Aletta's formation in Eastern Pacific ends Earth's 41-day tropical cyclone drought
The first Eastern Pacific tropical storm of the 2012 hurricane season is Tropical Storm Aletta, located about 650 mi south-southwest of Manzanillo Mexico. Aletta was named at 03 UTC May 15, right at the official May 15 beginning of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season. The storm is headed west-northwest away from Mexico, and will not trouble any land areas. It is unusual to get a tropical storm forming this early in the year in the Eastern Pacific; since record keeping began in 1949, there have only been two that have formed by May 15--Hurricane Alma of 1990, and an unnamed 1996 storm. Aletta will not live for long--the storm is headed towards a region with high wind shear and cooler waters that should be able to destroy it late this week.
Figure 1. Morning satellite photo of Tropical Storm Aletta.
Earth's longest tropical storm-free period in at least 70 years
The formation of Aletta ends a 41-day streak without a tropical storm anywhere in the world. According to the UK Met Office, the 41-day period storm-less period is the longest span Earth has gone without a tropical storm in at least 70 years. The last time there were as many as 38 consecutive storm-less days was in 1944. Prior to Aletta, the last tropical storm on the planet was Tropical Storm Daphne in the South Pacific, which dissipated 06 UTC April 3, 2012. April is usually is the quietest month globally for tropical cyclones. The long storm-less period comes in the midst of a very quiet two-year period of global tropical cyclone activity. According to Dr. Ryan Maue, who specializes in tracking global tropical cyclone activity, 2010 and 2011 saw a total of 146 global tropical cyclones--the lowest two-year total since satellite observations began in 1970. The 24-month period April 2010 - March 2012 had 141 global tropical storms, which is also a record low. That's quite a turnaround from 2004 - 2005, which saw near-record high levels of global tropical cyclone activity.
The Atlantic is quiet
The disturbance near the Azores that developed on Saturday, Invest 92L, has weakened and is no longer being tracked by NHC. The models have backed off on their predictions of a potential subtropical storm developing over the Western Caribbean or waters near Florida this weekend, and none of the computer models is predicting tropical cyclone development in the Atlantic over the next seven days. If something did develop, the most likely location would be along an old frontal boundary between the Bahamas and Bermuda, early next week.
Jeff Masters
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That is totally amazing that only that much surface area covered with solar panels would power the world. Thanks for sharing...
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Once more, no one has any intention of 100% offshore wind for our electricity.
Take a look at the three illustrations I've posted - thermal solar, PV solar and offshore wind. Take a bit here, a bit there, add in hydro, geothermal, tidal, biomass, biogas, and wave. We can spread our generation out, keep it reasonably close to where it will get used, and use what is most available in each region.
We can power ourselves with systems which use no fuel, with energy sources which will not run out for hundreds of millions/billions of years.
When will see Alberto?
A. May
B. June
C. July
D. After
Bud?
A. This week
B. Next week
C. First half of June
D. Second half of June
Part 1: A
Part 2: B
I'm going to be a little bullish with the first question even though I just stated that the disturbance had a low chance, and will go with...
1.) A
2.) A
B
A
A
A
B
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
605 PM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012
FLC099-160000-
/O.NEW.KMFL.FA.Y.0019.120515T2205Z-120516T0000Z/
/00000.N.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000 Z.OO/
605 PM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED AN
* URBAN FLOOD ADVISORY FOR...
EAST CENTRAL PALM BEACH COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...ABERDEEN...FLORIDA GARDENS...
LAKE WORTH...AND BOYNTON BEACH...
* UNTIL 800 PM EDT
* AT 602 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
TORRENTIAL RAINS OCCURRING FROM ABERDEEN TO FLORIDA GARDENS AND
MOVING INTO THE BOYNTON BEACH AND LAKE WORTH AREAS. DOPPLER RADAR
HAS ESTIMATED THAT ALREADY UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN
ALONG STATE ROAD 441 NEAR ABERDEEN. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OF 2 TO 3 INCHES WILL LIKELY RESULT IN STREET FLOODING AND FLOODING
OF POORLY DRAINED AREAS.
MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY
DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS MAKE THE
SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.
LAT...LON 2655 8004 2649 8005 2642 8028 2664 8031
2665 8005 2660 8003 2660 8004 2660 8003
2658 8003 2655 8003
$$
GREGORIA
B,A
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
624 PM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MELBOURNE HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTHEASTERN VOLUSIA COUNTY IN FLORIDA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...OAK HILL...MAYTOWN...
* UNTIL 700 PM EDT.
* AT 623 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES
NORTHWEST OF MAYTOWN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
FARMTON AND LAKE HARNEY.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A STRONG BUILDING ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR...IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A BATHROOM OR CLOSET.
KEEP AWAY FROM WINDOWS. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF
STURDY FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.
EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.
&&
LAT...LON 2906 8098 2881 8080 2879 8085 2879 8097
2874 8096 2871 8101 2876 8106 2879 8106
2881 8107 2883 8111 2882 8113 2889 8121
TIME...MOT...LOC 2224Z 335DEG 15KT 2891 8103
$$
WEITLICH
And, of course, high and dry in Pinellas and Hillsborough....
I've almost typed Alberto a hundred times today when I typed Aletta.
Ive got 2 Square yards,(18 Sq Ft,)on my workshop roof and that powers the place, including a cement mixer and hand electric tools. I installed it 5 years ago at a cost of about $600 including 2 second hand, large car batteries.
On very rare occasions I have resorted to a petrol generator for back up but petrol consumption has been less than 2 gallons over the 5 years.
My average home use of mains/grid electricity is 2 kilowatts a day this gives a bill of about $10 a month.
Even with such a low cost in electric power, it is still costing me about $120 dollars a year plus of course standing conection charges. Taking all into account my electric bills are about 50 cent US a day and I am working on reducing this.
The above figures are for a 3 bedroom town house 36 degrees north of the equator.
Reprocess them since they are still contain a good chunk of their fuel. Seriously, without reprocessing you end up greatly increasing your wastes while simultaneously throwing out a huge amount of power you could be generating. This is why France can be over 70% nuclear while having a much much smaller waste problem. They reprocess spent fuel rods multiple times to extract as much power as they can, and in the end have a much smaller amount of waste to handle.
Better yet, if we could start implementing some more modern and/or thorium based designs we'd eliminate melt-down risks entirely as well as have a more efficient fuels cycle (plus there is enough thorium to last thousands of years).
But that won't happen in this country.
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From Iceland comes geothermal and hydro. Denmark and the British Isles have great wind potential. Sweden has lots of hydro. North Africa, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Middle East have abundant solar. The British Isles and Ireland have tidal. Etc.
The system is already underway. High voltage DC lines move power between Spain and North Africa, between the British Isles. Plans are underway for the connecting cables between Iceland and England. Germany is already selling solar to France. New solar plants are being built in North Africa and the Middle East is planning immense solar systems.
Similar systems have been designed for other parts of the world. We should be working toward a similar system for North America. From the immense tidal resources of the Bay of Fundy to the sunny deserts of Mexico.
Do so and we minimize the amount of storage and backup generation we need. We can share those resources between regions.
Chernobyl had little to do with Glasnost. By the time Chernobyl happened the Soviet Union was already crumbling under the immense strain of trying to keep up with the US militarily. The writing was already on the wall at that point. The overall cost of Chernobyl was barely a drop in the bucket when compared against their military spending.
The front is setting up just north... that's a good sign!!
Thats why you get a mix in there... between hydro, solar, wind, and now fusion power being given to the highest bidder in europe. I say we are off oil except for cars in 40-50 years.
But France has no long term solution for the waste that is left.
Right now they are encasing it in glass and "storing it in the basement".
We just don't need nuclear. There's no reason to make the problems we have any larger. Time to cut our losses and move on to clean, safe, affordable energy.
Just east of Deltona...
Greetings Sir or Madam,
I am a student attending Woodward Academy. I am sending this letter to commend you for your service overseas. I imagine it must be hard not being home over the holidays and everything, but I, and many other people, appreciate the generous sacrifices you make in the course of your duty. I fear for the safety of our troops and the future of our country; my school and others are sending these letters to honor you.
I hope you don’t mind, but I have some questions for you: What sort of music do you like? Where are you stationed at? What is your day like? Have you ever seen combat? Are there any fun things to do over there? What were you doing before the war? Are you ever scared? What is the first thing you will do when you come back? Once again I’d like to express to you how much we value your service. You have all of our respect and support.
Best Regards,
Charlie Wammock
Very well written. 10+
Heck, the area that I live at has only seen a trace of rain for over a month now. Looks like tonight is going to be the same. Hear lots of thunder, but no rain...
Hurricane Bud in EPAC.Nada in Caribbean.
If it was myself writing the letter I would combine the first two sentences, but that's just me.
Well then. Bud looks angry.
Cat 5 with a pinhole eye.... gone annular.
LOL
Seriously though whats the pressure in the center of it? I can'tsee it good on my monitor..
We could be close to 100% oil-free for personal transportation in 20 years.
Right now almost all of us could do quite well with either a 100 mile range EV or a plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt. We'd cut our oil usage to less than 20% of what it now is.
The remaining needs for oil are mainly air and ocean going ships.
We can fly planes on biofuels, we already are. It's not clear that we can afford to use a lot of food-producing land for biofuels, so the rest of that solution is to build high speed rail for moderate length travel. We could move a lot of our present air travel to electrified rail.
(I just came back from France. I'll take HSR for moderate length trips over air any day. No checking in two hours early, much more comfortable, something to see out the window other than sky, ....)
We can move a lot of our freight to electrified rail.
Perishable goods can travel on HSR systems late at night when there is little passenger travel.
We can get ourselves largely free of oil. And rapidly, if we decide to do so.
Oh, and if you want it to sound more professional, I would consider removing the "and everything". Again, that's just me.
It says 995 millibars, but with a representation on the model like that, the pressure is probably a great deal lower.
Yea that's a strong looking storm.
good ev'nin'....
Yes, why can't we put our fingers in the cookie jar too?? They have so many excellent resources that they never share....And I wish they would give us access to it all.
Go to photo galleries, go to lower right-hand side, click "edit photo profile" and it will help u from there.
Click on your current photo, and click on the Upload Photos button on the page that you are taken to. After that, upload it and in the right column, it will ask if you want to save as your main portrait or not.
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