Off on the Gulf

[Riley Smith]

Yeah, I could see it off on the Gulf. Several hundred miles away just before sunrise. All the whole sky was  that tropical blue with no clouds, except afar off to the ESE. There is a spot they're watching and it reminded me of the time Georges was headed our way.  I could see that one too, a band of white in the sky, low on the horizon afar off. and no other clouds under the canopy of heaven. That was the last time the pier was in one piece.
You can see hundreds of miles away in the right conditions. Before sunrise, before the glare and the haze picks up. Before the cumulus get started and it gets really hot. Before the laser in the sky starts zapping, you can see very far. When the sunrays are passing through and not straight down. If you've never experienced the pre-dawn hours of a summer day on the edge of the Gulf, you've missed a fine thing. Almost always it is dead calm and the blue of the sky is reflected in the waters like the mirror it is. A mirror of water stretching out as far as you can see.

It's vicious hot. The grass I mowed is not happy and suffering under the UV. There is very little wind and little to go on when trying to determine exactly WHERE a storm is going. In these conditions, they create their OWN weather. The Hurricane Hunters are supposed to go take a look. Probably more a training flight just yet, than anything. Nothing like what a Cape Verde action is like just yet, but that doesn't mean it can't be a real problem. This one is close in and not a week away. We'll see....

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[Riley Smith]

A depression now...still getting it's act together. Moving 1 mph. I TOLD you there was very little wind. A few showers off the thing would be nice. But I'm not wishing a flood like ONE gave us. SO far it doesn't have a name. Buy your insurance while you still can.

[Riley Smith]

We've been on the edge of it for 1/2 the day, on one side it was cloudy with a shower or two. On the other, blue sky with the edges emphasizing the creeping pace as a veil of cirrus. Darker to the SE and a shower or two just east of us. A little lightning too. Just a summer sky with cumulus and a shower or two. A more serious squall line is approaching though, and looking further to the north in Tennessee, a whole army of reinforcements is headed this way in the form of more moisture. All of this approaches from the North and East as the storm begins to draw fuel. We'd been in a really clear, dry hole in the atmosphere for a few days but it is being pushed out. I wonder if the fish are hungry? Normally just before a big storm they go on a rampage! Depending on what's happening. And this one is shielding the beach as what little wind is from the NE!

Here's the old NOAA site recreated and that I use a lot to keep posted about which way the storm is coming from.

https://www.radarmonster.com/regions/southmissvly/

I'm lucky enough not to have a boat in the water. If I did, I'd be taking action this very minute.

[Riley Smith]

Present projections say it'll graze the coast all the way to TX as a TS maybe. It's not well organized and that dry air is inhibiting it seems to me. The squall line was no joke last night, but we caught a seam and missed the worst of it. Got a rain out of it and that always helps. The lightning was vicious on the seacoast to the SW of us, a constant boom for a while. That wad of clouds is almost to Mexico this morning. I'm making motions to go fish the falling tide for a while and look out on that water.

[Riley Smith]

Strangest storm I've seen...

Looking at the sat shot, the center of the storm is clear or more or less clear. The spiral bands are no joke though, and it is possible that this one spit tornados like tacks. Pensacola is getting one of the leading bands this evening...5pm central. At least, it looks like that might be the edge of the activity. Here 90 miles away, it's clear with some puffy cumulus in the beautiful blue and brutally hot. 91 F in the shade and killing in the sun. Clear sky, low humidity (), and very little wind. What there is, is coming from the North. I got sidetracked almost immediately on the fishing mission this morning by school bus duties. You know, if I gave up my driver's license, I wouldn't have to do that     

[Riley Smith]

A mall band came out of the north. Not a total spiral, just a bit of one. I heard the wind pick up all of a sudden in the shop where I was making a hole punch. It rained for about five minutes, cooled everything off, turning it to steam. Presently you can see out of the patio door for the condensation. To say it was muggy would be exceedingly polite.