To be or not to be... Kyle, that is the question.

It's Sky Watch Friday post time!! (Please visit Tom, Klaus, Sandy and Imac's SKY WATCH BLOG (click here or on the logo) to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. It is so interesting to see skies from all over the world!!! I highly recommend not just checking it out, but consider participating! It's a truly great group of people!!!) Thanks to everyone who offered such encouraging and kind words regarding my intro to sky watch last week. It truly is an honor being a part of such an inspirational group of folks. For my sky watch post here today, I have chosen to post a picture I took during a mini-storm chase last April, when I had my own little storm cell develop and mature with beautiful structure. South of me, the storm produced a brilliant green sky, but in the early stages it was this beautiful cumulonimbus cloud (calvus type)...

Cumulonimbus (Cb) is a type of cloud that is tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other intense weather. The clouds can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squall line. Cumulonimbus clouds form from cumulus clouds (namely from cumulus congestus) and can further develop to a supercell, a severe thunderstorm with special features. ~source

I was thrilled to be able to catch that patch of wisteria with the swelling cumulus blurred (Bokeh, thanks, Beth!) in the background... hadn't realized how beautiful wisteria blossoms were up close until that point. I wrote about this little spontaneous chase back in April... and gave the fully detailed account. Today, let me just say that the memories are alive in my heart, like it just happened yesterday. It's amazing how memorable that day was even though it was just a little storm cell... nothing too impressive by typical storm chasing standards... just a little thunderhead that I watched from infancy to dissipation. I guess that sort of makes it my baby...Onto the crazy Atlantic basin tropics... As I've been mentioning, there are two disturbances that all the weather geeks, such as myself, are keeping a close eye on. In fact, the National Hurricane Center has issued a Special Tropical Disturbance Statement to cover both. One, just off the coast of the Carolinas is producing huge waves (I have heard up to 18' waves) and tropical storm force winds. Unfortunately, our team member, Mikey, who lives on the Virginia Coast, is currently in Huntington Beach, CA?!!!!... He is, however, getting updates from his wife, who has let him know that water is now two blocks from his house. He is due home tonight. Hopefully, flight delays won't prevent his return, and he will be able to offer us a full update. Currently, that disturbance (frontal-born low) has not gained sufficient tropical characteristics to be named, so it is being considered more of a nor'easter type storm rather than a tropical system, at this time...

THIS SYSTEM COULD DEVELOP INTO A SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL CYCLONE BEFORE THE SYSTEM MOVES INLAND ALONG THE ALONG THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. COAST ON FRIDAY. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THIS SYSTEM BECOMES A SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL CYCLONE... STRONG WINDS...COASTAL FLOODING...HIGH SURF... AND DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE ALONG PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN AND MID-ATLANTIC U.S. COASTAL REGIONS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

The other system is the one that has been dumping swimming pools worth of water on Puerto Rico, causing mudslides and flooding with their over 30" in some parts of that region, just over the past week, while that tropical "disturbance" held position directly over them. Fortunately, that system has finally shown signs of movement and appears to be pulling away from Puerto Rico with its very asymmetrical shape with its sites set on northern New England. Depending on how quickly things move, these two systems COULD impact the same area at the same time... which would be a bad thing for the northeast (as Mikey said, Perfect Storm). This one could also become a named system in the coming days... so technically, we could be looking at Kyle AND Laura in the making.

5:00PM Update: Thanks to Jess for the update on Tropical Storm Kyle. Looks like the Puerto Rico system won.

Hope everyone's day is great!!!
~Dewdrop

Kyle could be just around the corner...

Well, it looks like Kyle is almost here but not where I thought he would be... Looks to me like he's beating on Mikey's door. They were calling it a Nor'easter this morning

A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States. A nor'easter is so named because the winds in a nor'easter come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the East Coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. Nor'easters also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow. Nor'easters can occur at any time of the year but are mostly known for their presence in the winter season. ~ source

...because it wasn't expected to go tropical... looks like he could though. A Special Tropical Disturbance Statement has been issued stating:

SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CENTERED ABOUT 250 MILES...400 KM... SOUTHEAST OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA IS ACQUIRING SOME TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS. THIS SYSTEM COULD BECOME A TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL CYCLONE LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT AS IT MOVES WESTWARD OR WEST-NORTHWESTWARD. THE LOW IS ACCOMPANIED BY WINDS OF UP TO 65 MPH... 100 KM/HR... TO THE NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF THE CENTER.

If this thing does go tropical, and it develops just slightly stronger winds, it could go straight to hurricane. Imagine...

I am enjoying cool mornings and comfortable afternoons, but I know what lies ahead... cold... ick. Oh well, I will enjoy this beautiful fall weather while it lasts.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

The Future Kyle.... working on it.

SURFACE PRESSURES ARE FALLING IN THE AREA... AND UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME A LITTLE MORE CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION AT ANY TIME DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO

Unfortunately, as this thing develops, it will most likely get picked up by the upper low over the US which will direct him to the northeastern US coast... another US landfall could be in the cards, and as Mikey hinted in my comments yesterday, it could be the "Perfect Storm" set up. Even more unfortunately, the low pressure disturbance has been stationary over Puerto Rico, and in parts has dumped over 30 inches!!! of rain! Not good.

I did a little sky watching yesterday. That was fun... lots of little pop up storms bursting with energy. I loved the strong contrast between the brilliant white cumulus and the incredible blue. Check them out... Then, there was the little black rain cloud... reminded me of Winnie the Pooh and that little song.

Little Black Rain Cloud
I'm just a little black rain cloud,
Hovering under the honey tree.
I'm only a little black rain cloud,
Pay no attention to little me.

Oh, everyone knows that a rain cloud,
Never eats honey, no, not a nip.
I'm just floating around, over the ground,
Wondering where I will drip. ~source

Cute, huh? Sorry about the power line.

Hope you have a fantastic day!
~Dewdrop

After Ike... and another?

Happy Monday! I just got through a nice relaxing weekend. A little bit of "grand-puppy" sitting, while my dear son and his wonderful girlfriend went on a mini-cation. Chloe is such a cutie, and though she crawled under my fence a few times... she really wasn't too much trouble. We also had a great time watching gtb's cousin play in a college soccer game. I let Mini-Dew take all the pics during the game, and let me tell you, she did a fantastic job... check it out.
Aside from the puppy chronicles and soccer games, there is some tropical action once again... sorry, folks, the break seems to be over. The potentially future Kyle is organizing, as I type over Puerto Rico.This broad area of low pressure with some significantly clustered thunderstorms stands a high chance of developing into a tropical depression (would be tropical depression 11) over the next day or so. If this one were to develop into a named storm and start moving, it could become yet another threat to the U.S. Unfortunately, there is a long road ahead for those recovering from Hurricane Ike. Locally, we are only having to deal with gas shortages, but a million people between Texas and New York are still without power... the Texas coast has been completely devastated if not, obliterated. We really don't need another U.S landfall... thanks.
It was pointed out to me that I have been rather tough on those folks who stayed behind during Hurricane Ike. I am sure that they realize their mistake and don't need some unharmed observer like me rubbing their noses in it. So, I am finished with that, and I apologize for any hurt I caused, but I do have strong opinions in this matter. My new focus will be prayerful. I know that now, during this very difficult recovery, while survivors are digging through rubble and trying desperately to make some sense of it all, that their faith is being tested. I realize that they are in grave danger of looking at the mess, thinking about their missing neighbors and loved ones, and starting to lose hope, if it hasn't already been lost. My prayer is for God's strength for those people. It is at their weakest moments that God will reveal His amazing strength, and if they can just maintain faith, they will be carried through. Yes, it's a horribly tough road ahead, but I hope they hold onto the encouraging Word... God loves them. It's in crisis situations such as this that we see God's love poured out in the kindness of strangers as neighbors reach out to desperate neighbors, lending a hand, a tool, a shoulder... rebuilding side-by-side... rising from the ashes... the rubble. Yes, with God's love and grace and provision, this too, shall pass. God, be with all of those impacted in any and every way.

Onto other things... my sincerest thanks to Leedra for offering me this appropriately iconed award for my blog. It's a sky shot... big cheese grin. THANKS, LEEDRA! So glad you enjoyed my blog. Pay it forward time... I decided to keep this award focused as a photography award for an emphasis in outstanding photography and a touch of interesting writing in blog-world.

1. Christine
2. Courtney
3. Ken
4. Tammy
5. Michele
6. Rick
7. Beth Ellen

There are so many more out there who deserve this award, and I apologize if I excluded you, but I wanted to stick to 7 in the awarding. It's a nice number. I rather like it. Anyways, I chose these bloggers for their amazing photography, so I hope you enjoy them as well.

Have a lovely day!
~Dewdrop

P.S. According to my wonderful gtb, I simply must mention the start of the secondary severe weather season.... errr, I mean fall. Happy Fall, Y'all!!