This Week
Hurricane Watch
Before 1945 Hurricane season
Where hurricanes are born
Hurricane Watch Friday, October 22, 2010 am PDT
Conjecture... Speculation... Guessing... There is a tropical low in the Western Caribbean called Richard that's hanging around and producing rain, thunderstorms and some gusty winds of 35 to 40 mph. The system is almost stationary and driving the forecasters nuts. Will it move west toward Belize, or north passing west of the Caymans and into the Gulf of Mexico or will it make a right turn and shoot the gap between Cuba and the Keys?
The system could gather strength and become a hurricane or it could fall apart – I'm hoping for the latter
Hurricane Watch Thursday, October 21, 2010 am PDT
The tropical low located southwest of the Cayman Islands is hovering over a large area of the Western Caribbean. Forecasters are having a hard time trying to figure it out a direction it will take when it does begin to move.
For now there are many possibilities but nothing definite as to future direction.
Yesterday Hurricane Hunters called it Tropical Storm Richard and they could be right, for me, I'd rather wait and see.
There is also a tropical wave moving west from the coast of Africa which bears watching. Stay tuned.
Hurricane Watch Wednesday, October 20, 2010 am PDT
The search is on for the next tropical depression. Satellite images, Hurricane Hunters and forecasters are all scouring the tropics for a reluctant Richard. Richard is the preselected name for the next tropical depression or tropical storm strong enough to claim the title. Presently there are two candidates, one in the Western Caribbean, another off the West Coast of Africa. They are both producing rain showers and show some signs of development. When?
We watch and wait.
Hurricane Watch Tuesday, October 19, 2010 am PDT
No development in the tropics – ditto Monday's report.
Hurricane Watch Monday, October 18, 2010 am PDT
Watch the Southwest Caribbean for a tropical storm developing out of the rain and thunderstorm system hovering over the area.
Another system of rain and thunderstorms to watch is in the mid Atlantic between the West African coast and Eastern Caribbean islands.
Otherwise, the tropics are quiet
Hurricane Watch Sunday, October 17, 2010 am PDT
Paula has dissipated and the tropics are quiet. But forecasters continue to watch the warm waters of the Caribbean for possible development.
Hurricane Watch Saturday, October 16, 2010 am PDT
Paula has been reduced to a low level system of rain and thunderstorms that is tracking away from Cuba toward the Bahamas.
With the exception of a few rain and thunder systems in the Eastern Caribbean, the tropics are quiet for the moment. However, warm waters in the Western Caribbean might make it possible for another system to develop in that area.
Forecasters will be watching it.
World War II – The Cost of Victory:
On the war front, during the early part of 1945 things seemed to be going to hell in a hand basket. The country was still reeling from the Allied Army’s slugfest with the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge during the past winter. We had won that fight, but with such horrendous human losses it was hard to chalk it up as much of a victory.
The month of April was not kind: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, Georgia and everybody’s favorite War Correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed while covering the war in the South Pacific.
However, by late April our Allied Armies were racing across Europe and we were whipping the tar out of Hitler and his war machine. As I recall, it was about that time the fog lifted and we not only saw the sun with some regularity some really good news came by way of the morning paper. On May 7, 1945 the Jacksonville Journal’s banner headlines read:
Unconditional Surrender
Ends Great War in Europe
Of course that was welcome news, but the war in the Pacific was still going strong. We had taken the offensive and disrupted the enemy’s shipping lanes. The Marines were moving on the Japanese held islands and making some headway while at the same time taking heavy casualties.
Within our squadron planes were moving in and out while personnel seemed to remain in place. Then a rumor began making the rounds that our squadron would be moving to Whiting Field located in the Florida Panhandle not too far from Pensacola. A second rumor that quickly grew into general scuttlebutt was that the squadron was being split up and a small contingent was going to Miami to do some kind of weather reconnaissance that had to do with hurricanes. Nobody put much stock in what we thought to be a dumb idea, but the scuttlebutt was persistent and it soon became a general topic of conversation.
Sitting at the chow table one morning Bill Hurley, Al Primrose and I were talking about squadron activities. Our long-range missions flying out over the Atlantic and down into the Caribbean were still a big part of it. However, ferrying old Liberators over to Corpus Christi, Texas for major overhaul – or possibly the scrap heap was occupying quite a bit of time. Then there were the new Privateers all coming in with more sophisticated radar gear and engines that were fitted with turbo superchargers giving the planes the ability to fly at much higher altitudes.
I sipped my coffee and said, “I was plane captain of a four man ferry crew back in early April that flew to Wichita to swap one of our planes for the newer version. Everything was going well until we caught the tail end of a blizzard at Wichita.” Then I shook my head and grinned. “The first thing we had to do when we got on the ground was to borrow some cold weather gear because we were in shirt sleeves. And by the time we located our new plane and gave it a once over the skipper decided we would stay the night in Kansas. Next morning we did a full inspection of the plane and I did a physical check of the fuel on board with a dipstick. We took off from Wichita before nine o’clock and got to a point near Tifton, Georgia when we were advised by Jacksonville Tower that all Jacksonville area facilities were closed down due to weather. Moments later Navy Air Control ordered us to change course and head for Maxwell Field, an army facility, at Montgomery, Alabama, land and wait for further instructions.”
Primrose laughed. “Sounds like your routine trip to Wichita was full of surprises.”
“I guess you could say that, in any event we were treated well at Maxwell Field and the next day we flew back and actually landed at Jacksonville.”
(To be continued.)
Hurricanes and where they come from:
Hurricanes grow out of heat producing areas. Look at the equator as an area that contains all the elements from which a tropical depression could grow. From past history we know that to be a fact. When we look at the breeding grounds for storms that can menace the United States we have to look at the Atlantic near the equator, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico not so much as a breeding ground as it is a transport system that can carry the storms up to the Texas and Gulf Coast.
The storms heading toward the U.S. are more often than not spotted in one of three general areas. Off the West Coast of Africa, southeast of the Lesser Antilles and Barbados or the Western Caribbean somewhere in the vicinity of Swan Island which is located east of Belize and southwest of the Cayman Islands.
(Next week we put a few pieces together including thunderstorms and swirling winds.)
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
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