Looks like Gamma is (almost) here

[phantom power]

In his previous post, Masters speculated that TD-27 had a shot at becoming a major hurricane, if it became an organized tropical storm. Wouldn't that be something.

Tropical Depression 27 has improved significantly in its appearance on visibile satellite imagery the past few hours, and it is very likely that this storm will be upgraded to Tropical Storm Gamma at 4 pm. The storm's deep convection has increased and now covers the circulation center, and an impressive spiral band has formed to the south. Satellite intensity estimates from The University of Wisconsin's CIMSS estimate that this is a 1000 mb tropical storm with 50 mph winds. Wind shear has dropped from 25 knots to about 20 knots this morning, which is still high enough to prevent anything more than slow strengthening. The remainder of this morning's discussion appears below, unchanged.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=235&tstamp=200511

[NNadir]

1. Gee, I'd forgotten about hurricanes.

I have a short attention span.

[phantom power]

2. But they remember you. They remember all of us.

[dcfirefighter]

3. Like the sea, hurricanes have no memory

elephants, on the other hand...

[hatrack]

4. Not November 30th yet

But I'll drink a cold one when it does arrive. :toast:

[phantom power]

5. I think December 31st should be the new end of season.

And, what the heck, I'll be drinking a cold one on Dec-31 anyway.
:toast:

[Dogmudgeon]

6. A year-round season is yet possible

Given fifty more years of global warming, hurricane and tropical cyclone development will be year-round, and not nearly as predictable, more like tornado formation has been.

As for the tornadoes, we've had a super-outbreak this week, which is rare for November, even though there is a well-defined "mini-peak" around this time of the year. Only the "mini-peak" has always been far less destructive than it's been this year.

I still use this as the criterion for the Apocalypse: tropical cyclone formation within the Arctic. My predictions? Any time from tomorrow onward. It's not really a prediction, it's my hunch of how much meteorological change we stand to encounter from global warming.

And don't even get me started on the probability of a "snap-back" effect, to an ice age.

--p!