All sorts of towers...

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Welcome all sky fans!!! I might not have time to respond to you, but I will try my best to visit!!!

Our hosts: Klaus Sandy Ivar Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Thanks, also,to Dot and Tom, who were instrumental in the success of this blogging event. You should definitely come fly with us! I would like to share two shots with you today. One, I shot Monday morning. There was an amazing sunrise, which turned a patch of virga (rain that doesn't reach the ground) bright pink. I have enhanced the contrast to help you to see it more clearly. I posted it unedited on August 31, if you care to check that out.It was beautiful. My other choice for today is just a random June cumulus tower from my 2007 archive. It made me smile, so I thought, why not...
Speaking of towers... does everyone remember the tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta on March 14, 2008? Well, that same tornado damaged about 1500 windows on the Westin Peachtree hotel.

the cylindrical hotel was heavily damaged by the March 14, 2008 twister that ripped through the area. Designed to sway, the building moved two feet in either direction from the force. The damage knocked 320 of the hotel’s 1,068 rooms out of service, and 81 are still not being used.
~source

Today, work has begun to replace those broken windows. Though the project will take over a year to complete, the structure will be much more structurally sound when the project is complete ($22 million later...)

The replacements, each larger than a doorframe, will be heavier than the originals -- 270 pounds instead of 140 pounds -- in order to meet today’s building codes, which are more stringent than when the hotel was built in 1976.
~source

Here are some links to my coverage of that historic tornado.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5

Aside from the, the largest wildfire in LA history is still not contained, but humidity levels have risen to help the firefighters in their efforts. Tropical Storm Erika is just about done with her time with us. She is amounting to just about nothing.

Have a... ... day!
~Dewdrop

Very interesting...

So much for the all important model guidance...

MOST OF THE GLOBAL MODELS DO NOT SHOW MUCH RELAXATION OF THIS SHEAR...AND ACTUALLY SHOW IT INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. DESPITE ALL THIS SHEAR...ALL RELIABLE GUIDANCE RESTRENGTHENS THIS SYSTEM TO NEAR HURRICANE STRENGTH IN A FEW DAYS. THIS REINTENSIFICATION DOES NOT SEEM VERY LIKELY AND THE NHC FORECAST IS MUCH LOWER THAN THE GUIDANCE. GIVEN THE POSSIBLE SHEAR DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD...IT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISING IF ERIKA DISSIPATED.

Anyone else find that intriguing??

~Dew

Tropical Storm Erika forms and struggles to hang on...

Well, here we are in September, and we are just now seeing our 5th named storm. Please join me in welcoming the disorganized Tropical Storm Erika to the scene as she loses the punch she started out with while she approaches the Lesser Antilles, which is a good thing. Her being the only show on this side of town (the Pacific is very much alive, speaking of Hurricane Jimena did make landfall on the Baja as a category 2 hurricane.), it is pretty much all eyes on the pathetic mess that has become of Tropical Storm Erika. It does look like she's building up some deeper convective activity, with some strong cells developing near the "center" of that system.

IT APPEARS THAT THE CENTER HAS REFORMED TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED TRACK. HOWEVER THE FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS SUGGEST THAT THERE MAY BE MULTIPLE CENTERS

You can see that very well in the loop linked here. She is forecast to hug the islands as a tropical storm, so all of the islands should keep a close eye on Erika. You see all the outflow pouring out of her... the cirrus looking clouds spraying out, looking almost like a pinwheel. Very cool.

Have a terrific day!
~Dewdrop

Colorful virga!

After a wonderfully relaxing weekend, full of cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning... I was surprised with a lovely sky-treat. As I went outside to sit and watch Mini-Dew at her bus stop, I looked up to see a dynamic and heavily textured sky. It was gorgeous with the rough underbelly of an altocumulus stratiformis blanket, but then, as the sun rose into it, it came alive with an amazing pink flair. If that had been all, it would have been enough, but that was far from all. As I looked up to take in the beautiful palette of color, I was struck by something I haven't quite seen in that light... falling from the clouds in my northeastern sky, were sheets of virga (rain that doesn't reach the ground), and it too was awash with the splash of pink, salmon, coral, orange, gold. It was brilliant... so you ]know me, I rushed back inside to grab the camera. :DAlmost like my own little Aurora Borealis show... except NOT! One of these days... probably when I'm old and allowing myself to grey.

Well, Tropical Storm Danny was the less than exciting story on Friday. We became slightly more interesting factor when he merged with an extratropical low pressure system off the coast of the Carolinas. Really, I think meteorologists will argue about whether or not Danny should have ever earned his title. No more reports are coming out about him, but another area, which looks slightly better is given a high chance of development. Stay tuned for ongoing coverage of the birth of Erika.

Have a stupendous day!!!
~Dewdrop