Tropical Storm Edouard makes landfall!

Well, there you have it folks, strong Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall this morning about 20 miles southwest of Port Arthur, TX. During the overnight hours, Edouard ramped up his intensity as he skirted along the Louisiana coast, getting up to 65mph sustained winds, around a tight area of circulation. Tropical Storm Edouard has been a relatively small tropical cyclone, which oftentimes, generates a bit more uncertainty with trajectory... I tried to warn y'all... Since the winds didn't ramp up much with this guy, it looks like the big story with Edouard will be the buckets and buckets of rain that will fall on the upper Texas coast and the southwestern Louisiana coast. We know that Louisiana already has low lying issues and that is one big concern. Some areas of Louisiana have been evacuated in anticipation of flooding in those low-lying regions. Generally, though, this area can use the rainfall, so all should be good in the long run, thanks to Edouard. Looks like Edouard is planning to take the scenic tour of Texas, ending around Steve Miller's neck of the woods... again, my pleasure, Steve. Granted, that's the official trajectory... looks to me like ol' Edouard wants to head a little more westward, probably thinking all that land is crampin' his style.

Onto other things... Christine pointed out to me (and blogged about) yesterday that they have gotten a confirmed tornado count for May of 447, bringing the annual total through May to 994 tornadoes... just to put some perspective on that... last year's total (FOR THE WHOLE YEAR, which includes the secondary tornado season in the fall) was 1,085 tornadoes.

Given the changes observed between the preliminary numbers and the numbers appearing in Storm Data, an estimated curve has been added for 2008 to date. This curve is based on an approximate 30% reduction in the preliminary numbers.

Man, that chart has been blowing me out of the water since the first time I saw it. We knew it would be a wild year from the start... the outcome hasn't disappointed. Ironically, Christine also pointed out that, at that point in our discussion, there had been no August tornadoes... well, lo and behold, 2 tornadoes were reported yesterday in Illinois and Indiana, and this morning over 200,000 households were still without power. So much for no August tornadoes... I am going to guess that the final confirmed total for 2008 will be at about 1600, which overshoots the 10 year average by 330 tornadoes. YIKES!

Now, I have decided to share with you... once again... for your reading pleasure...

Searches that have resulted in complete DEW-ness!

1. Rotating Scud Clouds (Looks like you might have a wall cloud on your hands... you should call the NWS, not check my blog....)
2. Severe Weather Scud Tornadoes (Make up your mind, scud or tornadoes? If tornadoes, see above)
3. Photos of Potential Tornados (Again, make up your mind, please.)
4. Ultimate Storm Chasing Vehicle wikopedia (yes, that's how they spelled wikipedia... the ultimate storm chasing vehicle..? Seriously, people?)
5. Words for storm in Georgia (raised eyebrow, thunderstorm...? severe thunderstorm...? Do we name those?)
6. Ben Franklin Chaser (Cool. Incidentally, check out this link)
7. What does the skies look like during a hurricane(grey, cloudy... You shouldn't really be out looking at it, unless you're crazy like me.)
8. Why is the sky blue near a hurricane? (oh, I know this one... a hurricane draws in all the nearby moisture for use in its tropical fury. As it draws the nearby convection into its system, it leaves the air dry, offering the beautiful blue "hurricane sky".)
9. What does it mean when the sky turns yellow during a storm? (sheesh, all these sky color questions... Here's an answer link)
10. Jim Cantore Weather Channel south padre hotel storm (sorry, mfg... :OD)
11. Show me Big Hurricanes (survey says...)
12. Dust Devil Chasers (Big grin! That was so much fun!)
13. Dewdrop drench (ok....)
14. Ear Chaser Pictures (WHAT?!)
15. Another name for large mackerel (seriously?)

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a lovely day!
~Dewdrop

Let's all join together in welcoming Tropical Storm Edouard to the Scene!!

Greetings and salutations to all my fabulous friends in blog world. As you've probably noticed by now, I have been tending to go on weather strike over the weekends, unless the weather is on top of me... which rarely happens... Given my wonderfully relaxing, weekend strike, I was not aware of the fact last night that we had a new tropical storm on the scene. Join me in welcoming, Tropical Storm Edouard. Hi, Edouard!

Tropical Storm Edouard got his start just south of coastal Mississippi on Sunday afternoon as Tropical Depression 5, and was quickly upgraded to Tropical Storm Edouard, then strengthening and leveling out with 50mph sustained winds and . Now, though, it appears that Edouard is getting his act together, wrapping some solid convection around what appears to be a developing eye. I am guessing, given the warm temps of the Gulf of Mexico that Tropical Storm Edouard will have no trouble getting up to hurricane strength before landfall, which I suspect will be around the Port Arthur, TX area... not to freak out you folks in the Port Arthur area... The professionals... you know, the ones paid to project the trajectory based on a high degree of training in the field have put him in the Galveston area as a Tropical Storm, but hopefully, everyone in that general vicinity is ready for a potential hurricane. Yes, folks, it could happen. They aren't forecasting hurricane, but intensity forecasting is never all that great.

As for me, here... well, I have been launched into a local "weatherless" (I know, I know, Mike, there is ALWAYS weather, even if it's mundane... which mine is) abyss. Despite that, I was able to capture some interesting cloud shots this morning... the first was a shot of the sky while I was waiting on Mini-Dew's school bus, which I just loved...This second shot is a shot I captured as I was walking into my office. It actually looks exactly how it did looking through my sunglasses, and with its brilliance, I opted not to view it without my sunglasses, so I am glad my camera captured it this way. Cool, huh?Have a phenomenal day!
~Dewdrop