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Why Not Name Every Storm, Not Just Hurricanes?December 8, 2009 RUSH: I got an idea. Global warming is causing all these weird weather -- the climate change, right? Climate change is causing all these weird weather things like this unusually early snowfall in places like Houston, and now we've got this winter storm tearing up the Midwest and heading east. And it's been suggested to me that we ought to start naming these storms just like we name hurricanes. Global warming snowstorm Algore could be this first one. And we'll eventually get to global warming snowstorm Obama. It's a great...

Hurricane Ida continues to strengthen as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico. The government of Mexico has issued a Hurricane Warning from Playa del Carmen to Cabo Catoche. The late season hurricane is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico later Sunday at a Category 2 storm. Links:Public AdvisoriesDiscussion Updated Every Six Hours FL and East GOM Buoy DataVisible Image SatelliteOther satellite imagesForecast ModelsStormPulse Category Wind Speed Barometric Pressure Storm Surge Damage Potential Tropical Depression < 39 mph < 34 kts     Minimal Tropical Storm 39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts     Minimal...

BULLETIN HURRICANE IDA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 15A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL112009 1200 AM CST SUN NOV 08 2009 ...IDA STRENGTHENING...MOVING NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD... A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO FROM TULUM TO CABO CATOCHE. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO FROM PUNTA ALLEN NORTHWARD TO SAN FELIPE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN...

Tropical Depression Eleven has formed in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The governments of Colombia and Nicaragua have issued Tropical Storm warnings. Public Advisory Updated Every Six Hours Discussion Updated Every Six Hours Visible Image SatelliteOther satellite images

North Atlantic Hurricane Season slowest since 1997. Global and Northern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclone Activity remains near 30-year historical lows -- three years in a row now of considerably below-average activity globally. Consequence of the transition from La Nina to El Nino during the past year. Oct 29: The North Atlantic hurricane season has not produced a storm in over 3-weeks and, if no more develop, the season overall would rank as the slowest since the El Nino year of 1997. Hurricanes Bill and Fred accounted for over 82% of the Accumulated Cyclone Energy [ACE**] -- a metric that combines intensity,...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Coastal insurance bills proposed by lawmakers from Mobile and Baldwin counties don't go far enough, according to a grassroots group of local homeowners. "Right now, our legislators are listening to big money, and they need to listen to us," said A.C. Leggett, a member of the Homeowners' Hurricane Insurance Initiative, in an e-mail. "Our legislators want to do a little bit at a time. We cannot afford to do that." Insurers have vigorously, and successfully, opposed some of the same bills that the homeowners group considers too weak.

<p>AP – This image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Rick taken at 2 a.m. EDT Saturday Oct. 17, 2009.</p> <p>MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Rick quickly strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday and forecasters said it could strike the Baja California Peninsula in about five days.</p>

MIAMI – It may be tempting the weather gods just to point this out, but this has been a dud of a hurricane season so far. Only two hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic over the past three months, and neither hit the U.S. — a somewhat unusual lull. "I'm glad that I didn't have to go out and get anything — yet," said Lissette Galiana, who was shopping at a Wal-Mart in suburban Miami on Friday, around what is usually the very peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. "There's always a chance." Forecasters attribute the calm to a weak...

Three months after Hurricane Katrina, the Sun Herald described in a front-page editorial “Mississippi’s Invisible Coast.” It spoke of the fact that the further removed in time we were from Katrina, the less attention outside news reports paid to the plight of our region and its people, and the more it seemed history was being rewritten in a way that would render South Mississippi no more than a postscript to the greatest natural disaster to befall the nation. Already the trend had begun for the national media to cover South Mississippi’s part of the story with an add-on phrase...

LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) – Hurricane Jimena, an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, slammed Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, drenching the Los Cabos resort area where tourists hunkered in boarded-up hotels. Sheets of rain poured down from gray skies as Jimena's howling winds hit the tip of the peninsula, home to world-class golf courses, yachting marinas and five-star hotels. The hurricane was set to make landfall on Wednesday in a sparsely populated area farther up the peninsula. Hotels nailed boards over their windows, wrapped exposed furniture with plastic and turned conference rooms into storm shelters with camp bedding and...

HURRICANE JIMENA DISCUSSION NUMBER 15 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP132009 200 AM PDT TUE SEP 01 2009 THE SMALL EYE OF JIMENA BECAME LESS DISTINCT IN SATELLITE IMAGERY AROUND 0500 UTC...HOWEVER SINCE THAT TIME IT HAS WARMED AND IS EMBEDDED WITHIN VERY COLD CLOUD TOPS AND A RATHER SYMMETRIC CDO. THE LATEST DVORAK CI-NUMBERS REMAIN 6.5 FROM TAFB AND 6.0 FROM SAB...AND OBJECTIVE ADT ESTIMATES ALSO CONTINUE TO HOVER AROUND T6.5. BASED ON THE SATELLITE APPEARANCE AND UNCHANGED SATELLITE ESTIMATES...THE INITIAL INTENSITY WILL REMAIN 135 KT FOR THIS ADVISORY. AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO...

Dear Mr. President, Tomorrow we will mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which claimed the lives of 1,400 Louisianians and nearly killed a great American city. We will miss having you in our midst. We know you don't lack passion for our community and its recovery. Though you haven't been here as president, as a senator you visited five times after Katrina. We remember well the fervor of your speech at Tulane University on your last visit, a year and a half ago. "I promise you that when I'm in the White House, I will commit myself every day...

As Hurricane Bill churns in the Atlantic today, Bay Staters are bracing for a coastal whack ... warning of 25-foot waves and 110 -mph winds pummeling Nantucket, and deadly riptides along the entire Massachusetts coastline.

The latest weather projections indicate that Hurricane Bill could spoil some of President Barack Obama’s vacation plans this coming week in Martha’s Vineyard. According to Accuweather.com, the hurricane will not make landfall along Cape Cod, instead passing by to the east. But the storm is expected to bring large amounts of wind and rain to the area this weekend and possibly into early next week. Forecasts call for gusts of wind between 30 and 60 mph and rainfall that could reach as much as two inches in some areas of New England. The Obamas are scheduled to arrive at Martha’s...

Latest Video Tropical Update

MIAMI — Hurricane Bill strengthened early Wednesday into a dangerous Category 4 storm, packing maximum sustained winds near 135 mph, and forecasters say the hurricane could get even stronger. The National Hurricane Center said people in the Leeward Islands should monitor Bill's progress, though the core of the storm was expected to pass well northwest of the islands in the West Indies late Wednesday and early Thursday.

I am not in the studio today so no video update and I do not have access into looking at the WAAY 31 BAMS model but I still wanted to keep you up-to-date and provide my thoughts on the happenings in the Atlantic. Hurricane Bill is a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds 105 MPH, gusts to 127 MPH, as of 10 AM CT Tuesday. It will likely be a category 3 hurricane, which would make it a major hurricane, by Wednesday morning. Air Force Hurricane Hunters are going to be doing recon flights around and through...

Latest Tropical Video Forecast

T.S. Claudette will weaken into a depression on Monday while T.S. Bill will become the season's first hurricane. Ana has already been downgraded, again, to a depression and is just hanging on.

RON ELIAS/SUN HERALD ARCHIVES/1996 Downtown Pass Christain, on the morning of Aug. 18, was a pile of rubble, as proven in this Daily Herald photograph. Some of the remaining buildings would later be destroyed in Katrina, for Pass Christian once again got the high-water mark. “Hurricane Watch Posted” warned the front page of The Daily Herald on Aug. 16, 1969. In a classic twist of irony, the Mississippi Coast newspaper advertised Pass Christian’s Moonlite Drive-In would, in a few days, show the film classic “Gone with the Wind.” That was Saturday. Hurricane Camille struck Sunday night — 40 years...

Here is the list of 2009 storm names from the National Weather Service, “Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Joaquin, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda

Here is video from this morning updating the news on Tropical Storm Ana out in the Atlantic, and right behind her a Tropical Depression that has formed that has the potential to become a major hurricane. The weather man in the video says Ana is not expected to be as severe, and that it is headed in the direction of Puerto Rico and the southern tip of Florida. He was far more concerned with the tropical depression (likely to be named Bill) behind Ana, which he said could strengthen to a category 2 hurricane by the time it gets to...

Do you know the difference between a hurricane, a typhoon and a cyclone? People often think they are one in the same. It is confusing enough to try to keep up with the hurricane season and all the terminology, without having to decipher the difference between the three. All storms are the same after all, or are they? I found out that while they share common characteristics, they are still different. How are they different? Basically, the location is what gives the storm it's name. If a storm was to form in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific Ocean, we would...

SAN JUAN — Federal and state law could make it difficult for illegal immigrants to evacuate during a hurricane, said local nonprofit and community leaders during a public meeting Friday. They gathered at the headquarters of La Union del Pueblo Entero — an immigrant advocacy group based in San Juan — to answer residents’ questions about U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy during hurricanes. The U.S. Border Patrol has stated it will continue operating its checkpoints in the event of a storm, including the Sarita and Falfurrias checkpoints located on U.S 77 and U.S. 281, respectively. U.S. 281 is a...

MIAMI – The Atlantic hurricane season will be less active than originally predicted, government forecasters said Thursday after the first two months of the half-year stretch passed without any named storms developing. Updating its May outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a warmer weather pattern called an El Nino over the Pacific Ocean was acting as a damper to tropical storms in the Caribbean and neighboring Atlantic.

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Hurricane Felicia has lost a lot of its power as it heads for a collision with the Hawaiian islands. On Friday, Felicia was downgraded to a Category 3 storm after losing some of its sustained wind speed. Nonetheless, the hurricane is headed for a Tuesday morning landfall with the Big Island of Hawaii. In its latest update, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports Felicia has sustained wind speeds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/hr), down from 140 mph (220 km/hr) on Thursday. Felicia is moving west at about 10 mph and the eye of...

People who have to be plucked from rooftops or flooded houses during the next bad storm might end up getting a bill from their rescuers. Under regulations passed without much notice during this year’s legislative session, people who refuse to evacuate and put themselves in danger are liable for whatever it costs to rescue them. The legislation also gives county judges and mayors who order a mandatory evacuation the authority to compel residents to leave.

Bill gates just filed a patent on a scheme to unplug hurricanes by surrounding them with fleets of pump-boats bringing cold water to the surface: Having posted this idea four years ago myself, I have to admit it's a bit wacky. On the other hand, Hurricane Katrina devastated a substantial chunk of my country, so anything that MIGHT be able to slow these monsters down ought to at least be talked about. The Gates scheme is lumbering and passive. My Hurricane Stopper is agile and active, giving it a better chance of being practical. My idea was to have wind-turbine...

The military commander who helped bring order to New Orleans in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 told people at a Baton Rouge luncheon on hurricane preparedness issues Saturday to start right away getting ready for the next potential disaster. “I often say people in south Louisiana get more excited about getting ready for football season than getting ready for hurricane season,” retired Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré said. He was addressing a crowd of about 100 representatives of church groups and faith-based organizations at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Baton Rouge. But the cost of waiting to...

Invest 93 See Infrared Loop Here: http://www.goes.noaa.gov/HURRLOOPS/huirloop.html Statement as of 8:00 am EDT on June 26, 2009 For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico...A tropical wave over the western Caribbean Sea continues to produceshowers and thunderstorms from Cuba and the Cayman Islands southwestward to Honduras. Conditions appear marginally favorablefor some slow development of this system before it reaches theYucatan Peninsula late tonight or early Saturday. There is a lowchance...less than 30 percent...of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. Locally heavy rain will continueover portions of Cuba and the Cayman Islands today...

Tropical Storm Andres formed overnight off the southwestern coast of Mexico, becoming the first named storm of the season in the Eastern Pacific and the latest arrival in 40 years, forecasters said Monday.

GALVESTON — Another hurricane season is the last thing Galveston wants to think about after last year's devastation from Hurricane Ike.

EDINBURG - Community activists renewed their call Monday for federal officials to close South Texas' immigration checkpoints in the event of a mandatory hurricane evacuation. Checking the legal status of every evacuee would discourage people from leaving in advance of a storm and slow down the overall process for others, the migrant rights advocates said protesting on the first day of the 2009 hurricane season. "We think this could cause a tragedy of enormous proportions," said Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, an attorney with the South Texas Civil Rights Project. "We have been working to get a clear and safe answer to the...

TAMPA - Brenda Derby is a born fighter— 20 years in the army, retired. She remembers when Hurricane Charley hit. Back surgery put her out, unable to prepare, she was alone. Then came Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. She promised herself never again would be she be unprepared. Now hurricane season is here again. "I love, it enjoy it. That pyschs me up," Derby said. "I'm a survivalist. That's my time." {Cut} It's not just food either. Derby keeps a fully stocked first aid kit, dozens of lifejackets, with whistles attached, Maglites for everyone. She's the woman you want to know...

Poll: Most coastal residents unprepared for hurricanesMay 2009 hurricane awareness poll results BY CURTIS MORGAN Hurricanes may flood entire cities, rip off roofs and level trees every year, but when it comes to overcoming public apathy, they're stunningly powerless. Two-thirds of residents in Florida and other coastal states feel no threat from storms. More than half would not evacuate in the face of a major storm unless ordered to do so. Nearly half don't even know whether their homeowner's insurance covers storm damage. Those are some of the key findings from a new poll released Thursday at Florida International University...

...TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS OFF THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST... SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE THAT PASSED TO THE EAST OF CAPE HATTERAS YESTERDAY HAS BECOME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION...THE FIRST OF THE ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON. AT 1100 AM EDT...1500 UTC...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 37.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 71.0 WEST OR ABOUT 310 MILES...500 KM...SOUTH OF PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND AND ABOUT 635 MILES...1020 KM...SOUTHWEST OF HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA. THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST NEAR 17 MPH...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT 24-48 HOURS. THE DEPRESSION IS NOT EXPECTED TO...

A report on the GQ magazine Web site is quoting unnamed former Bush administration official as blaming former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for many failures, including a delay in military assistance in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The report says "in speaking with the former Bush officials, it becomes evident that Rumsfeld impaired administration performance on a host of matters extending well beyond Iraq to impact America's relations with other nations, the safety of our troops, and the response to Hurricane Katrina. The Washington Monthly highlights more of Robert Draper's article in GQ: "[T]hree years later, when I asked a...

The team of Professors Philip Klotzbach and William Gray of the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU) released their first revision to their initial forecast for the 2009 hurricane season. They now see this year as an average season, down from their prior assessment of it being an active season. The new forecast calls for 12 named storms, down from 14 in their December 10, 2008, initial forecast. These storms will produce six hurricanes and two intense ones, each category lower by one. While the number of named storms is above the 50-year average spanning 1950-2000, the...

Ensco International Incorporated has been informed by the U.S. Coast Guard that an oil tanker, the SKS Satilla, apparently struck a submerged object which the U.S. Coast Guard has identified as the sunken hull of the ENSCO 74. The ENSCO 74, a jackup rig, was lost during Hurricane Ike last September. The U.S. Coast Guard has advised Ensco that the oil tanker reportedly suffered damage to its ballast tanks and was listing slightly, but its cargo tanks were not ruptured. ENSCO 74 reportedly is submerged in 115' of water approximately 65 miles south of Galveston. As reported last September, ENSCO...

Evacuations continued Sunday along Australia's Queensland coast as a Category 5 cyclone moved closer to the mainland. Residents were preparing for Cyclone Hamish, possibly the worst storm in almost 30 years, to make landfall Tuesday between Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. Winds of up to 280 km/h were recorded as the cyclone approached islands in north Queensland on Sunday. The town of Airlie Beach, which is the gateway from the mainland to the Whitsundays, was already being pounded by strong winds and heavy rain. Evacuations were reported on several north Queensland islands, including Fraser, Lady Elliot, Heron, South Molle, Long and...

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) temporary housing program for Katrina and Rita individuals and families may, at the request of a state, be extended for an additional 60 days until May 1, 2009. The Katrina/Rita direct housing mission is currently scheduled to end on March 1, 2009. "We understand the importance of helping states smoothly transition families into a better long-term living environment. Given that, I am authorizing states a 60-day extension, where needed, to provide additional time to successfully coordinate and manage this transition," said Secretary Napolitano....

My heart goes out to the people of Kentucky. A week ago, they suffered a massive ice storm, and they are still trying to dig themselves out and rebuild. The problem with ice storms is magnitude. They cover vast areas, and the damage is systemic. They can wreak havoc on electric grids. Utilities can find themselves having to deal with thousands of broken lines and hundreds of broken poles. Fortunately, American utilities have a mutual assistance pact, which results in repair crews from all over the country rushing to afflicted areas as soon as they can safely get to work.

It was the storm of the century - the 20th century.  Before Katrina became shorthand for nature's fury, there was the unnamed hurricane of 1900 that nearly wiped Galveston, Tex., off the map. An estimated 6,000 people were killed when the Category 4 storm packing 135 mph winds made landfall on Sept. 8, 1900, making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.  Now it could get whacked again by Hurricane Ike.LIVE TRACKER: FOLLOW IKE'S PATH In 1900, Galveston, located on a flat island off the Texas coast, was a boom town with 42,000 residents. It was then the biggest...

Kenny Hinzman says he's still disturbed everytime he watches the video of his son being attacked in the Hurricane High school parking lot. Hinzman says just before Christmas break his son was looking at a truck in the school parking lot when another student jumped him and began beating him up. He says the fight was unprovoked. "He had his football buddies out there to help him to video it and put it on YouTube. There was no officer. There were no teachers supervising outside." says Hinzman. Hurricane High School can't comment on exactly what happened that day because of...

Okay, I'll start: 1) Blagojevich walks scott free 2) My salary continues to remain stagnate 3) The bailout results in a massive debt to taxpayers with zero benefit to them 4) Iran aquires nuclear weapons and we (including Bush) failed to do anything about it 5) Jamie Gertz continue's to become even more attractive as she ages

Cape Girardeau County emergency management director Dick Knaup and three volunteers took advantage of Tuesday's good weather... "We took the pieces of the antenna damaged by the storm off the tower and installed one new antenna and one old one," said Phil Nash, who volunteers for emergency management duties ... Amateur radio operators — nicknamed "hams" — are critical members of the communications process during an emergency. They are able to set up and operate off generators when telephones and other devices are not functioning. Knaup said amateur radio operators have a reputation for finding ingenious ways of creating a...

3-year-old girl found walking on Route 34 partially clothed. Hurricane -- In Putnam County, a disturbing case of apparent child neglect has police looking for answers tonight. According to a police report, a 3-year-old girl was found just before 6:00 p.m. last Friday walking on State Route 34 in Hurricane, and investigators say it's not the first time the toddler has been found walking on the busy roadway. The report states the little girl was wearing only a pair of panties. She was very dirty and shivering. Police Chief Mike Mullins says no arrests have been made at this point,...

County residents next week will have a chance to air concerns to state lawmakers and area leaders about Hurricane Ike recovery efforts. The committee on Hurricane Ike will meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 7 at the Galveston Island Convention Center, allowing the public to tell state lawmakers and area leaders what issues and obstacles they face almost four months after the storm struck Southeast Texas on Sept. 13, causing catastrophic flooding from storm surge and displacing thousands of people from their homes. The storm was the third most destructive to ever make landfall in the United States. The committee has...

Two large land tracts that had been eyed as possible locations for temporary mobile home communities for those displaced by Hurricane Ike look to be off the table. County commissioners Wednesday deferred considering a plan for the federal government to conduct a detailed assessment of property in front of the County Criminal Justice Center in Galveston and on Monday, the city of Hitchcock rejected a plan to put a community at Jack Brooks Park. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had eyed those two locations to place mobile homes for 319 of the estimated 1,000 people eligible for temporary housing in...

Kemah Boardwalk partially reopens. The Boardwalk Bullet is up and running! Check it out!One of Kemah's greatest assets is its location on Galveston Bay. The Bay and Kemah waterfront draw visitors to Kemah from throughout the world. Hurricane Ike’s storm surge caused roughly $450 million in damage to Kemah homes, businesses and city infrastructure, this does not include the Kemah Boardwalk or Marina. Many restaurants and business have already re-opened and the Boardwalk is opening a few restaurants at a time should be in full swing well before spring break "Better than ever"!