Remnant Low Sean

There has been a lot of news in the last 10 days, so it's easy to miss any stories about Tropical Storm Sean. About a week ago, the National Hurricane Center announced the formation of Tropical Storm Sean in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic. Over the next few days, Sean alternated between a Tropical Storm and Tropical Depression. It was a confusing time! It's not everyday that there is a storm named after me, so I asked Rico from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, someone who knows significantly more about hurricanes and weather than me, a few questions about Sean.

It's mid-October. Isn’t this late in the year for a named storm?

Rico:  It isn't late.  Hurricane season lasts until Nov 30 but after mid October the frequency of  tropical storms drops off. See https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/#stca

Note there have been storms as late as Late December/early January.  The 2005 hurricane season that had storms in December 2005/January 2006.  The hurricane center started using the Greek alphabet to name storms then.  See https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/

At least as of Thursday, Sean was switching back and forth between a Tropical Storm and a Tropical Depression? What’s the difference and why can’t Sean make up his mind?

Rico: The difference between a tropical storm and a depression is the maximum wind speeds in the storm.  Once the maximum sustained wind speeds are >= 39mph, the depression becomes a tropical storm and it is given a name.

A couple of things are needed to maintain a tropical system.

 1) storms need warm waters (> 80F)

 2) low or no wind shear, wind shear is the change of wind speed and direction with height ( light winds are needed from the surface to high in the atmosphere)

 3) storms need to be surrounded by a moist air environment.

Sean's fickleness (from the limited amount of discussions I read from the hurricane center) was caused by wind shear and dry air intrusion.

What is the current status of Sean and any potential impact on land?

Well as you are probably aware, Sean has dissipated.  So no impacts whatsoever.  Wind shear and dry air were the causes. 

Finally, there was a storm named Sean in 2011. Is that too soon for another Sean?

The hurricane center repeats lists of names every 6 years. So "Sean" was on the list back in 2017 but that year there was no storm named Sean.  The number of storms failed to reach the "S' letter that year.   If the storm was really destructive, the name is removed from being listed again.

FYI,  the hurricane center has a bunch of info at its web site.  Check it out: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

While I like having my name in the news, it's even better that Sean isn't going to cause any damage.

Mad, Mad World

These are depressing times. In the past month, hurricanes Harvey and Irma devastated Texas and Florida respectively. Then, Hurricane Maria absolutely destroyed much of Puerto Rico. I've been unsuccessful in trying to reach a friend who lives in San Juan (since she doesn't have power, she's obviously not checking Facebook), but a mutual friend let me know that she is okay since she evacuated and has access to water. Think about how insane this statement is. There's still little or no electricity and roads are impassable, but she's okay because she has access to water where that is not the standard or a given right now. So much of Caribbean is in ruins, and it's going to take months if not years to recover.

Meanwhile, Sunday featured the worst shooting in American history at a concert in Las Vegas with least 59 people dead and over 500 people injured. What an awful and sad tragedy. Much of the news now seems to be the motives of the shooter and whether or not this was a terrorist act. You know what? I don't care about the motives. I don't want to know anything about he shooter. I don't care about his background, and I certainly don't want to see profiles about him. He's a monster that took and impacted hundreds of lives. Don't give him publicity, news organizations. Talk about the victims and the good that they did.

I'm trying not to get too political in this post, but it is inevitable. I wrote about how the NRA can be a force for good several years ago, and I hope that it could, even though it seems unlikely. Any type of change to gun culture and guns in this country must happen within the organization. Outside pressure, even from Congress, won't have an impact since the NRA has so many allies in Congress and the White House. They aren't going to change unless they change themselves.

Back to Congress and our current political state. This is another tragic shooting and nothing is going to change. You can blame the NRA, but the political leaders only seem interested in staying in power. There is no bipartisanship and no desire to work together to get things done. Only victory seems to matter. It's my way or I'm taking the football and going home. Healthcare (Obamacare) is the perfect example. Both sides agree that it can be better, but no one is interested in actually sitting down and crafting legislation to do so. Working with the other side will get you kicked out of office by those more left or more right.

This is a depressing post during a depressing time, so I'll try to end on a positive. Even if we can't change things politically, we can still do things for good. Donate blood. Find organizations that are helping the hurricane victims and see what they need whether it is money, clothing, etc. Hug your family members. Say hi to your neighbors. Volunteer. Do what you can to help what's around you.

Fall For Fairfax KidsFest 2015

One of my favorite events of the year, the Fall for Fairfax KidsFest, takes place this weekend (Saturday, 10/3 & Sunday, 10/4) at the Fairfax County Government Center. This free event is a huge hit for my kids. Well, one kid. My younger son (Pedro Tulo) was only six months old last year, so I'm not sure of his opinion of this festival. Anyway, this truly is the perfect event for elementary and pre-K kids. You can read much more about Fall for Fairfax on its website.



Of course, the giant elephant in the room on the internet is the heavy rain expected on Friday and Hurricane Joaquin (Phoenix) which could cause major problems in the DC area (and beyond) this weekend. I know how hard the staff and volunteers of Fall for Fairfax work, so for the event to get impacted by weather would truly be a shame. With that written, wear some clothes and shoes that you don't mind getting wet and dirty and take advantage of possible shorter lines and smaller crowds because of people who may be scared of the rain. I mean, it's not like it never rains in Northern Virginia!

Here are the basic details about the festival:

WHERE - On the grounds of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035. Plenty of FREE parking is available. Follow signs to visitor parking upon arrival.

WHEN - Saturday, October 3rd from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. & Sunday, October 4th from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

WHAT - 2 stages of FREE entertainment including the Innovation Health Kids Stage, and the Cox Community Stage. FREE to attend! Discount ride tickets for the KidWay MidWay are available by clicking here. Activities include scarecrow making*, pumpkin painting*, public safety and recycling-themed exhibits, pony rides*, petting zoo, model trains, instrument petting zoo, and the KidWay MidWay* (with more than a dozen rides and attractions). Plus more than 75 exhibits, activities and great festival food!

*Indicates program fee applies

Hurricane Sandy Mix

The Federal Government is closed as is nearly every school in the Washington DC area. While we still have power (the one positive aspect of losing power is that you can't see or hear political commercials!), here are some songs that are appropriate for Hurricane Sandy.

Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane



Snap - The Power (If we lose power, apparently Snap has it.)



Garbage - I'm Only Happy When It Rains



Bob Seger - Against The Wind (Other options: Kansas - Dust In The Wind; Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings; Bob Dylan - Blowin' In The Wind; Vanessa Williams - Colors of the Wind)



Sandy from Grease



I'm sure that Captain Easychord can provide some additional songs for this Hurricane Sandy Mix.

Stay safe, everyone.

How I Escaped Tropical Storm Isaac

Did you know that I travelled to Florida this past weekend? Probably not since I posted nothing about this here, on Twitter or on Facebook. I arrived in West Palm Beach on Friday afternoon just in time to see only the third film I’ve watched in the theater this year, The Expendables 2. I didn’t see the first film, so I worried that I wouldn’t be able to follow along. It turns out that there wasn’t much plot to follow other than lots of shooting with people and things getting blown up. (Should that have been a spoiler alert?)

Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, it appeared that Tropical Storm Isaac would cause havoc on South Florida meaning possible flight cancellations. US Airways posted a travel advisory that you could change your flight without a change fee, but that only applied to flights departing on Monday or Tuesday. My 1:30 Sunday afternoon flight was still on time, but I had some doubts. Finally, around 8:15 on Sunday morning, I received an automated call from US Air notifying me about my flight cancellation, wishing me good luck in getting out of South Florida and expressing disbelief that I spent $64 between quarterbacks Cam Newton and Matthew Stafford as part of an auction draft in a one QB fantasy football league. The recording didn’t actually state the last two sentences, but I know the voice was thinking this.

Time to evaluate options. I needed to get back Sunday night to see my family and to get to work on time Monday morning. Every flight out of Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale to Washington, either Dulles or National, was booked. US Air could get me on Monday morning flight, but there was no guarantee I would get out particularly since the worst weather was expected for Sunday afternoon/evening and most school districts already cancelled school for Monday.

My solution: rent a car and drive north. The US Air agent admired my resourcefulness (though she didn’t comment on my fantasy football drafting results) and even though everything was booked from Orlando, there were seats for me on a flight from Jacksonville to Charlotte and Charlotte to Dulles. Daytona Beach is actually closer than Jacksonville, but who knew that they had an airport? (Apparently, not me. I ended up calling US Air on the road and learned that a flight out of Daytona Beach would get to Charlotte earlier, but I would still be on the same Charlotte to Dulles flight.)

So I had a relatively uneventful 275-mile drive to Jacksonville Airport. I arrived at the US Air ticket counter around 2:05 with plenty of time for my 3:30 flight. However, I decided to ask if there were any possibilities to get into DC earlier. The agent stated that there was a 2:30 flight going directly to National (I’ve been on this flight several times), but that since it was after 2:00, boarding already started, and it was too late to get on the plane. Jacksonville isn’t that big of an airport, so I figured that I had a chance to arrive at the gate before the plane doors closed. I walked briskly to security and amazingly made it through security in record time. It was at this point that I realized that I had a legitimate chance to make the flight. Therefore, I channeled my inner OJ (minus the “alleged” murders).



I made it to the gate as the last group got called and approached the gate agent…who informed me that the flight was full. Oh well. I ended up flying into Dulles through Charlotte and was able to see my family before bedtime. Then, I picked up my car from National Airport on Monday morning before work.

I should have an exciting conclusion or morale of the story, but unfortunately, I have neither. I guess I can share that US Air's customer service folks and gate agents were extremely nice and quite helpful. Actually, I do have a unique experience that occurred on my trip down to Florida, but I’ll save that for tomorrow.

Tropical Storm Sean

Look out Bermuda. Here comes Sean! Until this morning, I had no idea that there was a tropical storm named after me. While tropical storms and hurricanes are obviously scary and can result in loss of life and extensive damage, it is pretty cool that there is a Tropical Storm Sean.



In reading more information about the storm in The Washington Post and NoLa.com, I just can’t take this storm seriously based on these lines.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Thursday that Sean’s maximum sustained winds are 65 mph (100 kph).

It must have been something I ate.

Forecasters say Sean could become a hurricane later Thursday before weakening on Friday.

As Scorpions once said, "Here I am; Rock you like a hurricane."

Sean is moving toward the north-northeast near 8 mph, 13 km/h.

This is totally false. I may have moved that way earlier today, but I'm currently sitting in front of a computer.

Sean is expected to produce 1 to 3 inches of rain on Bermuda.

I'm going to make it rain!

Swells generated by Sean are affecting portions of the southeastern coast of the United States and Bermuda, causing life-threatening surf and rip currents.

Who knew my cannonball could cause such an impact?

Hopefully, Sean misses Bermuda and doesn't cause any damage. You can follow Sean via the National Hurricane Center's website.