Scott Fillmer » hurricane

Gustav and Hanna Looking for a Place to Land

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:55:21 +0000

These two storms look like they could really do some damage once they reach the U.S. coast. Right now both are predicted to reach hurricane status over the weekend and then hurricane Gustav looks like it will go to the Louisiana side and hurricane Hanna the Florida side. Sorry no photography posted other than the hurricane graphic, I will get back to posting some images soon.

On an interesting note. I work with domain information and registrations and often buy domains for my personal or business use. Did you know that all hurricane domain names have been purchased by speculators through the end of the current hurricane name cycle. Right now, hurricane names are release up to the 2013 hurricane season. If you take that list and look at some of the unique names on the list, then compare them to registered domain names (like hurricanenestor.com), you can systematically go through the list and see they are already reserved as far out as 2013.

Domain names are the last relestate frontier, and most are worthless, unless you actually want to use one for your name, business, or product. Some Karen out there might be a windy kind of gal and want the domain hurricanekaren, but your name is on the list for 2013, so sorry, you missed that one.

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A Mixed Up Kind of a Week and Gustav Coming

Scott's Misc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:10:28 +0000

It has been a mixed up kind of week for us here. With the tropical storm Fay, and now Gustov on its way, we can see two more tropical disturbances also looking for a new home, so we headed down to the coast to check out our sailboat. We have been trying to sell our sailboat for a while now but it needed a little extra attention during this time so along with everything else going on, we took one day to see the coast before the next storm.

If we look at the calendar there is another holiday coming up, the first Auburn football game this Saturday… I can almost feel the lighter, cooler air that’s on its way (in maybe three more months). As I was flipping through some of my collected quotes and poems from my mother-in-law I came across this one and it sounded appropriate for the week. You may have heard it before, but it is still cute.

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Should Auburn Prepare for Hurricane Fay?

Scott Fillmer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:38:53 +0000

Has anyone else here in the southeastern part of Alabama (namely Auburn-Opelika) been following the progress of tropical storm Fay? That’s us below, just about between the 8 on “8 AM Sun” and the “D”. Doesn’t actually look like it will reach hurricane strength now, but it keeps going back and forth.

I usually follow hurricane season via the National Hurricane Center from NOAA pretty close sine we have a small interest down in the gulf coast right now (our sailboat). It has been a while since Auburn was hit by a tropical storm, but they do get up this way once in a while, and we could really use the rain.

This has been a crazy track to follow. First it was going into the Gulf, then up to Atlanta, then out to the Atlantic, now, the latest has it moving right over our area, just south of Auburn-Opelika? Not only does it seem to change by the hour, but it seems to be moving very very slow.

If it moves over the Auburn area, it isn’t going to be here until Sunday (right now). Earlier predictions were giving us some rain by Wednesday (tomorrow). I would be happy for it to wait until Sunday, I was planning on photographing the Auburn Woman’s Soccer on Friday against Grambling State. Seeing that it is the opening game of the season, I don’t think they want it called by a hurricane.

Here is hoping we get hit with a good soaking of rain, but after the woman finish playing soccer on Friday.

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Hurricane Dean Has Been Upgraded to a Category 4

Scott's Misc — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:41:25 +0000

Hurricane Dean has now been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane and is headed for the Gulf of Mexico. Several amateur radio nets have now been activated, and all the net information can be found at http://www.hwn.org/

Dean looks like it will make landfall around Cozumel and then pass on into the gulf where it should strengthen again before hitting landfall somewhere around Brownsville, TX, according to the more recent forecasts from NOAA and the National Weather Service. Timing of this storm is interesting for the amateur radio crowd since this is the weekend for the large ARRL National Convention in Huntsville, AL. A large number of radio operators go to the Huntsville hamfest each year but this year a larger number will be making the trip because ARRL’s convention going on at the same time. Many hams I know in the Alabama gulf coast have already left the gulf area to go to Huntsville, but all will be keeping an eye on Dean this weekend from up north. 73, KI4WLR

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Hurricane Dean and Erin Now Active in the Gulf

Scott's Misc — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:58:02 +0000

The gulf now has a few storms, tropical storm Erin and hurricane Dean, the first hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic season. Dean looks like it will have plenty of time and water to strengthen into this weekend and it is projected to reach Mexico as a category 4 storm. You can see the current projections at The National Hurricane Center from NOAA.

Hams have long been a part of ECOMM (emergency communications) in times of bad weather, especially when hurricane Katrina hit. Some of the programs available for radio operators to get involved are RACES, ARES, SKYWARN, and several ARRL training classes and also the ICS from FEMA, and also MARS if you are a General license meet certain requirements, listed below.

Be 17 years of age or older
Be a U.S. citizen or resident alien
Possess a valid Amateur Radio license issued by the FCC
Possess a station capable of operating on MARS HF and/or VHF frequencies
Agree to accept strict monthly requirments for on-air participation

above as noted in QST September 2007 issue

Coming up in other posts I will expand on each of these and explain what training I plan to do or have done to be a prepared amateur radio operator in times of need. Your local club should have information on each of these programs and there are plenty of places to use your radio operating skills in an emergency. 73, KI4WLR

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2007 is a Quiet Hurricane Season So Far

Scott's Misc — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:23:12 +0000

The last 2 years have seen a very quiet hurricane season, but the Atlantic is showing some activity in a few tropical waves, and now tropical depression number 4. The pre-formations to hurricanes start with the tropical waves that come off the African coast, to low pressure systems, to tropical depressions, tropical storms, then to a hurricane. As ham radio operators we should at least be aware of the current activity provided by the National Hurricane Center. No activity will show on the main page until a storm is named, but the real activity is located on the link for tropical weather outlook, which can also be plugged into your google reader or other rss reader. This information on this page is what will later become the active storms that may effect the southern U.S. or Caribbean.

The latest information right now is:

000
WTNT34 KNHC 131454
TCPAT4
BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUR ADVISORY NUMBER 1
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL042007
1100 AM EDT MON AUG 13 2007

…FOURTH DEPRESSION OF THE SEASON FORMS IN THE FAR EASTERN
ATLANTIC…

AT 1100 AM EDT…1500Z…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUR WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 12.0 NORTH…LONGITUDE 31.6 WEST OR ABOUT 520
MILES…840 KM…WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE SOUTHERNMOST CAPE VERDE
ISLANDS AND ABOUT 2000 MILES…3220 KM…EAST OF THE LESSER
ANTILLES.

THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 21 MPH…AND THIS
GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH…55 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST…AND THE DEPRESSION COULD
BECOME A TROPICAL STORM DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1005 MB…29.68 INCHES.

REPEATING THE 1100 AM EDT POSITION…12.0 N…31.6 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST NEAR 21 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…35 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…1005 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
500 PM EDT.

$$
FORECASTER KNABB

information provided by noaa