Weather

Hurricane Ike Poised to Strike Galveston

Hurricane Ike is going to kill a lot of people who don't evacuate Galveston and the surrounding Texas coast before it strikes tonight. I just heard a disturbing report on MSNBC that disabled residents have yet to be evacuated and can't reach emergency authorities on the phone. Weather Underground Jeff Masters offers this grim assessment: Hurricane Ike is closing in on Texas, and stands poised to become one of the most damaging hurricanes of all time. Despite Ike's rated Category 2 strength, the ... (read more)

2008/09/12

Tropical Storm Bertha Forms in East Atlantic

Tropical Storm Bertha formed in the Atlantic today at a record-setting location that suggests an active hurricane season, meteorologist Jeff Masters blogs: Today's formation of Bertha at 25 degrees West longitude is the farthest east a tropical storm has ever formed in the Atlantic so early in the season. It is also the farthest east a tropical storm has formed in the month of July. Reliable records of Eastern Atlantic storms go back to 1967, the beginning of the geostationary satellite era. Is ... (read more)

2008/07/03

Burma Government Didn't Warn of Killer Cyclone

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with the web site Weather Underground, has uncovered an amazing story related to the cyclone that killed thousands in Burma: The government buried a warning of the impending storm on page 15 of a state-run newspaper. Many of you have expressed amazement that so many could die from a tropical cyclone in this day and age of satellites and modern communications. Why did it happen? I believe there are two main reasons: the historical lack of tropical cyclones that have ... (read more)

2008/05/14