Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Cool But Not Cold...

Today’s front swept away all the muggies from the last several days and, once the sun came through, it was a really pleasant afternoon with highs topping 70.  You could feel the difference of the higher sun angle moderating the air mass, but that is not happening farther north.  From Kansas City to St. Louis to Cincinnati to D.C , Philly, NYC to Boston it still feels likes winter requiring sweaters & heavy coats.  More snow is coming for places that have seen plenty since March 1st.  For us,  I see at least 3-4 more fronts coming during the next 2-3 weeks here so while the folks up north shiver, we will enjoy some great feeling weather between fronts.  The real challenge will come later this month as we have The French Quarter Festival next weekend followed by The Zurich Classic Golf Tourney & 2 weekends of Jazz Fest where dry weather will be needed.   Getting 3 weekends without rain probably won’t happen, but the party will go on whatever the weather.  

 

Yesterday I was talking about the Xenia tornado during the Super Tornado outbreak of 1974.  It reminded me about the research of the late Dr. Ted Fijita.  Studying the black & white video  of that tornado ( and many others),  He described what he called “suction vortices” rotating within the main funnel that caused the greatest damage in a tornado.  With much better video technology now, we have many examples of these vortices that you can find by doing a Google search.   I marvel how the early scientists were able to make discoveries with such primitive equipment.  One of Dr. Fijita’s colleagues was Dr. Greg Forbes who now is The Weather Channel’s severe weather expect.  I love watching Dr. Forbes use current radar technology to pinpoint the dangerous part of a storm.  I often wonder if the current generation appreciates how good the warning system is now compared to “my day”?    Unless you’ve been in the deepest, darkest valley can you appreciate how glorious it is on the mountaintop.   I’ve enjoyed the ride up the mountain.  Stay tuned!

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