Is Our Hurricane Season Over? September 28, 2010

 

Click image to view Tuesday’s webcast:

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Bolivar After Ike July 30, 2010

Twenty feet is the 100-year floodplain, but this still may be too low.  Homes built above 20 feet survived Hurricane Ike, while every home at 19 feet and below was washed away on Bolivar.  Timothy Reinhold, chief engineer for the Institute for Business & Home Safety, says homes built on the shoreline should be 26 feet, the 500-year floodplain.  He believes Texas should follow Florida’s lead and enact building codes that exceed international residential codes.

Alan and Lynn Bunn’s home after Ike and June of 2010

Hurricane Giveaway June 1, 2010

To help get you prepared for this hurricane season we’re giving away this Energizer emergency battery kit.  If you win you’ll get a flashlight, battery-powered radio, cell phone charger and extra batteries.  Even if you don’t win, you should be prepared for a power outage with one flashlight per person in the family and additional batteries.  Don’t use candles, approximately 15,000 house fires are caused by candles. In 2008 many residents were without power for a few days to several weeks because of Hurricane Ike.  To win the kit simply respond to this post with a way your family prepares for the hurricane season or something you’d like to do different to make sure you are ready for any storm.   

Everything Hurricanes August 17, 2009

With the tropics now in full swing we have your one stop shop to follow all the named storms. 

This is an image from our justweather.com site.  It is an excellent source of information for everything tropical.  Check it out by clicking image or go here:

Just Weather Hurricane Page

Ask Anthony July 6, 2009

From Jessie:

will houston get a big hurricane or any at all????

That’s the big question. No one knows the future, but we all have to be prepared. As the image shows, on average southeast Texas gets hit with a hurricane once every 12 years.  The key is to always be prepared.  There is no harm in preparing for the worst and hoping we don’t get hit.  We went through Ike last year, so we know the supplies we need and how to survive a week or longer without power.

The Weather Research Center, located in Houston, is stating that Louisiana and Mississippi are at an elevated risk of getting hit this year.

Joe Bastardi, an Accuweather forecaster, is saying Galveston needs to be on guard with the potential of a storm forming close to shore this hurricane season. 

This image does not include Ike, but does give the forecast tracks going back to 1871.  (Click to enlarge)

Ask Anthony June 27, 2009

If the beach water is at 92 degrees, would this make for a very severe storm should one develop…

R. Horine

Good question.  Water temperature is only one part of hurricane development.  Think of a tropical system like a race car.  The water temperature is the engine, the warmer it is the stronger a storm can get.  But you also need gas.  Gas would be the mid and upper layers of the atmosphere.  For a powerful storm you need the winds to go in one direction from the surface to 5,000 feet.  If there are shearing winds (winds that go in the opposite direction) it will typically weaken a storm.  Of course we need a good set of wheels…  I think you understand the analogy.  A storm needs a high relative humidity to gain strength; it also needs cooler temperatures in the upper levels of the atmosphere.  If the conditions are perfect a powerful hurricane will form.  Water temperature is only one part of the equation.

Anthony Yanez