sell us a lot in the neighborhood he will be destroying my view with... He obviously didn't know who he was talking to...

~Dew

Alabama storm chasers have their sites set on Oklahoma

2010-05-10T10:11:00.001-04:00

When the moderate risk popped up for eastern Oklahoma, JB contacted Alabama Mike (both members of the Southern Weather Brigade) about the chasetunity it presented and asked if he would like to join him on a trip to Oklahoma today. They watched the models throughout the weekend, and decided ultimately last night that they would pursue a moderate risk or greater, but they would go ahead and leave at the butt-crack of dawn to get on the road and be in position once the intsbility got there, with plans to turn around if it was (doubtfully) downgraded. When I heard from Alabama Mike this morning, they were 112 miles from Oklahoma, had been driving through the rain all morning through Arkansas and were very excited to see that they were chasing a high risk system. The chance today for an intercept is terrific, as a tornado outbreak is expected.

THE MOST FAVORABLE PHASING OF THE UNSTABLE WARM SECTOR AND STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR ENVIRONMENT WILL OCCUR LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL/N CENTRAL/NE OK. EFFECTIVE SRH OF 400-600 M2/S2...BOUNDARY LAYER DEWPOINTS OF 65-70 F AND MLCAPE OF 2000-3500 J/KG ALL FAVOR THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONG/LONG-TRACK TORNADOES IN THE MDT-HIGH RISK AREAS.

POTENTIAL CONCERNS WILL BE THE LATE ARRIVAL AND NARROW WIDTH OF THE WARM SECTOR COMPARED TO THE STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES AND FAST STORM MOTIONS. A COMPARISON OF EXPECTED 45-50 KT STORM MOTIONS WITH WARM SECTOR WIDTH/PROGRESSION SUGGESTS A 2-3 HOUR WINDOW FOR SUPERCELLS TO MATURE. IT APPEARS THIS WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY WILL BE SUFFICIENTLY LONG TO SUPPORT A SIGNIFICANT SUPERCELL/TORNADO RISK FOR A FEW HOURS LATE THIS AFTERNOON/ EVENING...INCLUDING THE WICHITA...TULSA...AND OKLAHOMA CITY METROPOLITAN AREAS.

A Public Severe Weather Outlook has been issued for the area by the National Weather Service. I would expect a PDS during that window given the fact that metropolitan areas are in the bullseye.

Be safe, all you chasers. Live to chase another day!

~Dewdrop

Fwd:

2010-05-08T20:15:00.001-04:00

Severe Weather in Ohio

2010-05-07T10:59:00.001-04:00

A severe weather. possible tornado outbreak is possible in the Ohio River Valley today. The area of the greatest risk is expected to be in Ohio and Indiana, where a Public Severe Weather Outlook has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center.

Unfortunately, this area is not as comfortable as the plains or the south in dealing with severe weather events, so if tornadoes are spawned in this storm, it could be devastating. If you are located anywhere within the area of risk, particularly in the area of moderate risk, be mindful of rapidly changing conditions and have a plan already prepared for seeking shelter, should that need arise. Keep your weather radios close.

Have a beautiful weekend and Mothers' Day!

~Dewdrop

Kansas has a shot

2010-05-06T10:05:00.006-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!
Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

My days (actually minutes) of being able to head my Sky Watch posts this way are numbered, but I want to do it while I can. Dealing with IT Nazis can be challenging and frustrating. I just wish this blog wasn’t such a treasured escape from the blah of my cinder block prison. I know, I know, so atypical of me, posting a picture of a bird, not something weather related, but in order to post a weather-related picture, I would need weather (you can check out my archive special storm shot posted below if you like… it’s more along the lines of what you usually see from me.) This is a special hawk though. He landed on a tree, just on the other side of my cinder block prison, ignoring the taunts of the bold (stupid) mockingbirds that swooped in to terrorize him for apparently treading on their territory. I can understand wanting to protect your babies, but eek, who’s going to feed those babies when the irritated hawk bites your head off??? Anyways, a co-worker was out there and saw it land and came running in, beckoning me to come quick and bring my camera (she must know me…) So, there you have it, dewdropweather is posting a bird.

Speaking of weather though… (what? You didn’t think I would stay off weather all together, did you?), there is a slight risk smack dab in the middle of the plains today, which has Vortex 2 chomping at the bit for some action. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look like tornadoes are a big part of the severe forecast for the day, so they may end up just chasing hail, but at least they’ll have something.

The tornado hatched area is only about 2% likely to have tornadoes, but I would imagine that Vortex 2 is camped out in northwestern Kansas with their fingers crossed.

Be safe!
~Dewdrop

Test of the emergency blogpost system

2010-05-05T21:34:00.002-04:00

I am testing the system of posting to blogger using email. We'll see how this works in the effort to maintain my blog-munications.

~Dew

Looks like it'll work just fine. I just won't have much control over where my pics are in the post. Sigh.

The IT Nazis!

2010-05-05T10:48:00.003-04:00

In the world of IT-Nazis , I have been blocked… access to my blog limited to mere 10 minute quota. I am disgusted. I am saddened. This blog is my window to the world. It’s where I peak out and say, “Hey, y’all! This is what’s going on here. What you got going on???” Unfortunately, that portal has been obstructed, and I am allowed only a small window to look out and connect with my dear blog world of friends. That’s ok. I will survive, and no matter what, I will still bring you the weather.

So, the only tornado report yesterday was in Wisconsin.

Tornado Reports (CSV) (Raw Tornado CSV)

Time Location County State Lat Lon Comments
0012 4 W WINCHESTER WINNEBAGO WI 4420 8874 (GRB)

A storm chaser was on it, and actually got some footage of it, so I know it was actually a tornado. It’s insane to me that the storms are already firing up that far north. The plains season has been sad this year. It’s really not been a great season for storm chasers. Unfortunately, the storms that have occurred have hit largely populated areas, so the deaths related to the fewer storms is much higher than I would have expected.

...NUMBER OF TORNADOES... NUMBER OF KILLER
TORNADO DEATHS TORNADOES
..2010.. 2009 2008 2007 3YR 3YR 3YR
PREL ACT ACT ACT ACT AV 10 09 08 07 AV 10 09 08 07 AV
JAN 41 28 6 84 21 37 0 0 7 2 3 0 0 4 1 2
FEB 1 1 36 147 52 78 0 9 59 22 30 0 2 12 3 6
MAR 36 - 115 129 170 138 1 0 4 27 10 1 0 3 10 4
APR 197 - 226 189 167 194 11 6 0 9 5 2 3 0 3 2

Given the fact that so far this year, we have seen only approximately 50% of the tornadoes we saw last year at the same point, the fact that we have already seen 12 tornado deaths through April, versus the 15 at the same point in 2009. Granted, 2 of the very few tornadoes we have had so far were rated EF4.
Vortex 2, the Great Tornado Hunt, as it’s been dubbed by TWC is off and… standing still… They seem to repel weather the way I do. I hate it for them. They have a lot of resources and time wrapped up in this month long tornado chasing project, and they haven’t had a bite yet. Fortunately, it looks like the forecast is warming up further south for some action next week. The SPC has outlined an area of potential severe action in the better chased areas of the southern plains. Hopefully, that’ll give the project what they are after and keep all the action away from these populated areas, which would protect lives.

Have a beautiful IT Nazi-free day!
~Dewdrop

Severe weather potential here

2010-05-04T11:51:00.001-04:00

INDEED...LINE OF STORMS HAS BECOME SOMEWHAT BETTER ORGANIZED OVER THE PAST HALF HOUR...INCLUDING A SMALL-SCALE BOW OVER S CENTRAL GA -- WITH SOME ROTATION EVIDENT WITHIN THE COMMA HEAD PER VALDOSTA GA /KVAX/ RADAR.

Wet...

2010-05-04T08:37:00.006-04:00

Eventually, the rain will arrive. This system has caused devastating weather along the way, tornadoes, floods... really awful stuff. As for us, we are expecting some heavy rains to come and cause flash flooding, flooding of rivers and streams... It doesn't look like much as a still shot, but the problem with the drenching system is the slow movement... and when I say slow, I mean, it's barely even moving. That system is tracking over the same area as it creeps along.

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA. THESE STORMS ARE PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE

That's right... 8 inches. Insanity. I know our area has just barely recovered from last year's flooding. We sure don't need that again.

I was quite surprised to see the Day 4 area of forecasted severe weather. Day 4 is Friday and the area expected to experience severe weather is well north of the typical May storm. I'm sure the plains chasers are frustrated at this season. It seems that they've got a Dewvoid of their own.

Onto other things... we had one last final hoorah, saying sadbye to Meso Mike before he took off Saturday for Korea. He will be missed, but I am thinking that him being in such an off the wall place will boost his blog activity, and since his life won't be inundated with exercises, he will have more time to chat. We'll miss you, Mike!

Have a great day.
~Dewdrop

Dewvoid in the forecast

2010-05-03T14:06:00.003-04:00

Looks like they have done a magnificent job of forecasting the Dewvoid. They are masterful at that anymore. Far be it for me to find myself inside any sort of risk area. LOL!

Unfortunately, weather got tragic over the weekend, with many tornadoes over the course of the weekend causing fatalities in the southern plains. The storms sadly trained over one area causing devastating and deadly flooding in Central Tennessee. Remember, Turn Around, Don't Drown™.

As for us, we had a full weekend. I will be posting pics and telling the stories in full, but just to go ahead and cover yesterday. We celebrated my dear step-daughter's birthday on Sunday. She's not a huge fan of cake, so my wonderful groom thought to do this. She is a HUGE fan of those iced sugar cookies. Isn't he clever?

More to come in the days to come!
Have a great and safe day!
~Dewdrop

Project Adam! Let's package up some hope.

2010-04-29T09:33:00.009-04:00

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy
I posted this recently, but I didn't really say much about it. It was a spectacular sun chasing day with clouds creating the perfect ambiance. Here, we see a brilliant sun, beaming its radiant light on the clouds, which then cast shadows across the sky. I love cloud shadows. They are so entertaining. The above shot was captured a little later that same day. I love it when the sun is almost molten lava in the sky, melting the sky around it, in a fiery corona.Finally, every cloud has a silver lining... the cloud is no exception. Except this one also presents crepuscular rays and cloud shadows. It was taken the same day as the other day, but slightly earlier.

I have been encouraged lately by a group of heart-warming storm chasers, who are helping me with a project I am working on. A while back, I was contacted by the mother of a 4 year old weather enthusiast. The little boy, Adam is a special needs child who has developed this huge passion for weather and storm chasing. She contacted me to help nurture and develop that passion in him. As a result, I put out an appeal to my friends for them to send me weather related stuff to send to Adam. Jay Reid (a founding member of the Southern Weather Brigade) started it out with a substantial care package for our little friend, Adam, henceforth dubbing the project, Project Adam! This, of course, fueled my passion for the project and encouraged me to step up the appeal. Since then, members of the Southern Weather Brigade and kind members of the storm chasing community nationwide have stepped in with offers of gifts for this precious little boy. Special thanks to Jay, Jeff, Rick, Ken, JB, Mike W., Mike D. Mikey S., Mike H., Peggy, Jennifer, James, Jamie, and Brandon, who have promised items so far! It really makes me proud to be a part of this group and more importantly to count these folks among my friends. Thanks for helping brighten the heart of this precious little boy. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. If you are interesting in helping with this project, send me an email at dewdrop_in_sga @ yahoo.com (sorry, you will have to type it... trying to avoid a spam attack!)

Be strong in the Lord; never give up hope. You're gonna do great things, I already know. God's got his hand on you, so don't live life in fear. Forgive and forget, and don't forget while you're here, take your time to pray.

Have a beautiful day and God bless you!!
~Dewdrop

On my soapbox...

2010-04-27T09:04:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately, with TWC not having had any other weather to talk about, they are seeking out every scrap of video, every morsel of weather related news they can from this weekend's tornado outbreak. They are showing people who drove into the tornado and survived, people whose homes crashed around them, church leveled around them, tornadoes chased them... and they survived. What message does that send to the public? Go on... use that fancy iPhone of yours to get right up close and personal and shoot great video, so the Weather Channel will make you famous. No, no, you don't need to know anything about weather or how to stay safe, just shoot it and send it in, and we'll give you a by-line... if you survive it. I am afraid that TWC's iWitness and all these tornado chasing reality shows (yes, yes, I know I was on one), where people get closer, closer... to the point of actually being inside the doggone tornado (how insane and stupidly dangerous is that?!) are creating a breed of fanatics, who know nothing about what it is they are chasing, but the thrill of being close to danger and seeing their video on TV drive them to the brink of death. I was disgusted when I saw a video this morning of a couple watching a tornado approach them. While she shouted in panic, he shot video, and told her that they would just hop in the ditch if it got close... yeehaw, just like we saw on that there "Twister" movie, right? Dude, she had the right idea... you were clueless and she was reasonably scared. Then, there was the footage of the man on his front porch filming a tornado's approach as sirens are wailing, warning him to get himself and his screaming scared children to safety, but no, he had to shoot the footage to send into TWC. Tornadoes kill. Let me repeat that... TORNADOES KILL. If you don't know what you're doing, seek shelter. My heart is sad over the public perspective as it seems to be developing regarding storm chasing and the growing need to provide iWitness coverage to TWC goons. Be safe, people. Now, let me just hop off that soapbox.

To quote Benjamin Franklin: Some are weather-wise; some are otherwise.

It is with a heavy heart that I see the models are setting up to blast the SAME region this weekend.It breaks my heart to think of them digging through the rubble and learning that there is yet another target drawn over them. How terrifying that must be. My thoughts and prayers are with them as they deal with the trauma and tragedy... as they deal with the wreckage left after the storm. May God fill them with a peace that transcends all understanding. Guard their hearts and minds, Lord.

Have a blessed day!
~Dewdrop