6 months of storms packed into 4 months?

Posted Aug 11, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Aug 11, 2009 at 07:20 AM

It looks like the tropics are ready to make up for the lack of any storms or hurricanes the first two months of the season.

Tropical Depression 2 is forecast to become the season’s first tropical storm. The five-day forecast doesn’t call for it to reach hurricane strength, but the forecast doesn’t have the storm falling apart in five days, either.

There’s another wave just moving off the African coast now that some models have turning into a pretty decent storm late next week. Not all models are doing this, though, and that’s a long way out for models to be overly accurate.

It is worth watching a few days from now.

Usually having no storms the first two months of the season just means we get six months worth of storms crammed into four months.

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Sea breeze bringing strong thunderstorms ashore

Posted Aug 5, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Aug 5, 2009 at 09:38 AM

The Gulf sea breeze is pushing a group of thunderstorms toward coastal areas that could bring 25 mph winds and heavy rain to the coastline this morning. Some of the storms could rise to the severe category with 60 mph winds. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for northern Pinellas. Though it expired, forecasters say strong winds and intense rain remain.

Most of Pinellas could be affected by the storms, that also could last long enough to reach Tampa and Hillsborough.

The storms are moving east or northeast at about 5 mph, meaning they’ll have time to dump a lot of rain if one passes overhead.

The strongest storms are 20 to 40 miles offshore from Pinellas south to Charlotte counties, the weather service says.

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Strong thunderstorms off Indian Rocks Beach

Posted Aug 4, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Aug 4, 2009 at 09:09 AM

The weather service says a group of thunderstorms is moving toward shore near Indian Rocks Beach and Tarpon Springs. Some could bring heavy rain and gusty winds.

The storms could stretch from northern Pinellas County to Homosassa in Citrus County. The lighter rain will be in Hernando and Citrus counties.

Some of the heavier storms off Pasco and north Pinellas are producing up to an inch of rain an hour.

Mary, a caller from Crystal Beach, says she has seen funnel clouds in the storms, though the weather service has not issued any alerts about tornadoes.

Later today, the typical afternoon thunderstorms are expected to form inland during the middle of the afternoon and contiinue spreading through the early evening.

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Tropical waves show little sign of development

Posted Jul 19, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Jul 19, 2009 at 08:24 AM

The National Hurricane Center is watching a pair of tropical waves moving west, one through the Caribbean Sea and one about 700 miles east of the Windward Islands. Neither shows much sign of developing into a depression or tropical storm, however.

Forecasters say upper level winds are not favorable for development for either wave.

Rain and storms in the wave in the Caribbean diminished during the night and the wave in the Atlantic Ocean remains disorganized.

The National Hurricane Center gives both a less than 30 percent chance of becoming something more significant.

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We like our weather forecasts, survey says

Posted Jun 23, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Jun 23, 2009 at 12:35 PM

It seems Americans have quite an interest in weather, with nine out of 10 getting an average of nearly four weather forecasts a day, according to a survey by the National Center for Atmospheric Research based in Boulder, Colo. The survey conducted in 2006 was paid for by the National Science Foundation.

Among the findings was that 85 percent of the people said that half the time they checked the weather it was just out of curiosity to see what the weather will be like.

The survey also found that the frequency people get weather forecasts varies widely depending on activities or plans or whether there are significant weather events going on. But 87 percent get a forecast at least once a day.

The most common times of day for getting forecasts were early morning, early evening and late evening, with local television being the most common source. Respondents used TV more than 33 times a month for weather forecasts. Web sites and newspapers were less frequently used, but 27 percent of those surveyed used those sources at least daily.

When asked to put a monetary value on the forecasts, the average amount came out to 10.5 cents for each forecast.

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