Updated: Hurricane Dolly, July 22/08, 5:00 pm EDT
One of the quirks I have is a fascination with Tropical Storms and Hurricanes. Don’t ask me how that got started, but I’m in awe of the pure power these things possess, and also how beautiful they can look on radar and satellite. I of course do not wish for destruction or loss of life, just as a stormchaser doesn’t wish a tornado to hit a town head-on. It’s just an appreciation for this phenomenon that I have.
Anyhow, it appears from the 11 am National Hurricane Centre update that Dolly is about to gain Hurricane status, and could be making a landfall on the US/Mexico border at the extreme southern part of Texas, near the community of Brownsville, sometime tomorrow.
It appears its going to be another busy season in the Tropics, when we’re already up to the letter “D” for named storms in July, and the busy part of the Hurricane season hasn’t even got here yet. I don’t think anyone is predicting this early in the hurricane season that the NHC will run out of letters and have to go to the Greek Alphabet like they did in 2005, but they’re on the 2005 pace so far. I of course will not attempt to make a link to this and climate change, as it’s not enough evidence to on an active hurricane season to do that, but the increased activity and ferocity of these storms makes you go hmm, or it should.
A real good place to follow hurricanes and tropical systems and get some good analysis is at the Weather Underground, and to follow the blog of Dr. Jeff Masters.
UPDATE@5pm: We have Hurricane Dolly, the 2nd of the season.
I hereby resolve you of any lingering guilt about your fascination with hurricanes.
I spent many years as a young boy in Florida. And even living there, of all places, I was so fascinated with hurricanes and obsessed with tracking them when one would ever get anywhere near. I’m sure my math and geography skills were more rapidly developed as a result of my devotion to the tracking charts dutifully printed on the back of all the dirty brown grocery bags during “the season” (yes, this was before the internet and 24 hour weather reporting). I also gained a healthy respect for the power of nature, which fascinates me today in many ways, not just powerful destructive energies but delicate and intricate energies that sustain and add complexity to our planet in so many fascinating ways.
But growing up, I had to admit to myself even then that on some level I was disappointed if it became apparent some massive storm would miss our neck of the woods.
It took me years to realize it was just childhood excitement. They were just so powerful, it was an amazing earth phenomenon, and it was the one time I saw adults really opening up - talking to each other on the streets, calling friends to make sure they were ok, discussing plans should the news turn bad, and a real sense of community you didn’t normally detect as a little kid.
The intensity of my feelings have changed, and when I moved north big snowstorms began to garner attention over hurricanes. But I still pay attention to hurricane reports, even today, particularly if they approach the coast of Florida where I lived for several years.
It’s just natural . . . it doesn’t mean you want anything bad to happen to anyone.
So I hereby give you free reign to indulge in your fascination . . . it doesn’t mean your a bad person ; ).