Thursday, March 29, 2012

TD 2W 2012

Cute little guy off of Vietnam. - HLG

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Major Wind Storm for Midwest on April 3?

Looks like major wind, at least.  Severe weather set-up for the Mid-Atlantic?? - HLG

Monday, March 26, 2012

River Sediments in the East China Sea


Katabatic Dust Storm in SW Asia

Strong cold air plunging down from the Central Asian plateau fueled a massive dust storm over SW Asia last week. -HLG

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Solar Storm "Bennies"



Awesome Aurorae! (These from Alaska and the Yukon) - HLG

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Earth to get Direct Hit from Massive Solar Storm?


Earth hit by major solar storm

Posted on March 8, 2012 - 04:33 by Emma Woollacott
One of the biggest solar storms in years is engulfing the Earth, following two flares that erupted on Tuesday.
The first is traveling at more than 1,300 miles per second, and the other almost as fast; NASA models predict that the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) will impact both Earth and Mars. They'll also pass by the Messenger, Spitzer, and STEREO-B NASA spacecraft.
The first flare, at 7PM EST, was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest since the most recent solar minimum in early 2007. About an hour later, the same region - AR 1429 - let loose an X1.3 class flare.
The leading edge of the first CME was predicted to reach Earth at about 1:25 AM EST this morning. It's been dumping solar particles and magnetic fields into Earth’s atmosphere and distorting Earth's magnetic fields, causing a moderate geomagnetic storm, rated a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5.
According to NASA, it's likely to cause aurorae at low latitudes, and may also disrupt high frequency radio communication, GPS and power grids. It's already caused a temporary radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth that interfered with radio navigation and short wave radio.
The storm's already dwindling, but may well ramp up again, says NASA.
In addition, last night’s flares have sent solar particles into Earth’s atmosphere, where they've been detected by NASA’s SOHO and STEREO spacecraft, as well as NOAA’s GOES spacecraft.
They've produced a moderate solar energetic particle event, also called a solar radiation storm, which is currently rated an S3 on a scale that goes up to S5. NASA's warning that it may interfere with high frequency radio communication

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Another eerie plankton bloom off Antarctica

The EPA should do something about this! - HLG

Tropical Storm Irina

Doesn't look like much, but Irina unleashed deadly floods over Madagascar this, killing dozens at least.  Been a very busy tropical season on the island-continent. - HLG

Monday, March 5, 2012

Antarctic Plankton Bloom, March 2012

Best plankton bloom I have ever seen from MODIS, off of Antarctica.  I am sure the krill are very happy, and thus whales, seals, penguins, etc. - HLG

Sunday, March 4, 2012

White Sands Dust Storm

The gypsum sands make for very photogenic dust storms, in SE New Mexico; March, 2101- HLG

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Rare March EF-4 Tornado Hit Insdiana

Was this the worst March tornado outbreak in US history?  Looking like it.  The Henryille, IN tornado, was a rare March-EF-4, officially.


NWS: Henryville struck by EF-4 tornado

Updated: Saturday, 03 Mar 2012, 7:11 PM EST
Published : Saturday, 03 Mar 2012, 7:11 PM EST
HENRYVILLE, Ind. (WLFI) - The fatality count remains at 14 for the deadly tornadoes that hit southern Indiana yesterday, and now the National Weather Service says at least one of those storms is believed to have hit EF-4 strength. 

Indiana State Police held a news conference around 5 p.m. Saturday, updating the cleanup efforts in the area.
National Weather Service officials said they had three teams out assessing the damage from Friday's storms. They said the path of the first tornado looks to be at least 52 miles in length, and damage was up to 150 yards wide in some places.
They said wind speeds topped out around 175 miles per hour, and the storm is classified in the top two percent of the most intense tornadoes in history. 

"It's in that violent category that most tornadoes never come anywhere near to," said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sullivan. "I have not actually been out on any of the damage survey teams, but I have been here in Henryville, and I've seen some of the most intense and incredible damage I've ever seen in all of my damage surveys. And I've done a number of them, especially here in the Ohio Valley." 

State troopers say they will be enforcing a curfew in Clark County, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., to discourage looters. They said only homeowners will be allowed in damaged areas.
Clark County commissioners said they expect cleanup will begin on Monday.

Deadly tornado aftermath in Southern Indiana

http://www.courier-journal.com/videonetwork/1486018121001/Tornado-rips-through-New-Pekin-Indiana

Friday, March 2, 2012

Jackson, Kentucky radar lit up like a Xmas Tree


The Kentucky Super-outbreak continues on March 2nd, in this Jackson, KY radar image.  Also, nice new look and feel on the NWS Louisville site, where they continue to improve the GIS.  This time the NWS has added the polygons from real-time tornado warnings to the radar image overlays.  Nice!  - HLG

Super Outbreak over Lower Ohio Valley, March 2nd, 2012