Earlier this week, a welcome cold front passed through southwest Florida. Daytime highs and nighttime lows tumbled a bit, while dew points (the measure of atmospheric humidity) fell into the comfortable 60’s. As with most of our early cooler season fronts, the relief from oppressive humidity readings was short-lived. Early
Read DetailsThe other day, I used the word “serpentine” to describe Eta’s past and expected movements. Eta has not disappointed. First, the storm moved westward, then headed northward along the Central American coast; and then northeastward toward the Central part of Cuba (where it resided earlier this Sunday morning). The storm
Read DetailsTropical Depression Eta (Fig. 1) is almost back to tropical storm strength; the latest 3 a.m. CST advisory (Friday) places peak sustained winds at 35 miles per hour. As Eta, currently moving slowly northward, starts moving northeastward during the next few hours, the storm will traverse warm ocean waters and
Read DetailsWith weak upper-level steering currents, past major Hurricane Eta is now just tropical depression Eta. The system land-falled in central America where mountainous terrain and the loss of warm ocean waters (its fuel supply) sent the storm into rapid decline. Now Eta is expected to move back over the western
Read DetailsAs noted the other day (https://bit.ly/3bBsdaX), the southwest Florida summer monsoonal rainfall regime has kicked in. Local rainfall amounts for the week so far have totaled two to four inches, with some locations receiving more. Localized flooding was reported in Marco Island on Sept. 9, 2020 (https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2020/09/09/heavy-rain-floods-marco-island-roads/). Now, newly-formed Tropical
Read DetailsHurricane Nate is nearing peak intensity (strong Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 90 miles per hour) as it races toward landfall on the Mississippi-Alabama coast tonight (Fig. 1). However, with the strongest winds and the greatest push of water toward the coast on its eastern flank, places from
Read DetailsSo far, the Eastern Pacific (EPAC) Basin (the North Pacific Ocean east of 140 degrees West longitude) 2017 hurricane season is “on fire.” For July alone, Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), which measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes, ran at 2.5 times the recent monthly average.
Read DetailsThe Naples area has had a plethora of rainfall during the past 35 days. Locally, amounts have topped 25 inches at many locations, with one report in the Piper Cove area (of north Naples) in excess of 30 inches. Lakes levels are up; mosquitoes are swarming; snails are heading for
Read DetailsMost will agree that Naples (located in southwest Florida, just south the Fort Myers area, for some of my readers who might not be familiar with where I live) is a cloud watchers paradise, especially during the warmer and wetter months. The daily cycle of morning thunderstorms over the Gulf
Read DetailsThe focus during tropical cyclone events is typically on high winds, coastal storm surge, heavy coastal and inland rainfall, and possible flooding. However, if one is located far enough away from the storm’s circulation, atmospheric processes may lead to less rainfall. Such is the case for southwest Florida during the
Read Details