You are browsing the archive for hurricane sandy Archives - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
1 October 2016
Hurricane Matthew Becomes First Cat 5 in Atlantic Basin in 9 years
There is big trouble brewing for Jamaica, and Cuba. Then the Bahamas. Matthew reached Cat 5 status tonight with winds of 160 mph near the center. A Hurricane Watch is now posted for Jamaica and while the guidance is still uncertain beyond 96 hours, a right turn with a hit on Jamaica is very likely. The depth of the unusually warm water near the storm, and the lack of shear, …
11 August 2015
The Real Reason U.S. Weather Models Missed The Forecast on Hurricane Sandy
Among my fellow meteorologists, the talk after Hurricane Sandy was how accurate the european ECMWF model was compared to the U.S. Global Forecast System (GFS) model. Fortunately, most of us who were forecasting Sandy, knew that the euro was the better choice from previous experience, but it turns out that the reason we thought it did a better job was wrong. We thought it was because the Euro models initialization of the atmosphere …
30 October 2013
Sandy A Year Later- A Lot of Lessons Learned and Knowledge Gained
My friend Bob Henson at the National Center for Atmospheric Research has a great piece on Atmos News about Sandy today. NCAR has published some amazing high-resolution model runs of Sandy, and in some ways Sandy actually behaved like a tornadic super-cell. The model runs show that as Sandy approached a cold front, it tilted tubes of rotation air from the horizontal to the vertical. This same thing happens in …
10 May 2013
The Future Of Weather Forecasting Is Under Construction
Every summer, thousands of people drive out to Chincoteague in Virginia to see the beautiful beach, wild ponies, and the stunning National Wildlife Refuge. To get there, they drive around the long NASA runway at the Wallops Island Flight facility, and you can’t help noticing the cluster of big satellite dishes. If you’ve been there, you probably have wondered just what all those dishes are for. Meteorologists already know, and you’re about to find …
5 April 2013
Hurricane Forecasts and The Shrinking Cone of Uncertainty
Two events of note to mention regarding hurricanes and tropical meteorology this week. That familiar cone you see during hurricane season actually has some science to it. The width of the cone is based on the past accuracy of tropical cyclone predictions made by the National Hurricane Center. As the track predictions have improved the cone gets more narrow. Brian McNoldy at the uni. of Miami RSMAS put together a great image showing the difference in the cone from 2008 compared to …
10 November 2012
Before and After Superstorm Sandy- USGS Releases Amazing pics.
Sandy DID cut a new inlet on Fire Island NY. USGS image. Barrier Islands are nature’s buffer from storms. New inlets are a natural occurrence during storms and the sands are constantly shifting. Building on them is fraught with risk, but taxpayers all pay for the federal flood insurance that protects property owners there. After Sandy, I suspect there will be a much greater discussion about whether this is a …
4 November 2012
Odds Increase of Post Election Day Nor’easter In Areas Hardest Hit by Sandy
It’s not a certainty..yet, but the risk of a significant Nor’easter bringing wind, rain and snow to the areas hardest hit by Sandy is increasing tonight. If the overnight model runs come up with nearly the same solution then folks up here will need to prepare for winds over 50 mph. Snow is possible on the inland side of the storm as well as cold air flows into the storm. With damaged dunes along the shore, even a …
2 November 2012
Suomi Night Visible Imagery Shows Power Loss From Sandy
This image courtesy of the CIMMS Satellite Blog at the Univ. of Wisconsin. If you are interested in satellite meteorology that is the place to go to school!
1 November 2012
Amazing One Minute Rapid Scan Imagery of Sandy
Thanks to Tim Schmidt at NOAA’s Satellite Date Information Service (NOAA-NESDIS) for this. When GOES-R is launched in 3 years. you’ill see images that will make this look old fashioned.
What Those Who Understand Atmospheric Physics Are Talking About After Sandy
Asking if Hurricane Sandy was caused by climate change is like asking someone at the South Pole which way is north. This kind of storm could almost certainly form in a world where the CO2 levels have been unchanging and Arctic sea ice levels were stable. That said, anyone who claims Sandy was ( or was not) caused by the changing climate just doesn’t get it. It may be possible …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.