John Homenuk

NOAA announces Summer 2014 was warmest ever on Earth

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2014 has been officially announced as the warmest summer on Earth, since records began in 1880. The newest climate report published by the National Climate Data Center at NOAA released the information today as well as other in-depth information from around the world for this summer and its individual months. In addition to the summer as a whole being the warmest on record, August 2014 was also the warmest August ever recorded on Earth, finishing 0.75 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average.

While the summer in our area was relatively average, if not cool, the ocean waters throughout the globe and different land areas worldwide led to the wildly above-average temperatures. The summer as a whole finished 0.71 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average. The ocean temperatures set a record high anomaly for all months.

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Doug Simonian

PM Update: Gorgeous weather continues, 80 degrees Sunday

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While the first day of Fall is technically not until Tuesday, September 23rd, we have already had a lovely taste of fall and this should continue for the foreseeable future. In the wake of yesterday’s rain, an area of high pressure has filtered in, leading to sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. Some cumulus clouds are forming to the west as evidenced in the latest satellite — but those will not be producing any rain.

With clear skies and calm winds tonight, temperatures should fall quickly into the 50s, and perhaps into the 40s in the coldest spots.

Moving forward to tomorrow, the weather looks very similar today — but with perhaps a few more clouds and a touch warmer — with temperatures in the mid 70s. Winds shifting a bit more northwesterly as a high pressure system approaches will allow for a tad more downsloping flow, explaining the warming. On Thursday night, the high pressure will pass directly to our north, shifting the winds to the north and then the northeast, which will help to make conditions relatively chilly on Thursday night and Friday.

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John Homenuk

Hurricane Floyd still a fresh memory after 15 years

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Hurricane Floyd, although it was a Tropical Storm by the time it reached our area, left a lasting impact on much of the United States East Coast. Although the memories of many in our area are fogged by the tremendous damage from Hurricane Sandy, Floyd brought it’s own slew of effects 15 years ago today. The storm left an incredible amount of flooding in New Jersey — and while high winds and beach erosion weren’t major concerns –multiple deaths and millions of dollars in damage occurred.

Unlike Sandy the main story with Floyd was, as aforementioned, heavy rain. The storm developed in the Atlantic several days before impacting the United States East Coast and then strengthened into a hurricane. Eventually, Floyd peaked as a Category 4 storm as it struck the Bahamas. The storm then began to turn northward and eventually began interacting with a mid level system from the Central United States into the Ohio Valley. Similarly to Hurricane Sandy, the phase between these two systems tugged the Tropical Storm toward the Mid-Atlantic coast.

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John Homenuk

Pictures, videos of Hurricane Odile slamming Mexico

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Hurricane Odile slammed into the Baja Peninsula this weekend, tied for the strongest hurricane ever to impact them in recorded history. The powerful storm was packing sustained winds of 125 miles per hour with with higher gusts as its center passed extremely close to Cabo San Lucas on Sunday Night. The storm has weakened today, but is still churning northwestward. Over the next few days, it will turn eastward as a result of mid level interactions in the atmosphere — and bring the potential for historical rains to parts of the Southwestern United States — Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Pictures and videos of the devastation from the hurricane’s impact along the Baja Peninsula are being posted, submitted and shared at an increasing volume this afternoon. Some of them are compiled below — and we’ll continue to add them as we receive them over the next few days.

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