Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
TC "Washi" Death Toll Continues to Rise in Phillipines
Nearly 1,500 Deaths From Floods In Philippines
The Office of Civil Defense's latest tally Tuesday listed 891 dead in Cagayan de Oro and an additional 451 in nearby Iligan city. The rest came from several other provinces. Most of the dead are unidentified.
Civil Defense head Benito Ramos says decomposing remains were retrieved floating in the sea as far as 60 miles from the two cities where a Dec. 16 tropical storm unleashed more than a month's worth of rainfall in 12 hours, sending walls of water gushing into homes.
Ramos says the search will continue as long as bodies are being recovered.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Global Warming Snows Piling up in Central Asia
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Typhoon "Washi" Causes State of Calamity in PI
UPDATE 4-Typhoon kills more than 436 in southern Philippines
* Local governments declare state of calamity
* Dozens of bodies washed ashore in nearby towns
* Houses swept into the sea while people slept (Adds fresh details)
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines, Dec 17 (Reuters) - More than 400 people were killed and an unknown number were missing after a typhoon struck the southern Philippines, causing flash floods and landslides and driving tens of thousands from their homes.
In a text message to Reuters, Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), said the death toll of 436 was expected to rise.
"Our death toll was based on the actual number of bodies that were brought to funeral homes in the two cities that were the hardest hit by the typhoon," Pang said, adding it was difficult to estimate how many were still unaccounted for.
Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 90 kmh (56 mph), barrelled into the resource-rich island of Mindanao late on Friday, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power.
Emergency workers, soldiers and police were recovering more bodies - most covered in mud - washed ashore in nearby towns.
Pang said nearly 360 bodies had been found in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and about 50 in four other southern provinces. The government's official death toll stood only at 131 people and nearly 270 missing.
Another 21 people drowned on the central island of Negros, the PNRC said.
Hundreds were also unaccounted for, most of them from a coastal village in Iligan. Houses were swept into the sea by floodwaters while people were sleeping inside late on Friday.
The Philippines social welfare department said about 100,000 people were displaced and brought to nearly three dozen shelters in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
"WE RAN FOR OUR LIVES"
Army spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon said search and rescue operations would continue along the shorelines in Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte provinces.
"I can't explain how these things happened, entire villages were swept to the sea by flash floods," Galon said.
"I have not seen anything like this before. This could be worse than Ondoy," he said, referring to a 2009 storm that inundated the capital, Manila, killing hundreds of people.
Television pictures showed bodies encased in mud, cars piled on top of each other and wrecked homes. Helicopters and boats searched the sea for survivors and victims.
"We ran for our lives when we heard a loud whistle blow and was followed by a big bang," Michael Mabaylan, 38, a carpenter, told Reuters. He said his wife and five children were all safe.
Aid worker Crislyn Felisilda cited concern about children who had became separated from their families or lost their parents. "Many children are looking for their loved ones... (and children were) crying and staring into space."
Rosal Agacac, a 40-year-old mother, was begging authorities to help find her two children after their shanty was swept to the sea. "Please President Noynoy, help me," she cried, holding a candle at a spot where their house stood before the floods, referring to President Benigno Aquino.
Aquino met with cabinet members and disaster officials to assess conditions on the main southern island and ordered a review of disaster plans to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. He is due to inspect typhoon-hit areas after Christmas.
Rescue boats pulled at least 15 people from the sea, said another army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang.
Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz said many people were caught by surprise when water rose one metre (three feet) high in less than an hour, forcing people onto roofs. "Most of them were already sleeping when floodwaters entered their homes. This is the worst flooding our city has experienced in years."
The national disaster agency said it could not estimate crop and property damage because emergency workers, including soldiers and police officers, were evacuating families and recovering casualties.
Six domestic flights run by Cebu Pacific were cancelled due to the rain and near-zero visibility in the southern and central Philippines. Ferry services were also halted, stranding hundreds of people.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year.
Friday, December 16, 2011
No More December Tropical Forecasts from CSU?
For Hurricane Forecasters, the Outlook Is Stormy
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Print
Email
Share
AP/NOAA
Here's a forecast you might not expect. Two Colorado State University climatologists, who have independently been tracking and predicting the severity of hurricanes for nearly 30 years, are abandoning their long-range forecasting efforts. Simply put, the advance predictions just weren't accurate. "We have suspended issuing quantitative forecasts at this extended-range lead time, since they have not proved skillful over the last 20 years," Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray wrote in their annual December report intended to predict the severity of the upcoming year's Atlantic hurricane season. Klotzbach and Gray will continue forecasting -- just not in December, months in advance of the hurricane season. "From a computation perspective, there's enough chaos in weather that I don't know if you'll ever be able to predict it months in advance," Klotzbach told FoxNews.com. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Colorado State and others traditionally issue hurricane predictions in late May just prior to the start of the season, and update them in early August, just prior to the historic peak. Twenty years ago, Klotzbach decided to push the envelope, to see how early he could predict the season. The results weren't good. In December 2010, the duo predicted 180 total days of tropical cyclone activity; the season actually saw 137. The numbers for 2009 were off as well: 136 days of cyclone activity were predicted, but only 66 cropped up. "Beyond five days or so, that's where the crystal ball gets a little fuzzy," Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for NOAA, told FoxNews.com. "You can predict seasonal trends fairly well months in advance. But the devil's in the details. Which ones will stay over open water and which will hit land?" And that type of more immediate forecasting has actually improved dramatically, Vaccaro and Klotzbach both said. "Hurricane forecasting has come a long way," Vaccaro said. "Once a storm does form, our forecast skills are quite high in being able to predict where that storm will hit. The challenge lies in understanding the forces at work, he said. The long-term seasonal outlooks are based on large-scale, slow-moving climate factors -- things like ocean temperatures, the presence of a La Nina or El Nino force, weather patterns, and so on. But the birth and eventual path of an individual storm is dependent on short-term weather patterns -- the position of the jet stream or the presence of a cold front. "Those day-to-day weather patterns are very fluid and have a tremendous impact on the strength and track of a specific storm," Vaccaro told FoxNews.com. Colorado State's hurricane experts tell a similar story. Despite advances in supercomputers, hurricane-hunter aircraft, satellites, weather buoys and more, long-term prediction simply isn't feasible today. But short-term forecasts get better every year.
"Our April forecasts have shown reasonably good skills and are getting better over the years," Klotzbach said. "When you're forecasting the weather a week from now versus tomorrow, you're going to put a lot more faith in tomorrow's forecast." "Our knowledge of how storms work still isn't perfect," Klotzbach admitted.
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Share
AP/NOAA
Here's a forecast you might not expect. Two Colorado State University climatologists, who have independently been tracking and predicting the severity of hurricanes for nearly 30 years, are abandoning their long-range forecasting efforts. Simply put, the advance predictions just weren't accurate. "We have suspended issuing quantitative forecasts at this extended-range lead time, since they have not proved skillful over the last 20 years," Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray wrote in their annual December report intended to predict the severity of the upcoming year's Atlantic hurricane season. Klotzbach and Gray will continue forecasting -- just not in December, months in advance of the hurricane season. "From a computation perspective, there's enough chaos in weather that I don't know if you'll ever be able to predict it months in advance," Klotzbach told FoxNews.com. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Colorado State and others traditionally issue hurricane predictions in late May just prior to the start of the season, and update them in early August, just prior to the historic peak. Twenty years ago, Klotzbach decided to push the envelope, to see how early he could predict the season. The results weren't good. In December 2010, the duo predicted 180 total days of tropical cyclone activity; the season actually saw 137. The numbers for 2009 were off as well: 136 days of cyclone activity were predicted, but only 66 cropped up. "Beyond five days or so, that's where the crystal ball gets a little fuzzy," Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for NOAA, told FoxNews.com. "You can predict seasonal trends fairly well months in advance. But the devil's in the details. Which ones will stay over open water and which will hit land?" And that type of more immediate forecasting has actually improved dramatically, Vaccaro and Klotzbach both said. "Hurricane forecasting has come a long way," Vaccaro said. "Once a storm does form, our forecast skills are quite high in being able to predict where that storm will hit. The challenge lies in understanding the forces at work, he said. The long-term seasonal outlooks are based on large-scale, slow-moving climate factors -- things like ocean temperatures, the presence of a La Nina or El Nino force, weather patterns, and so on. But the birth and eventual path of an individual storm is dependent on short-term weather patterns -- the position of the jet stream or the presence of a cold front. "Those day-to-day weather patterns are very fluid and have a tremendous impact on the strength and track of a specific storm," Vaccaro told FoxNews.com. Colorado State's hurricane experts tell a similar story. Despite advances in supercomputers, hurricane-hunter aircraft, satellites, weather buoys and more, long-term prediction simply isn't feasible today. But short-term forecasts get better every year.
"Our April forecasts have shown reasonably good skills and are getting better over the years," Klotzbach said. "When you're forecasting the weather a week from now versus tomorrow, you're going to put a lot more faith in tomorrow's forecast." "Our knowledge of how storms work still isn't perfect," Klotzbach admitted.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Chile Volcanic Dust in Patagonia
TC 05A in the Arabian Sea
Monday, November 28, 2011
Did US Destroy Martian Mars Probe??
The Russians are implying that, without any evidence, of course.
It's not the first time the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme (HAARP) has been accused of some malevolent purpose. In fact, it's a conspiracy theorist favourite, most often accused of causing extreme events like the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
HAARP's stated purpose, according to its website, is:
A scientific endeavour aimed at studying the properties and behaviour of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defence purposes.
But those of a suspicious mindset think the project aims to manipulate the ionosphere in order to cause massive disasters. - The Guardian
It's not the first time the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme (HAARP) has been accused of some malevolent purpose. In fact, it's a conspiracy theorist favourite, most often accused of causing extreme events like the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
HAARP's stated purpose, according to its website, is:
A scientific endeavour aimed at studying the properties and behaviour of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defence purposes.
But those of a suspicious mindset think the project aims to manipulate the ionosphere in order to cause massive disasters. - The Guardian
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Beautiful Day to Head to Mars
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Climate forcing by CO2 Overblown?
Climate sensitivity to CO2 probedBy Jennifer Carpenter
Science reporter, BBC News
Global temperatures could be less sensitive to changing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels than previously thought, a study suggests.
The researchers said people should still expect to see "drastic changes" in climate worldwide, but that the risk was a little less imminent.
The results are published in Science.
Previous climate models have used meteorological measurements from the last 150 years to estimate the climate's sensitivity to rising CO2.
From these models, scientists find it difficult to narrow their projections down to a single figure with any certainty, and instead project a range of temperatures that they expect, given a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-industrial levels.
The new analysis, which incorporates palaeoclimate data into existing models, attempts to project future temperatures with a little more certainty.
Lead author Andreas Schmittner from Oregon State University, US, explained that by looking at surface temperatures during the last Ice Age - 21,000 years ago - when humans were having no impact on global temperatures, he, and his colleagues, show that this period was not as cold as previous estimates suggest.
"This implies that the effect of CO2 on climate is less than previously thought," he explained
By incorporating this newly discovered "climate insensitivity" into their models, the international team was able to reduce their uncertainty in future climate projections.
The new models predict that given a doubling in CO2 levels from pre-industrial levels, the Earth's surface temperatures will rise by 1.7 to 2.6 degrees C.
That is a much tighter range than suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s 2007 report, which suggested a rise of between 2 to 4.5 degrees C.
The new analysis also reduces the expected average surface temperatures to just over 2 degrees C, from 3.
The authors stress the results do not mean threat from human-induced climate change should be treated any less seriously, explained palaeoclimatologist Antoni Rosell-Mele from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, who is a member of the team that came up with the new estimates.
But it does mean that to induce large-scale warming of the planet, leading lead to widespread catastrophic consequences, we would have to increase CO2 more than we are going to do in the near future, he said.
"But we don't want that to happen at any time, right?"
"At least, given that no one is doing very much around the planet [about] mitigating CO2 emissions, we have a bit more time," he remarked.
Science reporter, BBC News
Global temperatures could be less sensitive to changing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels than previously thought, a study suggests.
The researchers said people should still expect to see "drastic changes" in climate worldwide, but that the risk was a little less imminent.
The results are published in Science.
Previous climate models have used meteorological measurements from the last 150 years to estimate the climate's sensitivity to rising CO2.
From these models, scientists find it difficult to narrow their projections down to a single figure with any certainty, and instead project a range of temperatures that they expect, given a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-industrial levels.
The new analysis, which incorporates palaeoclimate data into existing models, attempts to project future temperatures with a little more certainty.
Lead author Andreas Schmittner from Oregon State University, US, explained that by looking at surface temperatures during the last Ice Age - 21,000 years ago - when humans were having no impact on global temperatures, he, and his colleagues, show that this period was not as cold as previous estimates suggest.
"This implies that the effect of CO2 on climate is less than previously thought," he explained
By incorporating this newly discovered "climate insensitivity" into their models, the international team was able to reduce their uncertainty in future climate projections.
The new models predict that given a doubling in CO2 levels from pre-industrial levels, the Earth's surface temperatures will rise by 1.7 to 2.6 degrees C.
That is a much tighter range than suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s 2007 report, which suggested a rise of between 2 to 4.5 degrees C.
The new analysis also reduces the expected average surface temperatures to just over 2 degrees C, from 3.
The authors stress the results do not mean threat from human-induced climate change should be treated any less seriously, explained palaeoclimatologist Antoni Rosell-Mele from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, who is a member of the team that came up with the new estimates.
But it does mean that to induce large-scale warming of the planet, leading lead to widespread catastrophic consequences, we would have to increase CO2 more than we are going to do in the near future, he said.
"But we don't want that to happen at any time, right?"
"At least, given that no one is doing very much around the planet [about] mitigating CO2 emissions, we have a bit more time," he remarked.
Weather Service Mapping
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Global Warming Snow in NE Asia
Dust or Ash?
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Late Season East-Pac Hurricane
Monday, November 21, 2011
La Nina and Fires in Ecuador
Forecast for OU win was a bust!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Mystery of West Coast Rocket Solved?
I find it hard to believe that the military's newly announced hypersonic weapon system is unrelated to the "non-rocket/nothing-to-see-hear" rocket launch we all witnessed off the west coast last year.
U.S. Army Tests Secret Hypersonic Weapon
Published November 17, 2011
Technews Network
DARPAThe DARPA Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV)-2, one of several hypersonic test projects underway by various U.S. military agencies.
The U.S. Army's hypersonic weapon
prototype streaked across the Pacific Ocean at several times the speed
of sound Thurs., Nov. 17, in a flawless maiden test flight. The success
could pave the way for a new military capability to strike targets
anywhere on Earth in as little as an hour.
Such a hypersonic weapon concept flies at a
relatively flat trajectory within the atmosphere, rather than soaring up
toward space like a ballistic missile and eventually coming back down.
Hypersonic speed is defined as being at least five times the speed of
sound (3,805 mph, or 6,124 kph, at sea level). An unmanned aircraft that can travel
at a breakneck pace 20 times the speed of sound will take off Wednesday
from an Air Force base in California for a test flight.
The Army's Advanced Hypersonic Weapon
launched aboard a three-stage booster system from the Pacific Missile
Range Facility on the island of Kauai in Hawaii at 6:30 AM ET, deployed
for its hypersonic glide, and eventually splashed down in the Reagan
Test Site located near the Kwajalein Atoll.
Pentagon officials kept a careful watch on
the flight test from space, air, sea and ground. That allowed them to
collect data about aerodynamics, navigation, guidance, and control
performance, as well as thermal protection technologies meant to shrug
off intense heat during hypersonic flight.
Such success may provide some consolation to DARPA, given that its Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2
(HTV-2) experienced problems in its two test flights that led to early
crashes. HTV-2 reached a speed of Mach 20 during its latest test in
August.
The Air Force has also tested its own X-51A Waverider vehicle,
most recently on June 13, as an experimental platform for an
air-breathing scramjet engine. During the latest test, the X-51A
Waverider reached hypersonic speeds of at least Mach 5 before it failed
to switch over to its main fuel source.
Having several hypersonic projects resembles
the early days of U.S. rocket and missile development, when the Army
and Air Force competed to get their rockets off the ground. But any
success in the hypersonic realm seems likely to benefit the U.S.
military's unified goal for a "Conventional Prompt Global Strike" weapon
designed to speedily attack targets around the world
Yet another GIS application in the weather-world
Storm Chaser
Amica Mutual Insurance Maps Real-Time Data, Providing Better Service to Policyholders
Because many Amica Mutual Insurance policyholders owned homes or other property in the path of Hurricane Irene, the company wanted to ensure that it had adequate resources to provide services when these people needed them most. Amica, a provider of personal insurance for autos, homes, and boats, is headquartered in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Known in the industry for its high standard of customer service, the company has been awarded several J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction awards.
Amica used ArcGIS to track Hurricane Irene and view forecasted wind speeds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NowCoast Web Map Services. This map displays the storm one day prior to making landfall in North Carolina.
Before their eyes, the path of destruction passed through North Carolina, Virginia, and all the way up the East Coast. "Our exposure along the forecast track was significant, and we immediately knew this would be a big event for us," said Adam Kostecki, a claims examiner in the Property Loss Division at Amica Mutual Insurance.
When tracking Irene, Kostecki combined real-time event tracking and geocoded policy locations displayed in ArcGIS. Taking a NOAA map service that forecasted wind speed and creating it as an ArcGIS web mapping service (WMS), Kostecki was able to input where Hurricane Irene was moving in real time on a map, along with Amica's plotted policies. He and other personnel drew lassos around policies in the areas they were interested in. The lasso Select tool allowed Amica staff to select multiple policies in contiguous areas without being restricted by administrative or geographic boundaries. Combining both datasets—wind speed high enough to cause damage plus policies in the area—Amica found out the number of policies that might be at risk.
By viewing the policy locations along with the area of impact, Kostecki could find out exactly which policies were in the path of the event and generate reports for claims adjusters quickly. "Simply by viewing and exploring the data in ArcGIS, I simplified and improved the accurate identification of customers in Hurricane Irene's impact area," said Kostecki.
For insurers, knowing precisely where damage has occurred is paramount in developing a timely and appropriate response. The quicker an insurer can respond to claims, the faster people can rebuild and continue on with their lives. Being able to determine exposures in different areas, as well as knowing the likely severity of the damage, allowed the Amica claims department to proactively plan for potential claims volume. "Once Irene passed, we plotted claims as they were reported," said Kostecki. "Waiting days for first-responder reports, damage models, or even post-event aerial imagery just isn't an option anymore when responding to catastrophes."
Knowing how many policyholders might be affected helped Amica better determine how many adjusters were needed and where they should be sent after Hurricane Irene passed. From the information gathered in ArcGIS, the staff was able to generate a quick summary and export the information into a report. This information provided a better picture of how many claims Amica might need to respond to in a certain geographic area.
"We had a much better idea of what our claim potential was going to be after this event," said Kostecki. "And even better, we had this information ready to go hours after the storm."
Amica implemented the use of GIS in claims about five years ago, in order to better estimate the company's exposure after a catastrophic event such as a hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, or tornado. Knowing this information helps Amica ensure that it is appropriately staffed to handle the volume of claims that might be reported. Since implementing GIS technology, Amica has realized that pushing this technology to the front lines could have a profound impact on the way it services its policyholders. Kostecki explained, "It's a technology that our staff embraces—because it makes their jobs easier, and it allows them to be more efficient."
For more information on how ArcGIS is used in the insurance industry, visit esri.com/insurance.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Dubai Skyscrapers in the Fog
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
AN OPEN LETTER - FROM FWSAAB CORP.
Dear Readers,
I, Sterling Gonads, as the new President of FSWAAB Corp (a subsidiary of the Environment Channel and part of the Universal Global Broadcasting System - UGBS), openly apologize for the crude, unsolicited and unapproved comments made by HLG recently. We at FSWAAB believe in a caring, open and green blog - one that is carefully controlled by our managers at UGBS (UGBS +5% FTSE). We will not allow crass and ungreen-like statements made by our on-blog geographers who like to pretend that they have a meteorology background.
At FWSAAB, we will ensure the reading blog public that irreverent and humorous commentaries from HLG, BB - and the others who haven't been heard from in years - will continue. However, the management will also take a hard-line against hurtful statements that go against our public options on the open market.
FWSAAB will be making some exciting changes in the coming weeks to bring it more inline with our other media products like the Environment Channel, UGBS Network News and the Friend Channel. We will also start including famous meteorologists to make on-blog appearances, some of which appeared on another weather-type channel. Soon we will also roll out our new Spanish Blog "El Clima de Cuatro Hombres y Una Guapa Chica (ECCHUGC)"
At FWSAAB, we believe in making the environment exciting. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Sterling Gonads, esq.
I, Sterling Gonads, as the new President of FSWAAB Corp (a subsidiary of the Environment Channel and part of the Universal Global Broadcasting System - UGBS), openly apologize for the crude, unsolicited and unapproved comments made by HLG recently. We at FSWAAB believe in a caring, open and green blog - one that is carefully controlled by our managers at UGBS (UGBS +5% FTSE). We will not allow crass and ungreen-like statements made by our on-blog geographers who like to pretend that they have a meteorology background.
At FWSAAB, we will ensure the reading blog public that irreverent and humorous commentaries from HLG, BB - and the others who haven't been heard from in years - will continue. However, the management will also take a hard-line against hurtful statements that go against our public options on the open market.
FWSAAB will be making some exciting changes in the coming weeks to bring it more inline with our other media products like the Environment Channel, UGBS Network News and the Friend Channel. We will also start including famous meteorologists to make on-blog appearances, some of which appeared on another weather-type channel. Soon we will also roll out our new Spanish Blog "El Clima de Cuatro Hombres y Una Guapa Chica (ECCHUGC)"
At FWSAAB, we believe in making the environment exciting. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Sterling Gonads, esq.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
North Sea Island "Ship-wakes"
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Loading Up in Alaska
Alaska will be plunged into quite a cold morass after the "epic" storm of 2011. All this cold air is preparing to spill down into the central plains and possibly into the deep south. Should be a fun trip for Thanksgiving Day drivers across the U.S..
On a lighter note - the owners of FSWAAB would like to point out that their blog employees have not mentioned the Penn State scandal. Such restraint should be congratulated.
BB
BB
Thursday, November 10, 2011
First Global Salinity Maps from Aquarius
This map reminds me of the early global sea-surface-temperature maps. I suspect this will be revolutionary when the data is incorporated into global ocean circulation models. - HLG
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tropical Storm Sean 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Cyclone Formation Alert Arabian Sea
Wind Farms Causing False Radar Returns?
Wind Farms Disrupting Radar, Scientists Say
Published November 05, 2011
National Weather ServiceRainstorm or wind farm? The circled area contains a wind farm, making it unclear whether it is also raining there.
This one's really off the radar.
Wind farms, along with solar power and other alternative energy sources, are supposed to produce the energy of tomorrow. Evidence indicates that their countless whirring fan blades produce something else: "blank spots" that distort radar readings.
Now government agencies that depend on radar -- such as the Department of Defense and the National Weather Service -- are spending millions in a scramble to preserve their detection capabilities. A four-star Air Force general recently spelled out the problem to Dave Beloite, the director of the Department of Defense’s Energy Siting Clearinghouse.
"Look there’s a radar here -- one of our network of Homeland surveillance radars -- and [if you build this wind farm] you essentially are going to put my eyes out in the Northwestern corner of the United States,” Beloite related during a web conference in April.
Spinning wind turbines make it hard to detect incoming planes. To avoid that problem, military officials have blocked wind farm construction near their radars -- and in some cases later allowed them after politicians protested.
Shepherd’s Flat, a wind farm under construction in Oregon, was initially held up by a government notice that the farm would “seriously impair the ability of the (DoD) to detect, monitor and safely conduct air operations."
Then Oregon’s senators got involved.
“The Department of Defense's earlier decision threatened to drop a bomb on job creation in Central Oregon,” democratic Senator Ron Wyden noted in a press release.
Beloite told FoxNews.com that the project was given the green light by the military only after scientists at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory assured the Department of Defense “that there were algorithms and processors they could design for not too much money that would mitigate the problem.”
Beloite said that the MIT technology has proven successful in the last few months.
"[The problem] has been addressed. And I have a letter from the deputy director of operations from U.S. NORAD that says 'step one of the two-step fix worked so well that we recommend we don't spend any more money on step two.'"
The fix the MIT scientists came up with tells the radar not to pay attention to signals in a very small area.
“You just tell the radar processor, ‘you're going to have clutter here. Don't display it.’ You create a tiny blank spot [in the radar map] directly above the turbine,” Beloite told FoxNews.com.
In addition to the cost of the radar development, taxpayers are on the hook for more than $1 billion in subsidies for the construction of the Shepherd’s Flat wind farm, according to a 2010 memo from Larry Summers and two other White House economic advisors.
The fix for military radar doesn't work so well for weather forecasters, however.
“It's a lot easier to filter out interference for aviation,” Ed Ciardi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Radar Operations Center in Norman, Okla., told FoxNews.com. “The real problem is when rain and the wind turbines are mixed together [on the radar map.] And it's all confusing… sometimes [forecasters] throw up their hands and say, ‘who knows?’”
When the situation is unclear, Ciardi said, “they'll play it safe and maybe extend a warning.”
Ciardi said there have been occasional false alarms due to wind farm interference, but the Weather Service hasn't failed to issue any storm warnings yet.
“We're more worried about the future ... we've seen quite a few proposals for wind farms around our radars. And we have been ... trying to convince them to stay a good distance away,” he said.
One strategy is to ask wind farm owners to turn off the propellers during storms. Another is to convince them to install devices that measure wind speeds and rainfall, so that there would no longer be much need for radar there.
“It all comes down to money and who's going to pay for it,” he noted.
Meanwhile, top radar scientists are working on developing a fix that works for weather radar.
“It's slow progress, and they say it's extremely difficult -- that they need more money and more time. The solution, I would say, is probably five years down the road," Ciardi said.
\
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Accuweather Radar Web-tool Best Ever?
I have looked at a lot of crapy radar display services (yea, I am talking to you NWS, and Japan Met Service, as well as Korea, Jamaica, and ESPECIALLY Mexico) over the years. I think the tool Accuweather has is the best ever. It utilizes nested zooms, so you go from continental, to regional, to local, in a very friendly environment. Some kinda geniuses up there in Happy Valley, the Drinking Town with a Football Problem! - HLG
http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/sir/us_/radar.asp
http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/sir/us_/radar.asp
Congrats to NASA and NOAA on Successful NPP Launch
NPP Launch News
Officials Hail NPP Satellite Launch
Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:55:34 PM GMT+0900
NASA and NOAA officials congratulated each other this morning following the successful launch of the NPP spacecraft aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Ken Schwer, NPP Project Manager, led off a news conference this morning about three hours after liftoff. He will be part of the team who will get the spacecraft checked out during the next several weeks so it can begin its Earth observing mission.
"Now the future of NPP starts and we look forward to NPP touching the rest of the world," Schwer said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to use the data from NPP as part of its weather forecasting.
NPP will "make America a more weather-ready nation," said Mary Glackin, NOAA's deputy undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere.
The NPP spacecraft was launched on-time at 5:48 a.m. EDT.
October Nor"easters and Flying...
Equals NOT Fun!
Snowstorm Strands JetBlue Passengers on Runway for Seven Hours
Published October 30, 2011
HARTFORD, Conn. – Flight
504 from Fort Lauderdale could not land at its intended destination,
Newark International, due to poor visibility and was forced to divert to
Bradley International at around 2:00pm local time, the Hartford Courant
reported.
It was not until after 9:00pm that the 126
passengers on board were told buses would be coming to take them to the
nearby terminal.
One passenger said people were given no food or water throughout the ordeal and also had to deal with clogged bathrooms.
Andrew Carter, a professional football
writer, told the Hartford Courant, "We ran out of water. The bathrooms
are all clogged up and disgusting. The power would go off every 45
minutes or so for five minutes or so, and that would freak people out.
I've heard about these kind of stories."
Another passenger, Todd Bailey, told WTIC-TV from onboard the stranded plane that the situation was tense.
"People are on their last edge. It's just crazy ... Everybody is freaking out here. They're tired of it."
A JetBlue spokesperson told FOX News
Channel, "JetBlue is doing everything possible to ensure our customers
affected by today's unusual combination of weather and infrastructure
issues are being well cared for. We apologize for the experience.
"We could not deplane the aircraft until it
was safe to do so. Once our customers are safely inside the terminal, we
will do everything within our power to support them."
A rare and deadly October snowstorm hit a
wide swath of the East Coast on Saturday, knocking out power to nearly
two million households and causing major travel headaches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)