Messages

361

Hurricane Central / Re: Hurricane Humberto

« on: September 09, 2013, 11:42:16 AM »

TD 9 becomes TS Humberto, with sustained winds of 45 mph.  This storm looks to be our first hurricane of the 2013 Atlantic season by Tuesday or Wednesday, but it will remain far away from the U.S. (for now).

362

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Gabrielle

« on: September 05, 2013, 12:55:23 PM »

Not much action from Gabrielle.

363

General Weather Chat / Farmers' Almanac Winter 2013-2014 Outlook

« on: August 25, 2013, 10:33:51 PM »

Well, we know its accuracy has been questionable in the past, but here is what Farmers' Almanac is predicting for the upcoming winter.  Looks like a cold one for literally all of us.  Therefore, it will be interesting to see how things play out.  I, for one, am not looking forward to a repeat of last year.

364

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Erin

« on: August 17, 2013, 12:16:51 PM »

Somehow, I wonder if this year's hurricane season is going to be like this year's severe weather season?   Nothing, nothing, nothing...then, boom, an explosion of hurricanes, with a few of them being major.

365

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 17, 2013, 12:13:07 PM »

Congratulations Matthew!
You are the winner of Round 4 of the TWCT/TWCC Forecasting contest!  You may choose the city for Round 5, provided it is not in the Eastern Time Zone and has a functioning ASOS station with an official NWS daily climate summary for the station, per the rules.  Please PM Patrick or me when you have chosen your city.

As Patrick is on vacation this week and I am starting my first week of classes, the next round will probably start the week of August 26.  We will coordinate later and decide.  Thank you to everyone who participated in this round!

Tampa, FL (KTPA) Day 10 Verification

High:  89°F
Low:  78°F
POP:  100%
Precipitation:  0.26"

366

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 16, 2013, 06:57:40 PM »

Hi guys.  Sorry for the long delay in getting the results to you.  Yesterday was move-in day for me back at OU, which was pretty hectic.  I appreciate you both being so diligent in remembering your forecasts for today.

This post will have BOTH the Day 8 and Day 9 verifications.  I will post the Day 10 verification tomorrow and announce a winner.  Thanks for participating in this round!

Tampa, FL (KTPA) Day 8 (August 14) Verification

High:  92°F
Low:  75°F
POP:  100%
Precipitation:  2.11" *
*This value broke a precipitation record for the day.  The old record was 2.06" in 1917.

Tampa, FL (KTPA) Day 9 (August 15) Verification

High:  90°F
Low:  78°F
POP:  100%
Precipitation:  0.09"

As you can see, Wednesday's significant precipitation amount proved to be a big shocker when comparing the actual results with your forecasts.  Just shows how difficult forecasting can be!

367

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 14, 2013, 01:32:03 PM »

Results from Day 7.  Still a very close round!

Tampa, FL (KTPA) Day 7 Verification

High:  92°F
Low:  79°F
POP:  0%
Precipitation:  0.00"

368

General Weather Chat / Re: What's the weather in your area?

« on: August 13, 2013, 08:29:21 PM »

75°F Thunderstorm...coming to an end

Temperature was 98°F at 3:53 PM...91°F at 4:53 PM...80°F at 5:53 PM...75°F at 6:53 PM.  I'm ready for this cold front!

369

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 13, 2013, 11:51:59 AM »

Here is the verification and results from Day 6.  You both did a very good job, nailing the high temperature.  You may now enter your Day 8 forecasts for Wednesday, August 14, 2013 before midnight EDT tonight.

Tampa, FL (KTPA) Day 6 Verification

High:  95°F
Low:  80°F
POP:  0%
Precipitation:  0.00"

370

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 11, 2013, 01:44:29 PM »

Metarvo and Matthew:

This is a reminder that the contest has resumed, and your forecasts for Tampa, FL for Monday, August 12 are due by midnight EDT tonight.  I hope both of you are still able to participate in this round.

371

Forecasting / Re: Accuweather launches "revolutionary" 45-day forecasts.....

« on: August 07, 2013, 09:51:25 PM »

Is AccuWeather just trying to embarrass themselves?   As Craig and the article said, I remember when AccuWeather launched the 25-day forecasts and everyone making a big fuss over that.  Now we're at 45, even though 25 was still far from accurate.  Heck, even the NWS (which I consider to be a better source than AccuWeather) had a difficult time with a forecast only 2 days out when I was in New York.  A forecast of 81 degrees for a high and sunny skies was in reality a high of 68 degrees and rain.  If we struggle with forecasts only a few days out, how can we even begin to think (detailed) forecasts over a month out will be of any use?

And I know AccuWeather claims it's for planning purposes, etc. but I bet even the average person who knows nothing about weather models or whatever would think that relying on a 45-day forecast was crazy.

372

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: August 05, 2013, 10:18:56 PM »

Which came first: Hurricane Week or Shark Week?

373

Forecasting / Re: Round 4: Tampa, FL

« on: August 03, 2013, 05:13:26 PM »

Important!  Please read!

For those of you participating in the contest, week 2 of forecasting for Tampa, FL will be delayed by one week until Monday, August 12.  Patrick is unable to be on the forums because his computer is under repairs, and I am on vacation this week and do not have access to the spreadsheet as I only brought my phone.

Forecasting will resume for Monday, August 12.  I apologize for inconveniencing everyone participating in the contest.  Thank you for your understanding.

374

Programming and Graphics / Re: New Graphics coming to TWC

« on: July 26, 2013, 11:51:35 PM »

Those title bars look exactly the same as the red ones, just in blue.  The blue is definitely a nice color.  Personally, I think red should only be used during a "Breaking News" or "Storm Alert" type of event.  Out of curiosity, have the L3rds changed as well?  Those used to always be red.

375

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: July 26, 2013, 11:49:51 PM »

Has everyone been enjoying their summer so far?  It's been pretty quiet around here, but I imagine some of you of are on vacation now.  I sure hope to reach mine in 24 days.

Well... I just got back from a week-long vacation with my family to the Northeast coast.  My brother is interested in attending a military academy, so we started in Annapolis, MD at the Naval Academy, worked our way up to West Point, NY for the US Military Academy (Army), spent a couple of days in New York City, then ended up in New London, CT at the Coast Guard Academy before returning home this evening.  I have to say it was a really fun trip, especially considering I have never been farther north than Washington, DC before.  NYC was definitely an interesting experience - all I have to say is that city is something else, and I can understand how it earned the title of "The city that never sleeps!"  The academies were neat too, and each one had its own unique feel to it.  I have to say West Point was the nicest campus, located in the mountains.

The weather was all over the place.  Luckily when we were touring the schools and spending time in New York it never rained, but we had to deal with heavy downpours driving to the different locations in the afternoon.  (I can now understand why some of you up in that area are tired of the rain.)  I now also understand why Northeast heat waves are of great concern because the humidity, especially at Annapolis, was unbearable.  Of course, I will say that we got quite a wake-up call on Thursday when temperatures were in the 60s all day!  I couldn't believe it when I saw people wearing jackets in late-July!  It was cold, especially for someone who is used to the 90s and 100s in the summer!  But based on Craig's latest post of a record minimum maximum temperature in the Long Island thread, I trust this is not normal, even for the Northeast.   Following latest week's heat wave, I'm sure it was a nice change for some.