Record LOW Hurricane Activity in U.S.

At last week's American Meteorological Society meeting a speaker told us that Sandy's path was due to climate change and that we may have more "Sandy's" in the future -- two rather dubious contentions. It appears that some climate scientists rely too much on their computer models and don't pay attention to what the real atmosphere is doing.

Today, we celebrate (and that is the correct word) the fact is has been 2,811 days since a category 3 or stronger hurricane struck the United States. That is the longest interval -- nearly eight years --  in history with records going back to the 19h Century! Each day, we add to that happy record.

Remember how, after Katrina and the very active 2005 season, we are assured that global warming was going to make hurricanes worse?


That didn't turn out, either. Hurricanes and tropical storm activity went down after the 2005 season and have stayed at relatively low levels (the records go back to 1979 when weather satellites allowed us to survey the entire earth).
Will we break the record this hurricane season? Who knows? The good news is that the record will extend at least another week as there is nothing out there now.

Comments

  1. Good post. FYI. in the next-to-last line, you mean "extend", not "extent".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good catch, Tim. Thank you. Correction made.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So the record low season must be why the NWS extended comment period for the WDT contract to be the exclusive vendor for NHC video updates... Curious what you know about http://www.imaphurricane.info/

    1) Was it put out for bid?

    2) NHC hosts audio briefings on their page, why did they need an outside source for video? Why not use YouTube? http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/audio/ According to the PNS, it was because WDT has access to distant media outlets and the public.

    3) There are a lot of links to WDT on the page, which smells like a commercial endorsement by NWS. Is it good for NWS to pick out one company and plug them?

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  4. Thanks, Rob. I'll take a look at it.

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  5. Just got this back from NHC:

    1) NHC is doing an experiment to investigate and research technology for the purpose of disseminating hurricane information necessary for the protection of life and property, which is a primary part of the mission of the National Hurricane Center. To that end, NHC is experimenting with technology based at WDT on the Internet Protocol (IP) for delivering audio/ video stream via terrestrial and satellite Internet connections to television outlets and media websites. This system would also be expected to allow the delivery of the hurricane message to hurricane-threat zones where there is no direct communication links between the media in that area and the NHC.

    2) No NWS office is using a live internet broadcast system.

    3) There is no promotion. Under the experiment, WDT is providing the sole means necessary to disseminate the broadcasts. It is independent of the NHC website and the U.S. government.

    At the end of this year and the end of the experiment, NHC and NOAA will decide if this experimental phase was successful and if/how it could be brought to an operational phase.

    Kind regards,

    -Dennis

    ReplyDelete

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