Hurricane Watch and Warnings

With Tropical Storm Isaac becoming a Hurricane soon, I thought I remind everyone about what a Hurricane Watch is and how it differs from a Hurricane Warning

What is the difference?


HURRICANE WATCH

When a Hurricane Watch is issued this means the storm is within a 48 Hour time frame.  You should already have a plan ready to take action and to be prepared if a warning is issued later.  Make sure to check the news frequently for any changes in the storms path, a storm could grow to be a bigger threat than initially anticipated.

HURRICANE WARNING

When a Hurricane Warning is issued, you can expect the storm track to have a better chance to hit the predicted area within 36 hours. You should be ready to take precautions and stock up with supplies.  Again check your local news for details if an emergency declaration or evacuations are issued by state or local authorities.

I want to thank the American Red Cross for providing important safety information to the public

If you are in a Hurricane prone area, such as the Gulf Coast or the South, or Southeast coast of the US, I suggest you read more information here;
http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/hurricane

Anniversary of Irene for Montgomery County, PA

As Tropical Storm Isaac is currently hitting Key West Florida, I had a friend remind me that exactly one year ago today Irene was causing power outages and flooding throughout Southeastern PA.
the Mayor of Hatboro PA had to declare a weather emergency and even with this declaration there were many people still caught by surprise. 

Why is this you ask? 

We are prone to the simple fact that we rarely have bad weather and it is easy in our busy schedules to not pay attention to the news.   Hopefully with more people getting smartphones and have access to email, they have set up some kind of local  news or weather alert so that they receive critical information from many available news sources. Many business were affected by this storm due to power outages, downed trees and street flooding.

We are currently in an active time for the hurricane season, it is a good time to think about being prepared.

Here is my 2011 Weather Year in review Summary: http://climatedriver.blogspot.com/2011/12/looking-back-at-2011s-weather.html

 Hurricane Irene Wind Force Map

Why you should be prepared for a Hurricane

With Tropical Storm Isaac on the news and remembering Hurricane Irene, I wanted to share this video from NOAA that explains the the basics of a Hurricane threat.

Safety Tips

Tropical Storm to Hurricane Isaac

It is fascinating and scary at the same time to think that a tropical Low travels across the ocean from off the coast of Africa to then become a Tropical Storm with winds over 39 mph and with the very warm ocean water in the Caribbean it grows into a Hurricane.

The first image below shows its current projected track, several islands started to issue emergency warnings to it's citizens about this incoming storm.

There are some who say that making advanced statements on its path towards the US is silly.  I think it is better to be prepared than to wait and then have less time to evacuate or run out of supplies especially critical medication.   The Weather Channel last night stated that if it hits southern Florida, it could be with a force of at least a category 1 Hurricane.   A Category one hurricane is no joke, it still can bring deadly flooding rain and winds of 74 to 95 miles an hour.  The second image is to show a clear example of Hurricane track history.  The image does show a few storms that stray away from the US, but if you look closely, you can see that many of the storms did hit some part of the US.

The last and third image is of its future storm track.  Please note that today's forecast now states that this storm could bring up the 80 mph winds to Florida in less than 48 hours.

 So to put it simply if you live either in Southern Florida, the Gulf Coast, or the Southern US East coast to keep an EYE on this storm!

Many thanks to Weather Underground for a fantastic source of information 

wunderground.com

West Nile Virus Emergency

Blame a warm winter, that is what the experts are telling us.

Dallas Texas is under a state of emergency due to an outbreak caused by mosquito bites suffered by the residents in the area.

Here is some basic information collected by the CDC;

There are different types of West Nile illness, the most serious can affect a person's nervous system and can be deadly.

Depending on the type of WNV infection, there is a chance that you may not see any symptoms.
The two types of  illnesses are West Nile fever and Severe West Nile Disease. The most serious case can cause West Nile Meningitis.  Important note, Five cases of Meningitis were discovered in Pennsylvania.

Please click on this link from the CDC, these facts can save a life ; http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm

Here is the story done by PBS Newshour about the Dallas Emergency;

 I cannot stress the importance of taking safety measures to avoid Mosquito bites.   There has been known cases in our area in PA of people contracting NWV (West Nile Virus).  We need to take a good look and learn from what is going on in Dallas to prevent us from contracting this disease with no vaccine or cure.  Here is a Map of PA of outbreak areas; http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/USGS_frame.html

Did you know that they have been spraying areas of Montgomery County?

 Here are a list of stories from the Times Herald about West Nile in Montgomery County http://www.timesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search?crit=west+nile&StartDate=19990101&EndDate=20120818&Searchcategory=%25&BuildNavigators=1&noblankcheck=0&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
 

Here is a local Video Courtesy of WPVI TV Channel 6 Philadelpa, PA 

More useful information for safety and  prevention from Tick and Mosquito bites, for those who venture outdoors;

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-119/pdfs/2010-119.pdf