Thursday, September 20, 2007
News Team Assemble!
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Ride Of Your Life
This is video from the USAF Reserve Hurricane Hunters flying into the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Felix a few weeks ago. While the "eye" of a hurricane is calm, the outer "eye wall" is made up of very strong thunderstorms. The ride gets more bumpy as the journey continues. The video starts about 20 miles outside of the eye. There are pictures from within the eye following the video. You can see the moon from the cockpit of the aircraft - it's that clear (and calm) in that part of the storm!
The typical "eye" of a hurricane is about 5-15 miles wide; surrounded by towering cumulonimbus clouds up to 10 miles high! Felix, a strong CAT 5 hurricane, had a tightly wrapped eye, as is usually the case in intense hurricanes.
Enjoy the ride, with a little help from "The Doors"! --Jay
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Eye On The Tropics
We're just past what is considered the "peak" of hurricane season. Below is a quote they use in the Caribbean regarding hurricane season. I've found this saying to generally be true in the past. If nothing else, it's fun to say!
June - too soon!
July - stand by!
August - look out you must!
September - remember!
October - all over!
The 2007 Atlantic Season officially ends November 30. I've put a "countdown" clock on my blog so you can check off the days with us in the SkyTracker7 Forecast Center.
Hope your week is going well! --Jay
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Geography (such as)
As local students return to class, the SkyTracker7 meteorologists will soon be asked to visit classrooms and talk about weather and our jobs. The question often comes up, "How do you become a meteorologist?" To answer this, we usually tell the students to learn about math and science. I also add that geography is very important.
Recently, Miss Teen USA/South Carolina was asked why 1/5 of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. As she points out - most Americans don't have maps, which leads to the problem... such as. The YouTube video above is your geography lesson of the day.