The 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 DetailsTwo days ago, I wrote about expected rainfall from then Tropical Depression (TD) 19. At that time, I noted that forecasts called for two to four inches of precipitation across southwest Florida, especially along and to the west of I-75 during the weekend (Fig.1). As is always the case, I
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 DetailsAbout 10 days ago, a major brush fire (linked to a growing drought) erupted to the east of Naples, along I75. The fire eventually grew to more than 8,000 acres. Today, the same area is under a Flood Watch (Fig. 1) meaning that some two to four inches rainfall could
Read DetailsAnother in a series of strong cold fronts is heading for south Florida today. This time, the front is linked to a long-lived Pacific weather system (which brought flooding and mudslides to California, and heavy snow and flooding to parts of Texas, both earlier this week). Now the system is
Read DetailsSpring arrived about one month ago (Mar. 20, 2018). At that time, many people were looking forward to escaping winter’s icy fingers. Alas, for many in the eastern two-thirds of the country, Old Man Winter did not get the memo. My wife, Barbara, and I were looking forward to South
Read DetailsSouthwest Florida typically goes through a springtime period in which brush and grassland fire danger soars. This is due to a prolonged dry season, warmer temperatures, and periods with lower dew point temperatures. These fires, while not caused by lightning, can be generated by a prescribed burn that goes awry,
Read DetailsWhile February was quite mild and wet across much of the eastern U.S. (except south Florida which was warm and dry), March has taken a turn for the colder [thanks to three “nor’easters” (so-called due to their location, strength, and impact)] and associated strong cold fronts that reach well to
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