Weather no threat to Cabo

Photo Credit to NOAA.
Just a brief update on the progression of the tropical depression to the west of Cabo San Lucas... it is heading W-NW at about 10 m.p.h. and will likely enter colder water tomorrow which is likely to affect further development, but NOAA forecasters say there is a 30-50% chance it will become a typhoon (hurricane in the Atlantic, typhoon in the Pacific) within those next 24 hours.

Locally we are getting mostly brilliant sunshine, with high clouds occasionally diffusing it.

The winds from yesterday have subsided significantly and the waves are coming from a more westerly direction than from the SW with much cleaner rolls and breaks, but they are still large. We have plans to take a short boat ride this afternoon, gather up some Mexican treats for friends and family back home and prepare to leave this glorious place this weekend.

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?