Earl Envelopes Me — Featuring Ann Nyberg And Her Webcam

It can come true but it’s unlikely and deserves to be treated that way. It’s easy to make outlandish forecasts when you’ve got no skin in the game.

My website traffic’s up. I would guess you’re here wondering what I think of Earl? I’m in awe of this storm.

When the satellite map appeared on my screen tonight I marveled at the natural beauty of Hurricane Earl. Not all hurricanes are alike. Earl is classic.

Tonight Earl is exquisitely curved. The eye, 30 nautical miles in diameter, is nearly round. Earl is undisturbed, gorging on energy transferred from the warm waters below.

Few storms look like this. Most have faults or flaws. There’s a reason not every storm is as strong as Earl. A lot of things have to fall into place. It seldom happens.

At some point Earl will interact with land or colder water or the strong westerlies still to come. He will weaken.

I don’t know everything, but I’ve watched a lot of these storms. I am very intellectually curious in matters of science and technology.

Often during storms I chat with my friend Bob down in Tallahassee. He is one of a handful of the brightest minds in this field. Our conversations often center around interesting and esoteric observations. It’s stuff almost no one looks at. We talk about buoy readings a lot. Sometime we rate the hurricane forecasters at NHC as if they were eligible to be drafted onto some “fantasy meteorology” team.

“2 min,” he’ll type and two minutes later a link arrives. At the other end a beautifully rendered map or chart created on-the-spot to illustrate a point. Few people think this way. Fewer have this skill. It’s sort of amazing.

It’s funny how some viewers interpret what I’m doing. This was blogged this evening:

Our local meteorologist Geoff Fox says Earl should not be that much of a threat to the Connecticut coast, but you can hear the excitement in his voice. You just know he’s waiting for the big one.

Really? I just want to grit my teeth and let out a small scream. Everything I’ve done has been to try and balance what we’ll see with what at the moment is a freak of nature! I don’t want to see the big one or even the medium one. I have too much respect… too much fear.

I often get emails and phone calls trying to sell me on a more exciting forecast. Their logic always has multiple ifs. It can come true but it’s unlikely and deserves to be treated that way. It’s easy to make outlandish forecasts when you’ve got no skin in the game.

Ann Nyberg came to the Weather Center tonight. She interviewed me for her website.

4 thoughts on “Earl Envelopes Me — Featuring Ann Nyberg And Her Webcam”

  1. Funny, I’ve watched you since your first day at Channel 8 and I have never noticed you getting excited hoping for us to get hit with the big storms. You have always tried to get it across that storms need to be respected. People that live here should know that they need to have batteries, water and non perishable food just in case with hurricanes or nor’easters. Not to do so is playing russian roulette.

  2. “Pain in the ass day”. Pretty much sums it up doesn’t it? There’s always that “what if?” that hangs in the back of my mind with storms like this. I won’t relax til it passes.

  3. You know what Fox, that was fun asking you questions, you’re not bad on camera. Notice how I tried to cover a lot of ground in 2 minutes? Now let see what happens with Earl.

  4. What I like the most about your forecasts is the general LACK of hype. I think you do a great job, and your enthusiasm for what you do couldn’t be more obvious.

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