During my broadcasting career, I took pride in always preparing for the unexpected, especially when it came to hurricane threats. What happens when powers goes out? Ch. 8 had a powerful generator that ran everything. How about cable going down and with it the internet? Yep, that happened during several storms, but with engineering's help, we switched to satellite reception through one of the large dishes at the station. Well, now that I'm retired, I don't have that redundancy and am totally dependent on Cox Cable, which worked terrific through the storm. It was only after Zeta passed into Mississippi did the cable go out. I lost power at 5:40 PM the day of the storm (my generator provided me with power), but the cable didn't go down until 9:19 PM and stayed out for almost 4 days. I tried to work with "WiFi Hotspots" through my iPhone, but that wouldn't work. So I must apologize for being gone for the past couple of days, but as the local lawyer says...stuff happens!
These are the satellite pictures as Zeta moved inland. Note the last picture when power went out. Zeta was NW of Mobile! Guess I should be glad cable didn't crash sooner? Let's get back to what's happening now that we're in November. Cold fronts are coming!
That swirl over the Great Lakes might even bring some snow flurries to Chicago during the Saints game. The good news is the last front has pushed into the central Gulf with another surge arriving this evening. That will continue the process of cooling down the Gulf.
But as you all know, we have another named storm (Eta) down in the Caribbean that is expected to become a hurricane over the warmest waters on our Planet.
NHC takes Eta into Central America with the hints that some of its energy might drift back into the NW Caribbean by next weekend. Fortunately, more fronts are coming and it is getting colder up north.
In fact, some below zero temps are common across Alaska and northern Canada. The deeper we get into November the colder the fronts will be.
You'll notice this next front later today as our brisk winds now, pick up even more especially after dark. Enjoy today's comfy cool temps as you'll need sweaters and jackets for the next couple of days. I'll have another post this evening after the Saints game. Thanks for staying tuned!
10 comments:
Notice not a word about the complete failure covering this storm from the get go. Fitting. Yeah I would be embarrassed too.
In chalmette, Louisiana a neighbor has a wind gauge and it clocked zeta at 120 for almost 10 minutes. It came ashore as a category 3
Glad to hear from you Bob... Take Care...
Thanks for your efforts. It’s nice to see you back.
Notice that he is human and as a human we don't always get things right but as an individual, you have to make the best decisions for your family..and I'm sure we all did that once we heard it will be a Category 2...as far as you, you are so depressed, miserable, and unhappy with yourself/life..that is clear....what is also clear,is that you want to be BOB BRECK...We will always respect Bob Breck because he loves what he does and he has saved many lives but no one knows you...you are so unloved and damage that you trying to discredit the work that Bob does..grab a chair, sit there, and shut up...sincerely, the nice anonymous one...
Missed you so much. Glad you are safe and posting again.
God bless
Debbie in Diamondhead
Some of us appreciate Mr. Breck's knowledge and experience. May I suggest a simple solution, don't access the site, in which people like myself, happen to respect and appreciate.
@Campsweetie.. Well said. I second that. Obviously this person is very insecure and only feels good about him/herself when they are denigrating others.
Interesting comments. This blog is very good, it's followed by a lot of people in SE LA. I think with every storm that impacts us we should talk about lessons learned. So I have a few
Lesson Learned 1- Weathermen does not equal Psychic Hotline
Meteorologists follow track models and predictions. They are not psychic and they sure are not God and cannot control mother nature no matter how experience they are or we think they are. These storm follow steering currents and nobody really knows what will happen until less than really 48 hours out from landfall and for Gulf storms there is no idea of where it is going until it at least gets into the gulf.
Lesson Learned 2- Weathermen fell for Easterly track inertia
Zeta is the one that did not go east! We have had many storms that we were in the cone but went east of Louisiana over the last 10 years or so (Georges, Ivan, Nate just to name a few) . Meteorologists (Bob included) have gotten a little too comfortable saying its not coming here it will be a MS/AL/Panhandle storm. I do feel like Zeta was downplayed by some weathermen (Chris Franklin, Bob, some others) until Zeta decided it was not going to turn. THE FAT LADY MAY HAVE SUNG BUT APPARENTLY HER MICROPHONE WAS MUTED AND THE HURRICANES DID NOT HEAR HER! There is a difference between keeping people calm during hurricane threats and downplaying them, some need to realize that. I will say that the team on Fox 8 did a great job even the junior meteorologists the reports were accurate, they looked at all scenarios that could happen and did not fall for the easterly track inertia. NOT all the time will we be on the weak side of the storm. Zeta may be the shell shock SE residents need to remember that hurricanes should be taken seriously at all times if something comes into the gulf and meteorologists know often about as much as us lay people.
Lesson Learned 3- Track Predictions Acceptable BUT Intensity Prediction Poor
Clearly intensity forecasts are not that good. The "the gulf is a hostile environment", "its October", "lots of wind shear" the gulf temperatures are lower, especially near the coastal waters. Yeah right but we still ended up with a strong Category 2 storm at the end of October. Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. Intensity should be monitored but can't be predicted. I agree with preparing for a storm a category higher than what they are predicting. Could Zeta have been a weak Category 3 at landfall..?? Possibly based on the wind reports, it may be reclassified a Cat higher like other past storms (Michael, Andrew, Betsy) who knows.
These are just a few. Other things to point out a Category 1 or Cat 2 will knock out power to many people quite nicely, La Nina seems to definitely mean more active Atlantic seasons is this a trend for a few years to come is the question, why did most storms this year come into the gulf vs going up the Atlanta--perhaps the Bermuda high was further south and west this year so storms road the current to the Carribbean and the gulf more? Just some food for thought.
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