Thanks for stopping by my Weather Blog and checking things out. I have decided to start this back up again and get the conversation started about weather topics. This is a way for me to write about weather and get you the audience informed and involved. If you have any weather questions or comments, you are very welcome to leave them on here. I always try to get back to everyone that has questions and comments. If there is something you always wondered about our weather locally or anywhere else, I am happy to talk about it. I also like to feature local weather pictures and photos on here as well during weather situations. So sit back, relax, and lets getting this started...
If you were watching my weathercast Saturday evening on NBC 6, I was telling you about the upcoming Hurricane Season which starts tomorrow (Sunday June 1st through November 30th) and its going to be a busy one from the NOAA forecast. I have some experience in tropical weather and forecasting, Before I moved back to Texas back in Fall of 2006, I was working down in Lake Charles, Louisiana at a station right there along the coast of Louisiana. I was there for a few years and yes, I had to deal with Hurricane Katrina and Rita back in 2005. You talk about scary! That was a big mess and to live and deal through it was r
ough. The official forecast for the 2008 Hurricane season is calling for 12 to 16 named Tropical storms. Six to nine hurricanes forecasted which means storms with winds above 74 mph. Two to Five major or intense hurricanes forecasted which means storms with winds over 115 mph. The waters are warming up down there in the Gulf and Caribbean and the peak of the hurricane season is usually around the middle of September. As of Saturday evening, we have our first Tropical Storm of the season located near Belize down on the Yucatan. This storm will weaking over land but reemerge over the Bay of Campeche by late Sunday. It will have a chance to regain its tropical storm status before moving back over Mexico near Veracruz staying far south of Texas. Our ridge of High pressure inplace will keep this storm on a westward track and not allow it to come further North into the Gulf of Mexico.
Back closer to home, thank goodness we had some decent rain a few weeks ago and our rainfall as of right now is actually still in the surplus for the year because we are heading into a hot and dry period around Central Texas. This is a look at the weather pattern and basically its quiet for us. We have a big ridge of high pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere keeping us toasty and hardly a cloud in sight. The main storm track or what we call the "jet steam" is further north across the Rocky Mountains and back towards the Midwest. This is where all the active weather is and will continue for quite some time. I don't see any change in this weather pattern for the next 7 to 10 days. Also with this ridge of high pressure over the state of Texas, it will keep any tropical systems away from Texas and brush them off towards the South or East. Hence, we are expecting Tropical Storm Arthur to go down into Mexico and we should have no effects from it.
Here is a quick reminder that Rain or Shine, you can always get your accurate NBC 6 WeatherPlus forecast anytime you are away from your TV by listening to your favorite Clear Channel Radio stations here across Central Texas. Whenever we have bad weather, we also break in on live programming on NBC 6 and our Clear Channel Radio stations for a live and the up most latest important weather information for you and to keep you ahead of the storms. You can also track the storms at home by clicking on the NBC 6 Live Dopplernet, just look for the picture on the side of this 
web page along with your current 7 day forecast. We always love hearing from you our audience anytime and you may email us at weather@kcentv.com. I always like to hear from you personally and you can email me at mgriffin@kcentv.com and tell me what you think about this new blogging idea. I am going to try to update this blog every couple of days if not more often than that. I look forward to hearing from you on here...Have a wonderful Weekend and stay cool!
Mike Griffin
Click Here to view Central Texas Live Doppler Net
3 comments:
Keep up the good work Mike!
Mike, are the Gulf water temperatures about normal or are they warmer than normal down there? Is that why we can expect a bad summer of Hurricanes down there?
Thank you for your comments and questions...
Tammy, the Gulf is already plenty warm for tropical weather down there. Infact, as of June 9 looking at the bouys down there, the water temperatures in the Gulf is averaging about 83F. Which is about 1 to 2 degrees above normal for this time of year. The magic number I look for water temperature to be at for tropical development is 80F. So the water temp is above that now and when we get into 85 to 88 terrority, that is very explosive for tropical systems to really gain strength. If you remember Hurricane Katrina and Rita back in 2005, they went over an area in the Gulf where water temps were in the upper 80s and thats when they quickly spun up to Cat 5 monsters. The warmer the water, the more fuel they have to grow and be big.
Mike Griffin
NBC 6 WeatherPlus Meteorologist
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