Remembering Phil, Watching Gulf, Quiet Tropics

Unless you've been in a cave today, one of the legends of early television has died.  Phil Donahue passed at age 88 leaving behind a legacy that started on WHIO Radio in Dayton, Ohio in the mid 60s.  Phil took his radio talk into television in 1970 at WLWD-TV 2 in Dayton, Ohio and was a smash hit eventually moving DONAHUE to Chicago in 1974 & then to New York. I got to know Phil when I became the Chief Meteorologist at Ch. 2 in August of 1973.  Since some major celebrities were on his program, my late wife (Paula) asked if I could get her good tickets hoping to see Bobby Vinton, Neil Sedaka, Bob Hope etc.  As luck would have it, the day I got her tickets, the 2 guests were 2 Ph.D fellas peddling their new book, "How to potty train in less than a day"!  Needless to say, she was not happy and had me read the book since we had 2 sons at that time.  I can tell you the book absolutely worked!  Phil ended up marrying one of his guests (Marlo Thomas), but all Paula got was a free book!  So happy to have known such a real Super Star.

We have 11 days left in August and the Tropics remain quiet.  No model is developing anything during the next 7-10 days. Waves are coming off of Africa, but they reach the Atlantic & fizzle.

There is a strong wave heading across Honduras and a boundary across the northern Gulf.  The highest Oceanic Heat Content is over the Caribbean, but the Gulf is also plenty warm.  We need to pay attention to the Gulf when boundaries come down from the north and stall.  That's how Alicia formed back in 1983.

For now, we are protected by that northerly flow that would keep any system from coming back into Louisiana.

That flow has brought down an early Fall feeling out of Canada.  They need sweaters & jackets for tonight.

While we won't get any of the real chill, the drier air/lower dew points will make us feel less hot, especially in the mornings.

At MSY so far this month, only .32" of rain has fallen.  If this dry trend continues, we could see the driest August on record.  My yard hopes not!  Don't forget the moon tonight.  Stay tuned!