Hurricane Donna Video

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the arrival of Hurricane Donna to the Northeast. Here is a video showing the effects of the Hurricane on the Rockaways on Long Island. Read more about Hurricane Donna in the entry below.

Paul

Remembering Hurricane Donna

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the arrival of Hurricane Donna to New England. Donna impacted most of the Caribbean Islands and every single state on the Eastern seaboard. The hurricane recorded 160 mile-an-hour winds with gusts up to 200 miles-an-hour. Hurricane Donna holds the record for retaining ‘major hurricane’ status of Category 3 or better in the Atlantic basin for the longest period of time. In fact, it was so strong that the name "Donna" has been retired.

This storm is the only one on record to produce hurricane-force winds in Florida, the mid-Atlantic States, and New England. Donna hit New England in southeastern Connecticut with sustained winds of 100 miles-an-hour, gusting to 125 to 130 miles-an-hour. It eventually moved diagonally through New England into Maine. The hurricane produced pockets of four-to-eight inches of rain as well as five to ten-foot storm surges. The storm ultimately killed 364 people and caused over  $500 million in damage. 

Donna crossed the Florida Peninsula on September 11. Despite its path over land, the storm remained intense and reorganized when it moved back into the Atlantic Ocean. It struck eastern North Carolina and parts of South Carolina as a Category 3 storm. After reaching the ocean a third time, Hurricane Donna accelerated, crossing Long Island and then the New England region on late September 12 and early September 13 as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island. Take a look at the front page of the Naugatuck Daily News from the previous day, September 12, 1960.

  

Storm surge values reached 11 feet in New York Harbor, which destroyed many piers. A resort area in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey, saw its boardwalk and tourist attractions destroyed by the hurricane, and the area never recovered. Blue Hill Observatory in Massachusetts reported gusts to over 145 mph. The strong southwest winds associated with Donna at Chatham led to a significant deposit of salt spray, which whitewashed southwest-facing windows. Many trees and shrubs saw their leaves brown due to the salt.

From the time it became a tropical depression to when it dissipated after becoming an extratropical storm, Donna roamed the Atlantic from August 29 to September 14, a total of 17 days. Donna briefly achieved Category 5 strength while crossing the Atlantic. The highest sustained winds measured for Hurricane Donna were 160 miles-an-hour, and the lowest measured pressure was 930mb. At the time Donna struck North Carolina, its eye was unusually large, ranging from 50 to 80 miles in diameter.

Paul

"It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature"

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

You may remember that famous line from the Parkay margarine television commercial many years ago. Mother Nature was fooled into believing that Parkay was real butter. Once she realized she was duped, Mother Nature raised her arms, caused a loud rumble of thunder, then announced, "It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature."

Well, many years later, scientists from Geneva University at Switzerland may be doing just that. The researchers can make rain by shooting lasers high up into the sky. They successfully demonstrated the technique in field tests after setting up a mobile laser laboratory near Lake Geneva. The team fired lasers for 133 hours, during which time the pulses created nitric acid particles in the air.

The particles ‘stuck’ to water molecules which turned to droplets. The larger size droplets were not able to re-evaporate and within seconds, but grew to drops a few thousandths of a millimeter in diameter. According to the researchers, the droplets were too small to fall as rain, but the demonstration proved that the technology has a real advantage.

Jérôme Kasparian, a physicist at the University of Geneva, wrote, “We have not yet generated raindrops. They are too small and too light to fall as rain. To get rain, we will need particles a hundred times the size, so they are heavy enough to fall.” Still, the long-term ramifications of such a discovery are huge. For the first time, we may be able to determine where and when rain falls. With the help of this technology, many problems like drought and starvation can be solved. 

While ‘cloud seeding’ has existed for some time, it is not considered a safe way of creating rain clouds because it involves filling the air with small particles of dry ice and silver iodide, meaning that along with raindrops falling from the sky, so would chemicals that have far-reaching implications on the environment. But the new laser method is different. It uses natural humidity levels and atmospheric conditions to create water droplets.

Further, the method actually has the potential to stop storms. Instead of creating rain, the lasers could create so many tiny droplets in the air that none of them will grow large enough to fall. “Maybe one day this could be a way to attenuate the monsoon or reduce flooding in certain areas,” Kasparian said. Think of how valuable that would be, especially after the massive regional flooding from Tropical Storm Irene and the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

 

Who knows? Maybe years from now we won't have to worry about Summertime droughts or even flooding from heavy rains. The photo above was taken in East Norwalk during Tropical Storm Irene. Fortunately, we won't need any artificial methods to keep us dry this weekend. We can expect partly to mostly sunny skies with daytime highs in the upper 70s tomorrow and lower 70s Sunday. There is a slight chance of a shower Sunday, but we won't need to worry about shooting it down with a laser beam.

Have a good weekend. 

Paul

"And Rain Fell on the Earth for 40 Days and 40 Nights"

"And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." You may be familiar with the King James bible version of the book of Genesis, chapter seven, verse 12. That verse may very well apply to our weather across southwestern Connecticut since August 1. Over the last 40 days, we have received more than a foot of rain. Although it hasn't rained every single day, the weather pattern has been extremely wet.

Heavy downpours happened last night and early this morning, creating dangerous conditions on area roadways. Heavy showers and a possible thunderstorm will continue through midday before tapering this afternoon. However, local rivers and streams are swollen, and flooding of low-lying areas can be expected. A Flood Watch has been issued for Northern Fairfield County through this afternoon.

Nearly a half-inch (0.41") of rain fell yesterday, bringing the two-day total to 2.75 inches. Consider the normal rainfall for the first week of September is 0.80 inches. Cumulatively, since August 1, we've had 12.32 inches of rain, including the delgue from Tropical Storm Irene, and the heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. There have been 14 days with measured rain since the first of August, including five days with more than one inch. Here is a photo taken yesterday of the Mianus River in Stamford.

 

There have been three days with more than two inches of rain. They include August 14 (2.75"), August 28 (2.50"), and September 6 (2.34"). There were heavy rains on back-to-back days four times, including August 6 and 7 (1.26"), August 14 and 15 (3.17"), August 14 and 15 (3.17), and September 6 and 7 (2.75"). Today's rain will bring the three-day total to nearly three-and-a-half inches, which is the normal rainfall for the entire month.

Fortunately, our weather picture will gradually improve over the next couple of days. Tomorrow will become partly sunny, warmer, and more humid with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm and a high near 80 degrees. There may be an early shower or two Saturday, but the day will feature a mix of sun and clouds with a high in the middle 70s. Sunday will be partly sunny with a high in the 70s.

"And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." Tomorrow marks 40 days since August 1. It's about time our weather pattern changed.

Paul

100 Captured Moments of Hurricane Irene

Ralph Fato created the following video of Hurricane Irene. He wrote, "Just wanted to share a video I made from pictures of all different locations." This is outstanding. Thanks, Ralph.

Taking a Look at August by the Numbers

Tropical Storm Irene was the top weather story in southwestern Connecticut last month and that, not surprisingly, helped make August much wetter and warmer than normal. In fact, more than nine-and-a-half inches of rain fell during the month, which was nearly a half-foot above normal.

There were 12 days with measured rain last month, including 2.75" August 14 and 2.50" August 28, during Tropical Storm Irene. More than two inches of rain (2.17") fell over a two-day period on August 14 and 15, and the two-day total of 3.35" from August 27 and 28 capped four successive days of measured rain.

The average daily temperature in August was 74.8 degrees, one-and-a-half degrees above normal. The hottest temperature recorded last month was 92 degrees on August 2. The mercury also reached 90 degrees August 8. All but 11 days last month featured an average temperature at or above normal.

Tropical Storm Irene dropped the barometric pressure to 28.57" the morning of August 28. The peak wind gust was 63 miles an hour at daybreak last Sunday at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. Three-to-nine inches of rain fell across much of the region during the storm. Linda of Norwalk sent this photo during the tropical storm.

The holiday weekend won't be a washout, but it won't be perfect, either. We'll see partly sunny skies with increasing humidity tomorrow. There is a slight chance of an isolated shower tomorrow afternoon. Sunday will be partly sunny and warm with a shower or thunderstorm with a high in the lower 80s. The best chance of showers and thunderstorms is Monday with a high near 80.

Have a great holiday weekend.

Paul