Tag: visible satellite image

Big Buzz In The South Atlantic

I hadn’t been on the computer more than a few seconds when I got an instant message from Bob in Florida. Had I seen what was going on in the South Atlantic?

For tropical weather systems, the South Atlantic is like Death Valley. There are a variety of reasons they just don’t form or exist there. That is, until today.

With no reconnaissance flights and little advance study, it’s tough to say 100% whether this is a tropical storm or hurricane (I guess it would be a cyclone there). But, the photo makes a very convincing case.

Based on some visible satellite image loops I’ve seen, it’s intensifying and heading toward the Brazilian coast. This storm, if it continues, will bring a type of weather unheard of to a place ill prepared to deal with it.

I have looked in all the usual places to find more information on the storm. The Hurricane Center has nothing. Same thing goes for the Navy’s FNMOC. I would doubt the Brazilians have a hurricane forecasting branch of their own.

Stay tuned. This will be interesting. And, I’m not sure it would even get a name as there’s no list for that area.

Snow – Satellite View

We’re in the midst of the storm now. There had been a lull for much of the morning, but now the snow is back in earnest. The latest computer models say we’ll get enough snow by tonight that my forecast will come true.

The official meteorological term for this is ‘verify,’ as in “the forecast verified.”

I’ve attached a visible satellite image on the left. It’s very impressive and very unusual. There is an ‘eye’ to this storm, almost like a hurricane or tropical storm. There are structural differences in this storm, it’s not a tropical system. Still the picture is very impressive.