Saturday, August 26, 2006

Another storm!

Living in the Gulf Coast area, we should be watching the tropics carefully. There are preparations that must be made when we are threatened with a storm. Wise people begin their preparations early in the season and are ready to go if there is a storm coming out way. Until last year, I was one of many who had become lax in my preparations, and it was Rita that really got my attention. It was too late to flee, and we were lacking in preparations. Thankfully, we were spared.

I wish that you who do not live in the greater Houston area could access our local television stations. If I knew how to link to a previous post (I am woefully lacking these days in technological skills), I would send you to the post about Tropical Storm Chris. Our weather people were so thrilled about the prospect of it hitting us which means hours and hours of coverage of the reporters standing in thigh deep water while telling us not to be so foolish.
When the wave formed off the African coast, the weather people began salivating. They did everything to make it into a category whatever and bring it right to us. When it failed to strengthen as much as they predicted, you could practically see the disappointment in their eyes. When it moved out into the mid-Atlantic, they were devastated. They had no news. Let’s face it. The weather here is hot and moist. You could rubber stamp the forecast. High in the upper 90's, low in the mid to upper 70's with a 20% chance of rain.


Now we have Tropical Storm Eduardo. The weather people here keep reverting to all the possible computer generated paths it could take, and of course, they keep focusing on the one that will head directly into Galveston Bay which would bring it right over the greater Houston area.

I am not a meteorologist, but I have taught some meteorology. I have lived here for over thirty years. I have watched these storms. I have learned that due to the upper winds and the rotation of the earth, the storms in the Gulf usually end up turning easterly when they are approaching shore. The predicted path that is averaged for this particular storm does just that.
In the mean time, we will watch these clowns try to push this storm right to us. I swear if they had the means to do it, that is exactly what they would do So we get a few days of watching these giddy people on the tube try to maneuver this storm with the excuse of keeping us informed.

1 comment:

Crazy MomCat said...

Man, do I get you on this one! The bad thing is, I've gotten to where I just blow those weather people off so much and I'm sure that one of these days they're going to be right!