We want the weather!!!

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 Sylvia 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!In honor of our secondary severe weather season, which occurs in fall here, I have posted one of the better and more ominous looking shelf clouds that I have experienced here. I was leaving work one day, when I spotted this very low to the ground cloud structure approaching my location. This is a shelf cloud, and generally their bark is worse than their bite, as was the case with this one. They can carry with them downburst potential and outflow winds which could actually result in straight line wind damage, but they are not typically an area where we would see tornadoes, gustnadoes, yes, tornadoes... no. They do, however, warn of the potential danger. If you see such a feature, you should take it as your warning to seek shelter indoors. Wind, rain, lightning, hail and tornadoes could follow.

Locally, we have already had one round of severe weather this season, but as the season wears on, and the battle between summer and winter becomes more intense, we should see more. Today, the slight risk for severe weather exists in Louisiana and Mississippi with a tornado watch already presenting itself covering most of Louisiana (feel free to click on the graphic here for updates). It should mostly only amount to some thunderstorms by the time it makes its way over here. Interestingly, the storm working its way across the southern states are, in part, the remnants of once category 5 Hurricane Rick from the eastern Pacific. Tropical Storm Rick made landfall in Mexico and traveled across Texas dropping buckets of rain on the now quite water-logged areas.
Of course, moisture feed off the Gulf of Mexico has now merged with the now remnant low to make a severe weather event in the south. Incidentally, there are two areas being watched in the Atlantic basin with a low likelihood of development. Hurricane season is not over yet, folks.

Aside from all that, I would like to briefly get on my soapbox (once again) regarding the ridiculousness of the Weather Channel (TWC). TWC has decided that they need to break from their dying traditional of simply showing (GASP!) the weather, and have decided that for some reason their viewing are tuning in for weather movies. They have decided to start airing Friday night movies.... link. I am outraged by the continued effort to turn TWC into "just another stupid station", because at this time it is one of the only channels I watch. I like the quick look at what's going on with the "Local on the 8's". I like the weather updates round the clock. I love the "Tropical Updates". I enjoy their radar, their tornado warning notices... the stories about weather related events, impact and recovery... but their increasing "need" to expand the length of programming with their "When Weather Changed History" or "Storm Stories"... or worse yet, the preposterous "Wake Up With Al" morning TALK SHOW!!! What are these programmers thinking?! Weather people! We are tuning in for weather, and if that goes away, SO DO WE! Get your heads out of the money tree and back into the clouds where they belong!

Off soapbox,
~Dewdrop