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.

Interview with Sean Leahy

Over 10 years ago, I wrote a post highlighting other blogs with "Sean" in the title. I'm sure that you're shocked that many are no longer in existence. With that written, I thought it would be fun to come back to this topic and turn Sean's Ramblings into Seans' Ramblings. How cool would it be to hear from other people named Sean like Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sean Connery, former Pittsburgh Pirate Sean Rodriguez, and others?

First up: Sean Leahy, NHL writer for NBC Sports. I've been a big fan of Sean's work from his time writing the Going Five Hole blog and then when he jumped to Yahoo's Puck Daddy. Here we go:

I guess my first question is how did you become a hockey writer? Did it start with Going Five Hole (one of my favorite hockey blogs and how I first saw your writing)? What is your background? Were you a hockey fan growing up? (Yes, I realize that this is more than one question.)

I originally had started a blog with a few friends with the idea we'd cover sports, pop culture, technology, and wrestling. Quickly my buddy and I realized our other friends who were going to take care of the non-sports stuff weren't going to contribute as much as they originally promised, so PopJocks became a sports blog. Eventually, my partner was going through grad school and preparing for his wedding, so his time was limited to work on the blog. More and more I started writing strictly hockey and then decided to create my own hockey-only blog, and that's how Going Five Hole was born in the fall of 2007.

I was always a hockey fan. With two older brothers, we played a lot of street hockey growing up on Long Island. I've always wanted to work in sports, but just didn't know what specific job I wanted to do. When I was getting Going Five Hole going, I was working a full-time job with a USL soccer team. Within a year, I was laid off from the soccer team and started writing more and more with Puck Daddy, which I started contributing to in its second day of existence in April 2008.

In my opinion, Yahoo’s Puck Daddy with Greg Wyshynski, you, and others was the preeminent place for hockey over a several year period. Can you share your experience at Yahoo?

Writing for Puck Daddy was such a fun time. Our editors let us do our thing and be creative and have fun while also covering the sport from all angles. It was cool to watch the site's popularity grow over the years and then explode really after Twitter became a huge part of our daily lives. The interaction with readers and doors being opened for us (ex: getting press credentials) really helped us make the site grow.

What happened to cause Puck Daddy to no longer exist? As I mentioned before, I thought it was one of the best places for hockey coverage anywhere.

Verizon purchased Yahoo in 2017 and they basically laid off thousands of people, including me and two others on the Puck Daddy staff after the 2016-17 NHL season. Wysh was only there another few months before leaving for ESPN. Puck Daddy wasn't going to be the same and he didn't have the desire to try and recreate it.

You’re now at NBC. What has been your role there?

I've been with NBC since October 2018 and I oversee four writers -- Joey Alfieri, Scott Billeck, Adam Gretz, and James O'Brien. I also do a lot of the behind the scenes stuff in regards to planning and scheduling and being a liaison to NBC HQ. I still write often each week, trying to find unique angles to stories like I did at Yahoo.

Since you’re with NBC, do you get to watch the filming of "The Good Place" or hang out with Hoda and Kathie Lee?

My requests to appear on "Men in Blazers" and "Law & Order SVU" have not been approved yet, but my fingers are still crossed.

What is the coolest thing you’ve been able to do or experience through your work as a hockey writer?

I've been able to play NHL2K11 against Ryan Kesler, hang out with Jim Craig and his "Miracle" gold medal, spend an hour chatting with Willie O'Ree, and drink water out of a giant Stanley Cup fountain in Times Square. There's been so many cool things I've been fortunate enough to experience over the last decade. I definitely feel lucky.

When not writing and covering hockey, what does Sean Leahy do for fun?

I love watching other sports like football, soccer and baseball. They're a good outlet for me to get away from the game for a bit. I also spend a lot of my summer reading books, catching up on plenty of non-fiction and biographies. Fishing is also a nice thing to do to get away. Grab a 12-pack and hope the fish are biting that day.

Finally, who do you think will win the Cup this year? Actually, a better question may be: Tampa or the field?

I had Tampa vs. Nashville before the season and I'm sticking to that. And even though picking the field might be the smarter bet, it's so hard to think of anyone beating the Lightning four times in seven games. They've only lost back-to-back games twice this season. They've come up short three times in the last four years. I think they finally get it done this June.

Thanks to Sean for taking the time to answer my questions. Please follow Sean on Twitter and read his work on NBC Sports.


Tampa Bay Lightning photo by Chris O'Meara of AP. Picture of Sean from his Twitter page.

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.

Sean Blogs

Between watching the Washington Redskins-Detroit Lions game and monitoring my fantasy football teams, I decided to create a comprehensive list of blogs with Sean in the title. This is what happens when the soccer games I am supposed to referee get cancelled because of muddy fields. Anyway, check out the Sean Blogs!

One of the best hockey blogs out there is Sean Leahy’s Going Five Hole. The blog is so good, that I already linked to it.

Sean in Saskatchewan is Sean Shaw, who is a Professional Research Associate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan and the Vice-chair of the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee. This is the place to go for Saskatchewan politics. (I have no idea if this is true, but this is the only place I have gone for Saskatchewan politics!)

Sean the Baptist has been appointed as the Professor of New Testament Studies for the Uniting Church in Australia in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, and within the Uniting Church's Theological College in Melbourne. Although the appointment doesn’t begin until January 1, 2009, Sean hasn’t updated the blog since October 10.

Although he is the manager/webmaster of AnimeUSA, this is Sean P. Aune’s personal website where he writes about who is the best James Bond, his hatred of Dirty Dancing and the PG Porn series. Of all of Sean blogs listed here, this is the one I will probably visit more than any other.

Sean Tiner works in advertising in Laguna Beach, California. He posts his own art on the website and recently wrote about the users of social media.

Sean and Heather, a married couple in Texas, are starting the adoption process. They invite you to join them on this journey. There is a big twist on the blog as Heather is pregnant. Well, that goes against the blog’s theme, doesn’t it? Congrats and good luck to both of them!

Sean O’Keefe’s Personal Blog written by a teacher assistant in Raleigh, North Carolina is relatively new to the blog world. He tells everyone to vote and has this quote from last month’s Vice Presidential debate:
"Also why is Sarah Palin incapable of responding to the debate where Biden is? Is she really that naieve, dumb, prone to shoot the interviewer like he/she was a moose????" Um, OK.

The Life of Sean and Emma - They are twins who just turned two years old. Awwwwww.

You may be an excellent illustrator, Mr. O’Connor, but seanoconnor.info is a lazy name for a blog.

Apparently, there is more than one person named Sean out there who is an illustrator. What are the odds? News from Sean Qualls shows some of his work including the children’s book Before John Was a Jazz Giant.

Sean’s Soapbox – Knitting, Spinning, Fiber, Politics: It’s All a Tangled Web. Now that’s a tagline! Plus, you can hear all about Rhinebeck. I don’t know what Rhinebeck is, but "the fiber and yarns are amazing."

Sean Percival’s Blog – Sean is a web developer and author with many years experience of messing around on the Internet for fun and profit. He also proposed at the top of the Empire State Building.

The winner of most successful person Sean in the blog title goes to Cardinal Seán, the Archbishop of Boston, for Cardinal Seán’s blog. Lots of pictures.

There are other Sean blogs I found out there, but they have not been updated in months or years. If you know of other Sean blogs, feel free to include them in the comments below. Please note that I am not including blogs with Shawn, Shawon, Shonn, or Chone in this list.