Crossing the Gulf Stream where ocean currents can exceed 2 knots takes some skill and if you try in under certain weather conditions, could be dangerous for any size vessel. High wind and wave events can occur under certain conditions along the northern edge of warm, fast western boundary currents like the Gulf Stream off the US East Coast. Other areas with similar conditions … [Read more...]
Are Ship Weather Observations Still Valuable In The Era Of Satellites?
by: Horst von Bargen (Deutscher Wetterdienst) Meteorological satellites (geostationary at an altitude of about 36.000 km and sun-synchronous at a height of about 850 km) provide images and data in many spectral ranges. Their advantage is the generation of region-wide measurements. They allow us to receive information also from areas where there are no weather … [Read more...]
Supercomputer To Help Predict Dangerous River Flooding
by Brian K Sullivan (Bloomberg) In a week when heavy rains in Louisiana led to eight deaths and forced more than 20,000 people from their homes, the U.S. said it can now tap a supercomputer to better forecast flood events across all of the nation’s waterways. The new tool will let forecasters target potentially life and property threatening downpours street by … [Read more...]
Atlantic Hurricane Season: What to Expect In 2016
by Brian K Sullivan (Bloomberg) Colorado State University edged up its seasonal Atlantic hurricane forecast to 15, three more than in an average year. The new prediction is that six of those storms will become hurricanes and two will grow into major systems with winds of 111 miles (179 kilometers) per hour or more before the season ends Nov. 30. The total includes the four … [Read more...]
Pacific Ocean Is Abnormally Warm But Don’t Panic Yet
The Pacific Ocean is warm. Very warm. Last week, NOAA's U.S. Climate Prediction Center announced temperatures reached 3 degrees Celsius (5.6 Fahrenheit) above normal in a key section of the Pacific called Nino 3.4, touching off a Twitter typhoon among some El Nino watchers alarmed that they were so high. Monday, the agency said readings had edged up to 3.1 … [Read more...]