Posted on 06/08/2005 8:27:58 AM PDT by jsh3180
000 ABNT20 KNHC 081508 TWOAT TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1130 AM EDT WED JUN 8 2005
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATE THAT THE BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN IS GRADUALLY BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED...AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION APPEARS TO BE FORMING BETWEEN HONDURAS AND THE CAYMAN ISLANDS. UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE BECOMING MORE FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT...AND THIS SYSTEM COULD BECOME A TROPICAL STORM DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO AS IT MOVES SLOWLY NORTHWARD. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE THIS SYSTEM LATER TODAY. EVEN IF THE SYSTEM DOES NOT DEVELOP...HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS WILL BE AFFECTING THE CAYMAN ISLANDS...JAMAICA...CUBA...AND THE YUCATAN PENINSULA DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL STORM FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY.
FORECASTER AVILA/KNABB
Don't worry, soon enough NOAA will be prohibited rfom telling you about any tropical depressions that don't have a US projected path, thanks to Santorum. If you don't know, you can't worry about it, right?
I live in florida and i tell you what... I'm expecting a worse year than last.
Yes I know, here's the article from yesterday's Key West Citizen regarding this idiocy.
http://www.keysnews.com/283480349010353.bsp.htm
Federal bill threatens to limit weather information
BY BECKY IANNOTTA
Citizen Staff
KEY WEST — A Pennsylvania senator's effort to preserve almost 400 jobs at commercial weather service companies in his home state has riled some Florida Keys residents who fear National Weather Service information will be blocked from the public.
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said the National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005 is designed to prevent the federal agency from duplicating efforts of commercial weather forecasting companies, like AccuWeather, which is based in Pennsylvania.
"The NWS can best serve the American taxpayers by focusing on its core responsibilities — utilizing its resources to provide the best possible forecasting information — rather than using limited public resources to aggressively compete with existing private sector forecasting services," Santorum wrote in a May 6 column posted on his Web site.
The National Weather Service provides satellite data and weather advisories that many Keys residents use, especially during hurricane season.
Santorum said his legislation would not eliminate public information that was available as of December 2004, like hurricane tracking maps and satellite images. The secretary of commerce, who oversees the National Weather Service, would determine which services would be available to the public in the future, an aide to Santorum said.
Keys residents reacted angrily to the proposed legislation.
"We already pay for this, for [NWS] to gather information and put up satellites," said Bob Smith, a resident of Key West for 15 years. "It looks like we're going to have to pay for it again."
A June 4 New York Times editorial took Santorum to task under the headline "Overcast in Pennsylvania." The editorial said Santorum's bill "basically would require the service to give much of its data only to those private weather forecasting companies. A dozen of those businesses happen to be located ... in Pennsylvania." The editorial went on to say that Santorum accepted $2,000 for his re-election campaign from a weather service company two days before introducing the legislation on April 14.
Santorum sought to deflect criticism of his bill in his May 6 column. His goal is to get the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service to re-enact a policy in place from 1991 through 2004 of not duplicating or competing with commercial services.
"Taxpayers pay for accurate and timely severe weather warnings by NWS. Funding for NWS then should be directed toward that core mission and toward fulfilling its duties to taxpayers," Santorum said. "The cost of receiving weather information will not change, and NWS will not cease dissemination of regular daily forecasts, weather information and climate data."
Santorum's aide could not provide specifics about the type of weather information Santorum considers duplicative of commercial services.
Virginia Altobello, a resident of Old Town Key West, said she sent an e-mail to Santorum's office inviting him and his family to spend August, September and October in Key West without access to weather data from the National Weather Service.
"They still haven't responded," she said.
Santorum cites last year's hurricane season as a reason for his legislation. In his column, Santorum points to "inadequacies" of the National Weather Service during Hurricane Charley in 2004. As the storm approached the west coast of Florida, two P-3 Orions that could have collected the most accurate hurricane data were busy studying monsoon effects in Mexico and air pollution in New Hampshire, he said.
riannotta@keysnews.com
I live on the coast in Mississippi and we are about due for one.
Thursday morning update:
000
WTNT31 KNHC 090838
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE ADVISORY NUMBER 3
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT THU JUN 09 2005
...DEPRESSION SLOWLY BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED AND MOVING A LITTLE
FASTER...
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE PROVINCES OF
PINAR DEL RIO AND THE ISLE OF YOUTH IN WESTERN CUBA. TROPICAL
STORM WATCHES OR WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED FOR OTHER PARTS OF WESTERN
CUBA LATER TODAY.
INTERESTS ELSEWHERE IN THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN AND THE
SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS SYSTEM.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
AT 5 AM EDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 83.9 WEST OR ABOUT
185 MILES... 295 KM...WEST-SOUTHWEST OF GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND.
THIS IS ALSO ABOUT 225 MILES... 360 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF
THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA.
THE DEPRESSION IS NOW MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 8 MPH
...13 KM/HR...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH
AN ADDITIONAL INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH... 55 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS...MAINLY IN RAIN BANDS WELL TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE
CENTER. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24
HOURS...AND THE DEPRESSION COULD BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER
TODAY.
THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RESERVE
HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS 1002 MB...29.59 INCHES.
HEAVY RAINFALL...ACCOMPANIED BY SQUALLS...IS SPREADING ACROSS THE
CAYMAN ISLANDS...AS WELL AS CENTRAL AND WESTERN CUBA. TOTAL
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS IN
ASSOCIATION WITH THE DEPRESSION.
MOISTURE FLOWING FROM THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE DEPRESSION IS PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAINS OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AMERICA...PARTICULARLY
NICARAGUA AND HONDURAS. THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING
FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES.
REPEATING THE 5 AM EDT POSITION...18.6 N... 83.9 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTH NEAR 8 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS... 35 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1002 MB.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 8 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT
COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 11 AM EDT.
FORECASTER BEVEN
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