Hurricane Ida...late for the party!

To this weather junkie, the 2009 Hurricane Season has been a DUD.

As if to rub it in, here comes Hurricane Ida, who is probably going to fizzle before giving us anything remotely exciting.

As of the 3 a.m. CST advisory, Ida has winds of 90mph, moving NW at 12 mph, with pressure of 984mb. She is expected to move towards the Yucatan Peninsula today, head into the Gulf, and then possibly towards the Northern Gulf Coast.

Between the cooler water temps and a cold front, it should weaken Ida and push her back towards Florida. A few of the spaghetti models show it crossing Florida, but it's too soon to say.

I wouldn't mind a day or two of stormy weather ;) More later if the news warrants.

A, B, C...

And just like that! 3 Tropical Systems! Love the energy from all this weather excitement!

First off, ANA has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression from a Tropical Storm. As of the 2 am advisory, winds are at 35 mph. Movement is WNW at 26mph, pressure is 1008mB. She is expected to become just a Tropical Low perhaps by Tuesday morning. Still keeping an eye on her, hoping she brings us some rain!

TD Ana (2 am Advisory from NHC)

Tropical Storm Bill may very well be a Hurricane by tomorrow, the season's first! At 11pm, winds are 70mph, moving WNW at 20mph, pressure is 990mB. Right now, TS Bill is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane--CAT3-- by Wednesday evening. We are keeping a close watch on him! Tthe current track looks like it will miss us, but as we in FL know, tropical systems can do some very wonky things! The East coast of the US should tune into their local weather and/or The Weather Channel for updates.

TS Bill (11pm Advisory from NHC)

1 a.m Advisory for Tropical Storm Claudette--formed rapidly in the Gulf off the coast of Florida and made landfall near Fort Walton Beach in the Panhandle. Winds are 50mph, moving NW at 12 mph, pressure is 1006mB. First Tropical Storm landfall of the season.

TS Claudette (1 a.m. Advisory from NHC)

Be safe this season--stock up--and remember this blog is not to be used as a substitute for your own local and national weather alerts.

Right behind Ana...

Here's Tropical Depression #3! It's expected to become Tropical Storm Bill in the very near future. Season is firing up! Squee!

Better Late than Never--Tropical Storm ANA!

Talk about appearing fashionably late! Hurricane Season starts June 1 and here it is, August 15th. Though the Tropical Depression was originally predicted to fall apart, TS Ana pulled herself together, at the 5 a.m. Advisory from NHC.

Winds are 40 mph, Pressure 1005mb, moving to the W @16mph.

Here is the latest information, along with forecast models and my favorite, spaghetti plots!, courtesy of the Central Florida Hurricane Center (@CFHC on Twitter, tell them @HeadacheSlayer sent ya!)

http://flhurricane.com/cyclone/stormspotlight.php?year=2009&storm=2

Next Advisories will come around 11 a.m., 5 pm, and 11 pm.

Am I the only FL weather geek excited? :D

Get the Party Started Already!

Most boring hurricane season EVER.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's horrible when something like Katrina or Andrew cause catastrophic devastation. The 3 storms that hit us in 2004 made me nervous whenever the wind blew really hard after that.

But there is something undeniably electric that comes with watching a storm develop, tracking its path, getting updates, and watching weather forecasters and The Weather Channel get whipped into a frenzy (oh come on, you can see the glint in their eyes. It's like CHRISTMAS).

Heck, JudoMan and I have even talked about retiring to the Keys. I'd be the first to evacuate if they gave the orders, but the idea of riding out a storm there....yeah. Electric.

I think it would be cool to go out with the Hurricane Hunters. It would be worth the barf. They are flying out today to check a system--which would be the first Tropical Storm. And it's nearly August. Hurricane Season begins May 1. BORING.

The Orlando Science Center has a hurricane chamber, like a phone booth, that you go into, and the winds go up to 75 mph. It's AWWWWWWWWWESOME. I did it several times. Got windburn from my hair whipping into my face. But when I see the Hurricane guys nearly getting knocked over, yeah, I'm a little jealous.

It stinks being 39 and just discovering what a cool job a meteorologist could be. But that's why this blog exists ;)

Bye Bye Ike

Well, forget about Ike visiting FL. Phooey (that's the hurricane junkie talking).

My sister lives in Texas so I hope that Ike spares her any misery.

On a related note, my husband bought me The Hurricane Almanac for our anniversary :) When it gets here, I will be sure to give a review of it! Cool gift, huh? I have my eye on a hurricane textbook on Amazon as well.

Still some time left in the 2008 season for us to see some action.

Ay-yi-Ike!!!

Hanna is going to bring us some welcomed breezes and nothing more in the way of stormy weather. It's kindof cool to look up at the sky and know the clouds I'm seeing are from a tropical storm. I said hello LOL.

But Ike. OMG there's a whole nother story. This monster storm is making a beeline towards Florida, with impacts possible by next Tuesday (I'm sure bands will start coming onshore well ahead of the eye). Of course that's some time away and we're across the state from where the current landfall might be. But part of me knew he was going to nail us. So this weekend will be a Hurricane prep & shop weekend.

Still you have to admire the sheer awesomeness of this photo from space (courtesy NASA):

Hurricane hunters will be flying out tomorrow to get some hard data which will enhance the forecast models.

It's been a wild year and it's not over. More later if Ike decides to vacation in FL.

Stormy update

Sorry about worrying anyone about my lack of updates on Fay. The only effect we had in our neck of the woods was that Fay killed our cable modem.

I feel for all those affected by Fay and now Gustav, literally. All these storms are not this girl's best friend. The rain and changes and pressure wreak havoc on my chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic daily headaches. Oh and it totally freaked out my dog, Willow, with Fay despite the extreme lack of weather. She was a nervous wreck for hours. The cat is an old pro, so she just slept.

But Fay was a big disappointment here, we got more wind and rain a few days later than we did with her hanging around. Though the kids were happy to have a day off from school, but JB was disappointed he didn't get to use his flashlight for a "hurricane party". More wind and rain from Gustav too, even with us being in FL. Glad to see that Louisiana took him seriously. I fell in love with New Orleans when we visited back in May, I hope the damage is not too severe (and hooray for the heroes at Tulane University Hospital for staying open!! The staff there was *awesome*--you can read about my gall bladder attack over on my main blog).

So here come Hanna and Ike, and possibly TD10 (Josephine). This storm season is so much like 2004/2005, it's eerie.

My chronics are affecting my blogging so I will probably only post sporadically, more when we are being affected. Just keep in mind we have very fickle internet service during storms--don't freak out if you don't hear from me..... you know who you are, I have your phone numbers and won't hesitate to let you know if all heck breaks loose. ;)

Hurricanetrack.com has an awesome book they are hyping, "The Hurricane Almanac"....this weather junkie is probably going to buy it since I can't go to meteorology school just now LOL. I learn more every season, but I am craving for more.

Stay safe, stay dry, stay tuned ;)