well 2009 is almost done with, what a year it was too. We did get lucky with El Nino however. Just 9 named storms with no landfalling hurricanes and of that 9 the 2 that did make land fall came in as Topical Storms. The two storms Claudette and Ida both came in to Alabama, with minor damages reported, however Ida did work her way up the eastern sea board and with help from a cold front and another area of low pressure caused well what some had called the perfect storm part 2. There was a lot of damage to the beaches up and down the east coast from New York state to SC, with flooding rains also a problem.
As for the rest of the year wise. Operation Vortex 2 kicked off in May to a slow start. they did however manage to catch one from start to finish, and got something like 40 mins worth of data on the storm which I feel sure will take a couple of years for it all to be put to use. Just wish that I could have been out there chasing with them.
Part 2 of operation Vortex will begin 1st week in may, so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. If you remember last season Tornadoes had really been popping up just before V2 started and slowed down with the start of the operation. I feel as they may have wanted to start sooner just for that reason. Could be a good idea too with El Nino to last until the spring of 2010. I feel as of today that with this. We may see a early tornado season again this year. but we all know this could change if El Nino leaves us sooner than forecasted.
This too could mean a interesting hurricane season as well.
on 12/8/09 Dr William Gray and Dr Phillip Klotzbach released there 2010 Hurricane predictions.
ATLANTIC BASIN SEASONAL HURRICANE FORECAST FOR 2010
Forecast Parameter and 1950-2000
Climatology (in parentheses)
9 December 2009
Forecast for 2010
Named Storms (NS) (9.6)
11-16
Named Storm Days (NSD) (49.1)
51-75
Hurricanes (H) (5.9)
6-8
Hurricane Days (HD) (24.5)
24-39
Major Hurricanes (MH) (2.3)
3-5
Major Hurricane Days (MHD) (5.0)
6-12
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) (96.1)
100-162
Net Tropical Cyclone Activity (NTC) (100%)
108-172
from what they say above it could be near to a little above avg this season. I am gonna go out on a very big thin limb and disagree with them on the total of Named Storms. They called for 11 to 16 named.
I do feel however that the good Doctors will be close with there call, but a little high. I am thinking right now more in the line of 8 to 12 named. Later in the season that the Doctors and CSU will update there forecast but I am gonna stand my ground on my 8 to 12 Named.
Well other than this really not much to say other than about the cold and nasty temps in the mid west. They have even had snow as far south as Houston Tx! yet all I have had here on the NJ shore is a flurry or two and some rain. Temps today here at this post is 30F and sunny but too damned windy.
Well have a good one all and happy holidays
John
HTTP://WWW.ECHOOFTHUNDER.COM