There be nothin' brewin' in the tropics

[UPDATE, Friday morning: Arrrgh, I should know better than to say "nothin' brewin' in the tropics" before readin' what Dr. Jeff Masters has to say on the topic, m'lads! Yesterday, Dr. Masters believed that the system near Florida was a threat to the Gulf Coast, but today he says the threat is diminishing. Arrr! Well, that be good news, at least. Shiver me timbers!]

Ahoy, maties, it be a good day for piratin', for Calypso has not seen fit to unleash her fury upon the seas, though it be the climatological peak of hurricane season, arr.

Tropical Storm Ingrid -- the storm that that the skipper of this here blog was so eager so see named "Humberto," so that it could terrorize stripeys and waisters alike with the fearsome name "Hurricane Humberto" -- came to naught, as howlin' wind shear tore her right apart and sent her to Davy Jones' Locker on Monday mornin'.  And naught has followed on Ingrid's heels.  It's slim' pickin's in the latest Tropical Weather Outlook:

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARRRRIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A WEAK SURFACE LOW PRESSURE AREA ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST AND AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW NEAR THE FLORIDA PENINSULA BE PRODUCIN' A LARGE AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC...THE CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS...PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA...AND THE EASTERN GULF MEXICO.  YE LANDLUBBERS IN FLORIDA CAN BE EXPECTIN' SHOWERS...SQUALLS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.  YE CAN ALSO BE EXPECTIN' THE LOW TO MOVE INTO OR REDEVELOP OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO...WHERE A SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL CYCLONE COULD FORM.

DISORGANIZED CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTH OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS NORTHEASTWARD FOR NIGH A HUNDRED LEAGUES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF INGRID AND AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH, BUT NEVER FEAR, ME HEARTIES.  UNFAVORABLE UPPER-LEVEL WINDS BE KEEPIN' INGRID CONFINED TO HER WATERY GRAVE.

ELSEWHERE...YE OUGHT NOT TO BE EXPECTIN' ANY TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IN THE NEXT 48 HOURS. ARRR.

Walk the plank, Al Gore, you scurvy scum! There be no hurricanes to speak of!

But nay, it still be too early yet to be talkin' about a less active hurricane season than what we was expectin'.  There be a good five or six weeks yet for Calypso to send more storms our way, and we'd best be watchful!  Keep a weather eye on the horizon satellite images, and don't be fooled by the calm! She could unleash another Dean or Felix on us, and then we'll be sorry we rejoiced early, aye!!

Now stop reading this blog and get back to work, you mangy bilge rats!

Comments

[Wobbly H]

Arrrrr! Scissor me timbers!! What ever happened to JA-lypso?

I miss that guy, Jalypso. Or King Kong. Or Corner Rat. Or...

[Pat the Pirate]

Arrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!! Yer wife be hot. Good luck to ye - being waaaaaaaaaay too far inland for actual pirate attack.

Oh, and good luck with the sprog.

[Michael Finn]

The hurricane (not gobal warming) experts have been telling us we're well into the 30-40 year cylcle of increased hurricane activity in the Gulf States. These same experts (who are generally global warming refuters) have over-predicted the hurricane activity in the Atlantic for the past 2 years (2006-07). Now watch, this decrease in predicted hurricane activity these past 2 years will be trotted out as "proof" by the global warming enthusiasts that global warming is indeed an irrefutable phenomenon.

[gahrie]

Michael Finn:

WtF?

It's the global warming supporters like Gore who have been predicting increased hurricane activity, not the skeptics.

More heat equals hotter seawater, equals more and stronger hurricanes according to their theories.

I personally belive that Earth's weather is more complex, and uses various feedback mechanisms to maintain a state of equilbrium.

Anyway, according to our host, it's much too soon to be making prediction about the relative strength of this year's hurricane season.

[Joan of Argghh!]

Funny, because here in North Florida we've been living through an undeclared tropical storm for the last week. It dumped about 8 inches on us in just the last 24 hours.

It looked like a TS, rained and blew like a TS, but for some reason never gained media traction... or convection.

:)

[Patrick]

What intrigues me most about the hire, fire, and rehire of Chemerinsky is that it happened to a noted liberal, whereas the prevailing thought is that, in hiring decisions, it's the conservatives who are blacklisted from vacant faculty positions. I recently read a story about a candidate for a tenure-track position in Stanford's Political Science Department who allegedly shot his chances at landing the position after espousing support for private school vouchers at a post-interview luncheon with the department heads. Otherwise liberal, and a minority no less, the interviewee noted the shift in tone after his statement and the apparent disgust on the faces of those within the department who heard the comment. While anecdotal, there are countless stories like this for individuals who, in some capacity, demonstrate political conservatism.

I'm bothered by the implications of this story, and in truth, I should be equally bothered by the implications of the Chemerinsky debacle. Stimulating the minds of college and university students, in my opinion, requires at least some diversity of political and philosophical persuasion. Accordingly, I don't think any individual should be automatically nixed simply for holding a particular point of view. I realize that some of my conservative friends will castigate me for holding this opinion, but I nevertheless hold it. I simply have no problem, for example, with the existence of a token atheist (or two) in the philosophy department at Notre Dame, so long as students are given adequate information, in advance, about the nature of the courses taught by the professor and the perspective from which he or she will teach them.

Now, what strikes me as inconsistent, is the total lack of outcry over the blacklisting of conservatives throughout the country when compared to the scandal surrounding the hiring, firing and re-hiring of Chemerinsky after what amounts to the same, albeit reverse, treatment by the hiring board at Irvine. If academic freedom applies to Chemerinsky's points of view, it should also apply to the points of view of Conservatives. To those championing the academic freedom of the now former Duke professor, this does not appear to hold. Hypocrisy, I say.

[Patrick]

Oops, wrong thread! How did this happen?

[Patrick]

Oops, wrong thread! How did this happen?

[Patrick]

Oops, wrong thread! How did this happen?

[anon]

http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/~maue/tropical/