Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Watching the development of a hurricane

Photo credit: NOAA - water vapor satellite shot of eastern pacific taken today - 9-30-09.


The rain that arrived today caused me to look at the sky more closely and then go to NOAA's weather site. Guess what? We have been watching the development of a hurricane all day! I've included the water vapor satellite picture and the discussion by NOAA indicates there is at least a 50% chance this will progress to a hurricane in the next 48 hours.


The red line outlines the land mass of the Baja peninsula and Mexico to the east. We are sitting almost at the tip of the peninsula watching these huge waves roll in from the west. I think they will be even bigger tomorrow.


After living in Florida and the Carolinas for the past two decades, I have a pretty good idea when I see the clouds moving forward, but with a curve to them, that something is brewing. It's no different here in the eastern Pacific area, except the general trend is for the storms to move to the west, away from land here and toward the islands and continents to the west. I hope this one won't cause anyone any harm, but as we listen to the winds howl through this resort building, I am not confident it won't grow into something impressive.


Don't be deceived into thinking the waves shown here are small... Just beyond the palms there is a fellow standing guard over the sea turtle nests and he is about 5'6", standing on the beach which seldom gets wave action but below him, where the waves are actually breaking, is about six feet lower. The sound of their crashing onshore is so loud that when walking on the beach, you cannot be heard without shouting. Impressivo, no?

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