Tag Archives: Jeff Masters

Good golly, Miss Dolly

Posted on July 20, 2008 | Comments Off on Good golly, Miss Dolly

at200804_5day.JPG

So where’s the first tropical storm in the Gulf this season likely to wind up? So far Jeff Masters’ prediction above calls for a landfall as a minimal hurricane somewhere along the Texas-Mexico border, i.e. around Brownsville or Matamoros. For once, reduced as we often are to wishing for a hurricane to bring us some summer rain, we’ve got one that could do the job for us with a minimum of pain to others. But Accuweather’s Joe Bastardi thinks Dolly could be at least a Cat 2 by the time she reaches the border. More rain for us in Central Texas, maybe, but possibly also more pain for others along the Rio Grande.

Comments Off on Good golly, Miss Dolly

Posted in Weather/Climate

Tagged , ,

New Gulf storm?

Posted on September 16, 2007 | Comments Off on New Gulf storm?

Joe Bastardi sees one coming. So does Jeff Masters. And Alan Sullivan. From Masters:

"The four reliable computer models for forecasting genesis of tropical cyclones have been very busy the past few runs cooking up some nasty storms in the Western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for the coming week. Neither the timing nor the location of these hypothetical storms has been consistent. However, the models are insistent enough that something might happen, that I believe there is about a 40% chance we’ll see a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico by week’s end."

So hold onto your hats, down there on the Texas coast. Hurricane season ain’t over until it’s over.

Comments Off on New Gulf storm?

Posted in Weather/Climate

Tagged , , ,

Hurry-up hurricane

Posted on September 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Hurry-up hurricane

TS Humberto quickly spun up to a hurricane overnight and went ashore in Galveston County east of High Island at 2 a.m., dumping sixteen inches of rain, but sparing Houston and much of the upper Texas coast. By 8 a.m. today the National Weather Service still had it listed as a hurricane while it moved northeast across southwestern Louisiana. It could have been worse, said meteorologist Jeff Masters:

"Storms like Humberto give us the sobering reminder that as much as hurricane forecasting has improved in recent years, there is still much we do not understand–particularly in regards to intensity forecasting. If Humberto had had another 12-24 hours over water, it could have been a major hurricane that would have hit without enough time to evacuate those at risk."

Nevertheless, Port Arthur took a hit, with downed trees, flooding and power outages, and two tornadoes were reported near Galveston. JD, in Brazoria County, seems to have been spared, though he isn’t posting this early yet. Hurricane center does not show it, but Accuweather’s Joe Bastardi is wondering if Humberto might not curve around and get back over water…

Comments Off on Hurry-up hurricane

Posted in Weather/Climate

Tagged , , ,