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The Truth About Hurricianes
Aug 30, 2008 | 6:19 PM PST
Category:
Weather
Hurricanes are huge, destructive storms. And they have been occurring on our earth for centuries. There is no way to get above the storm, because the wind will cut you down. There is no way to get under the storm because the surge will drown you. The only way to avoid the storm is to move because they storm will come no matter what you do.
One of the first reported and most destructive storm occurred in 1900. Galveston at the time was an economic boomtown. The wealthy neighborhoods features elaborate Victorian style stone houses. But the other people, the newcomers hoping to latch onto prosperity lived in wood boarding houses and homes-some hastily thrown together to accommodate the rising numbers. One of the first weather forecasters had gotten word of the storm from transmissions from shipping lanes. The lack of transportation for entire populations was a problem then as it would be nearly 100 years later for the inner city poor of New Orleans. Like the current storm in the Gulf, the Galveston Storm was a category 4. While much has been made of the rapid attack and slow death of New Orleans, there are countless others who were similarly affected in Mississippi, the upper Louisiana coast and Texas.
As a child, we lived for awhile in Metarie, a suburb of New Orleans near the Lake Pontchitrain levee. It wasn't uncommon for me to ride my bike two blocks to the top of the levee. The first hurricane we experienced was Hilda, a category 2. My parents moved us to the Fountainbleu on Airport Freeway. From our fourth floor window, we filmed the French Quarter as countless tornadoes spun themselves out over the area. And that was just a Category 2. The next year, we went through Betsy. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 should have signalled to the various self-serving political groups of southern Louisiana that it was time to stop lining their own pockets. The Vieux Carre-The French Quarter-recieved a wall of flood waters from the Mississippi. We sheltered with another family because we waited too long to move to more solid ground. Any child who has gone through such an event will carry it with them for life. No electricity, roaring wind, exploding transformers. It was like living through a war against nature itself. I remember my Dad taking me out to the porch during the Eye and showing me how the clouds swirlled and the rain changed direction as it flew parallel to the ground. Back at our neighborhood, damage ranged from mild-our house was barely touched, to serious destruction. Our neighbor's house caught fire every time the power was turned on. The school, Bissonet Plaza Elementary, was closed for two weeks due to leaks in the roof and lack of power. Police patrolled with guns drawn because looting had occurred. The storm was bad enough, but the aftermath and the breakdown of humanity was worse.
I guess I am posting this because on one hand, I understand the fear and respect that these storms command. I understand that people can and should leave early, plan better and take control of their lives. But I also understand that there are people who because of their circumstances or because of the way they were raised, will never move out of the position of victim unless someone makes it imperative that they do so. I welcome those who are in need to our state. I will donate and help solicit donations. I will help you until you can help yourself. But I also expect that to be sooner rather than later. Galveston Photos here.Hurricane Betsy Photos here.
More Betsy Photos hereKatrina Mississippi Photos
This post has been edited by an administrator
In a very pointed address, the founder of The Weather Channel defines the demise of the channel as one of scientific reporting by saying that it's now for sale to the highest bidder. In short, he says that conventional wisdom is replacing scientific proof and that Al Gore and his minions are to blame. Interesting stuff.
FYI: Texas Droughts
Aug 3, 2008 | 9:51 PM PST
Category:
Weather
This post has been edited by an administrator
There seems to be a great deal of misinformation circulating about the cyclical nature of droughts. Drought has always been a feature of Texas weather. The quote saying that the Devil owned both Texas and hell, chose to rent out Texas and live in hell is a long told story. I grew up hearing how I was born during a water shortage in Dallas. I lived through the years in the 1980's where drought was a constant. As with everything else in life, weather is cyclical. Grapes grew in London in the late Roman times, but the Little Ice Age also brought hard frigid times on those islands as well. We do not yet have the data to know what a makes a complete cycle and anyone who claims that we do is lying because we've only kept accurate weather statistics since the late 19th century. For those who want to pretend that only the current rage of Global warming is valid,keep in mind that during the last gas crisis many of the same pundits were predicting a new ice age.
Those who want to peg this year's heat wave as unique either have memory loss or were born after 1980. Those of us who suffered through that summer know that it can be hot, and that it can repeat with many years of relatively cooler summers in between. To confirm this for skeptics, I have included the following research. And for those that can't seem to recall the day when it hit 113-maybe you should get your memory check."
Droughts have been recorded as a problem in Texas since Spaniards
explored the area. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vacaqv found a population of soil tillers near the site of present-day
Presidio, where it had not rained for two years. Regarding the
white man as a god, they begged him to tell the sky to rain. In
1720 a summer dry spell in Coahuila killed 3,500 of the 4,000
horses that the Marqués de Aguayo,qv governor of Texas, was prepared to bring to Texas. A drought in
Central Texas dried up the San Gabriel River in 1756, forcing
the abandonment of a settlement of missionaries and Indians. Stephen
F. Austin'sqv first colonists also were hurt by drought. In 1822 their initial
food crop of corn died from lack of moisture. Each decade since
then has been marked by at least one period of severe drought.
Associated with dry times are grasshopper plagues, brush and grass
fires, sand and dust storms, crop failures and depression, livestock
deaths, disease resulting from insufficient and impure drinking
water, and migrations of citizens from parched territory. Information
concerning pioneer-day droughts is sketchy because of the
absence of official statistics; but data on some droughts, especially
those during the nineteenth century, can be compiled from individual
complaints recorded in newspapers, diaries, and memoirs. In 1883
Texas opened its western school lands, drawing thousands of immigrant
farmers to the area. One of the worst droughts in Texas history
occurred in 1884-86, causing most of the farmers to fail and to
return to the East. In later years official detailed recordkeeping
makes possible a better understanding of the geographical distribution
of droughts. Drought occurs when an area receives, in a given
year, less than 75 percent of its average rainfall. The number
of drought years in each of ten geographical areas of Texas in
the 100 years between 1892 and 1992 was as follows: Trans-Pecos,sixteen years;
Lower Rio Grande valley, seventeen;
Edwards Plateau,seventeen;
South Central, fifteen;
Southern, fifteen;
North Central,
twelve;
Upper Coast, thirteen;
East Texas,ten;
High Plains,ten;
Low Rolling Plains, eight.
There has been at least one
serious drought in some part of the state every decade of the
twentieth century. The most catastrophic one affected every part
of the state in the first two thirds of the 1950s. It began in
the late spring of 1949 in the lower valley, affected the western
portions of the state by fall, and covered nearly all Texas by
the summer of 1951. By the end of 1952 the water shortage was
critical; Lake Dallas for instance held only 11 percent of its
capacity. Spring rains in 1953 gave some brief respite to Northeast
Texas. In the Trans-Pecos, however, only eight inches of rain
fell the entire year of 1953, and the drought grew worse from
1954 to 1956. Streams only trickled or dried up completely. The
drought ended abruptly in the spring of 1956 throughout Texas
with slow soaking rains. There were several less severe and shorter
droughts in the 1970s. Most were ended by rain from tropical storms.
A massive heat wave in 1980 started a severe drought that blistered
most of Texas during the early 1980s. This gradually worsened
until it reached extreme proportions in the Pecos River valley
during 1983. Even mesquite trees withered. It was ended in the
western half of the state by the residue of a north Pacific cyclone,
which moved across Mexico. The drought shifted eastward in 1984,
inflicting hardship on central and southern Texas; some towns
ran out of water and others enforced rationing. On occasion, attempts
to make rain artificially have been instituted by both private
individuals and public organizations, but these have met with
little success. Constant improvement in moisture conservation
and utilization, however, has aided Texans in their struggle with
drought.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Roy Sylvan Dunn, "Drought in West
Texas, 1890-1894," West Texas Historical Association Year
Book 37 (1961). W. C. Holden, "West Texas Droughts,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 32 (October 1928). Vance
Johnson, Heaven's Tableland: The Dust Bowl Story (New York:
Farrar, Straus, 1947). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center,
University of Texas at Austin. J. W. Williams, "A Statistical
Study of the Drought of 1886," West Texas Historical Association
Year Book 21 (1945).
Roy Sylvan Dunn"
Who Decides?
Apr 10, 2008 | 6:28 PM PST
Category:
Weather
Whose job is it to decide if an event features straight line winds or a verified tornado. If either one can do significant damage, why have a siren for one and not the other? I ask this because I honestly think that Carrollton is in some sort of doppler pocket that misses such things. A few years back, on a Saturday morning, my husband and son were in the attic working when a storm complete with strong winds and hail cropped up. I saw the funnel cloud form from my back porch and watched it lumber down the greenbelt. Roofs were lifted, fences strewn about and various small items tossed, yet when results came back, the news reported it was "just straight line winds." I beg to differ. I know what a funnel cloud looks like and the circular way that trees were twisted should have been a big clue. Another incident about seven years ago, I was at Hebron and Josey, the rain was blinding and I had to pull over. I was switching from one station to the next to find out what was going on and NOBODY said anything. It wasn't until my son came home talking about the tornado they saw from the practice field as they practiced their half-time show! Nobody told us. Now we are seeing the devastation in Desoto, which is serious. But honestly, I drove through the area, involuntarily, along Josey toward The Colony and saw huge metal electrical towers toppled and twisted. I saw the tops of trees twisted and split. I saw people hedges moved over to totally different yards. So is this a tornado or what? And if the devastation from "straight line winds" or "wind shear" is just as damaging as a tornado, shouldn't we get a warning for those instances as well? I think local cities need to step up the way they inform people. And I think the news needs to understand that all people who are in danger should be informed, not just the ones in the most danger.
Whither the Weather?
Dec 9, 2007 | 12:35 AM PST
Category:
Weather
Maybe it's just me, but weren't people complaining about a drought during the summer of 2005? And then the next year, when we got rain, weren't people complaining then? For the past few weeks every weather forecaster has been pointing out how warm it is in comparison to the "normal" temperature for this time of year. Now we are facing a relatively mild bit of cold weather, seasonally appropriate, and everyone is going NUTS! People, it's called WINTER. It happens after AUTUMN but before SPRING. Things change. I guess what set this rant off was some weather guy on another channel who was ooing and ahing over the cold weather in International Falls, MN. Do these people have a clue? It's cold up there sometimes in the SUMMER! Cold snow, blizzard conditions and such are the normal winter mileau. Could we just all get back to normal and stop thinking that every storm, every season and every potential hurricane forecast is a doomsday scenario? Thanks!
I admit to being something of a weather geek. Going through a couple of hurricanes and far too many tornadoes has that effect on a person. But has anyone other than me looked at the total projections for the combined locations of Henriette and Felix? It appears that Henriette disperses to a tropical low pressure system on the west coast of Mexico heading into New Mexico, West Texas and TransPecos region and that Felix at the same time will be moving up the coast of eastern Mexico as a tropical low pressure system. Unless I miss my guess, the place where they will "meet" is somewhere over central Texas. Any projections that far out? It looks like maybe a September 8-10th event. Of course I am just an amateur, but it is a little off-putting as they say.
Not Always a Bad Thing
Aug 15, 2007 | 11:47 AM PST
Category:
Weather
I've lived in Texas for most of my life and in the DFW area for all of my adult life. While I appreciate the tropical storm warnings, watches, etc. I think that to a certain extent when the news starts overhyping the severity of storms, the audience becomes complacent. Then we end up with a population that ignores orders to evacuate, such as happened with Katrina. I understand that the public needs to know if storms are pending, but I am concerned that what will happen with the tropical storm off our coast and with Dean out in the Atlantic is that the media will get all hot and bothered, and if nothing happens, it will just give people who could be in harm's way the next time an excuse to ignore the warnings. Remember, much of the destruction in Katrina came as a result of people waiting too late to evacuate. Early is better, but let's tone down the hype.
BTW. In my experience the only way the summer high fronts were ever diminished is by a tropical storm coming in south of Corpus and sweeping up to San Angelo and Abilene. It never failed to bring much needed late summer rain to Dallas. So while everyone needs to be careful, sometimes these storms bring welcome relief.
So for the last two years we have had a drought. Some of the driest summers on record, little relief during the other months. Miserable, right? So we all prayed for rain. And rain, as it has been recorded, we have gotten at record levels. So now people are complaining. I can understand that nobody likes being flooded out of their home and I know that too much rain can be just as devastating as too little for agriculture. BUT....if you look to the western US, they are dealing with a high pressure system and very high temperatures in a weather patterns similar to that which we experienced during the Summer of 1980. I remember that summer well because I drove a Chevy Monza with no air conditioning and worked downtown as a freelancer for the Dallas Morning News. There are NO WORDS that can convey how uncomfortable that entire summer was. Anyone who remembers it winces when they see the record highs locked on that year's stats. So although it is overcast and rainy, please consider that
IT COULD BE MUCH WORSE.
So You Think It's Wet Now?
Jul 1, 2007 | 6:36 PM PST
Category:
Weather
Here's a little image and an article from the Dallas Historical Society that I came across of the Trinity flooding in the good old pre-levee days. Enjoy.
"The relationship between Dallas and the Trinity River has never been quite what Dallas has intended.
Trinity River navigation
was a dream of many that was never realized. Floods occurred in 1844,
1866, 1871 and 1890, but none were as disastrous as the flood of 1908.
The river was 52.6 feet deep and a mile and a half wide. Five people
died, four thousand people were homeless, and property damages were
estimated at $2.5 million. Dallas was completely dark for three days,
all telephone and telegraph service was down, and rail service was
cancelled. Oak Cliff could only be reached by boat.
After the flood, the city began to discuss the possibilities of
flood control and a bridge linking Oak Cliff and Dallas. Prominent
citizens began to ask for long range city planning, and in 1911, George
Kessler released his plan. Major points included using levees to divert
the river, removing the railroad lines on Pacific Avenue, consolidating
railroad depots into one central one, new parks and playgrounds, and
the widening and straightening of several streets. Most of the plan
gathered dust, but in later years, many began to see its importance. In
1920, Kessler was brought back to update the plan, and by the 30s, many
of the ideas had been implemented."
Dallas Underwater
Wait for it....
May 9, 2007 | 10:37 PM PST
Category:
Weather
All this past year the talk on the news was low lake levels, no rain, blah blah blah. Now that we are in a rainy cycle, I am wondering how long it will be before someone starts to complain. Be careful what you pray for.....you might get it. Looks like alot of people prayed for rain!
Weatherford
Apr 24, 2007 | 8:35 PM PST
Category:
Weather
A friend of mine outside of Weatherford just called. They saw a wall cloud to the south. They were going into shelter. Ya'll keep safe out there.
Denton
Apr 24, 2007 | 6:50 PM PST
Category:
Weather
You guys may want to get someone with a camera up there. Evidently there's a good amount of street flooding around the UNT campus. And commuters trying to get to classes will find that Ft. Worth Ave is blocked also due to flooding. Some rehearsals have been canceled but it's up to the individual teachers to cancel tonight. Right now my son's at the QuikTrip on Eagle near the cemetery. There are stalled cars and it's pretty much a river. I am sure it's going to be a huge mess given that the whole Corinth Traffic Vortex is a mess even on a clear day.
White Knuckle Flying
Apr 13, 2007 | 1:46 PM PST
Category:
Weather
I am a big chicken when it comes to flying. So it wasn't a really good thing when I discovered that a trip for work would take place today, Friday the Thirteenth. Add the current weather to the mix and frankly I am having second third and fourth thoughts about the worthwhileness of this flight. ARgh.....
Tornado Season Do's and Don'ts
Apr 3, 2007 | 5:57 PM PST
Category:
Weather
As someone who has been through hurricanes, tornadoes, dust storms and pretty much everything short of a tsunami in between, I want to encourage EVERYONE to use common sense and take a few precautions to insure the safety of their families.
1. Find a safe room, closet or bathroom preferred, without windows to use in case of a tornado. Bathrooms are preferred due to pipes that anchor the rooms to the foundation.
2. Somewhere in your safe room,stash a WORKING flashlight, a small radio and possibly contact phone numbers in case of emergency.
3. Designate the safe room in some way that kids can remember. Help your kids to learn what to do if they are alone during a storm emergency. This is especially important if you leave your kids at your home with babysitters. Most serious injuries from tornadoes and storms happen after dark when people cannot see to prepare.
4. Avoid using candles during power failures, or if you do, make sure that they are carefully monitored and away from paper, curtains or flammable objects.
5. Watch the weather and be smart. During last week's storm as I drove past the Chik-Fil-A on Old Denton, I saw families with little kids playing on the outdoor playground! Lightening kills more than any storm and when you have cloud to cloud lightening, you are in a very exposed position. Don't play when lightening can be seen. It is good to remember that as a parent, you have a say in whether your child continues to play an organized game when such conditions are present. A few years back a football player from Terrell was killed on the practice field when it was simply overcast with no lightening for twenty miles! That's not safe enough.
6. Do not drive in water over the road. Period. Frankly I think there should be a stupidity clause enforced for this one as well as people who drive around railroad arms.
7. If you are in a location near the coast or headed to the coast when a tropical storm or hurricane is imminent, remember that no matter how small the storm, there are still consequences. The stories about folks who have "hurricane parties" are true. Unfortunately some of those folks are also dead. It won't kill you to wait it out inland and save the drama and emergency for those who HAVE to go through it in their hometown. Disasters don't need tourism. And you CAN get out of the way of a hurricane if you pay attention and don't wait until the last minute.
8. Have some sort of canned food and extra personal medications if you anticipate a serious storm.
9. Use you head when dealing with weather. I am tired of the rescue stories, I am tired of the foolishness that turns into tragedy. BE SMART ABOUT WEATHER!
Love The One You're With
Mar 31, 2007 | 2:15 PM PST
Category:
Weather
Back in July, there were numerous complaints, admonitions and various warnings regarding the dry spell and lack of rain. Having been around this area for most of my life, I can guarantee that some summers are like that-dry and hot. And they have been that way off and on for as long as this land has existed. Now it's spring and as with most normal spring seasons, we are getting rain. This isn't to mitigate the problems with people who have had to deal with destruction from tornadoes or flooding, but there are some of us who don't have to deal with such damage, that will end up on this or other blogs complaining about rain. Let's get real here-we live in an area with historically volatile weather. I remember from my days growing up in north Dallas some seasons were hot and some were cold. I remember snow a foot deep from a big Ice Storm when I was in high school. It's called seasonal change. And it happens. And although you may be depressed or tired of dealing with rain, it is a necessary thing. I guess the reason I am writing this is because it seems to me that many of the people who complained out the wazoo about last summer's drought are the same folks dismayed at this spring's rain events. Be thankful. It's part of a cycle. And like it or not, we don't control the weather. Sometimes things just happen.
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