Thursday, August 25, 2011

Evolution Of Hurricane Irene In 10 Seconds

Want to see the formation of Hurricane Irene in 10 seconds? Well, the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory website, features time-lapse imagery of Hurricane Irene's evolution from tropical wave to Category 3 storm. The images were taken using GOES-East satellite and starts from August 19th and ends with 1754z August 25. The animation has been recently updated. Check it out here.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

5.9 Earthquake Shakes Parts Of Mid-Atlantic

A 5.9 Earthquake has struck outside of Washington DC today. It's epicenter was 4 miles south southeast of Louisa, Virginia. I was sitting in my apartment building in Adelphi, MD and felt the building shaking. At first I thought maybe someone on the floor below me dropped something really heavy but I realized that the building was shaking for more than a few seconds. After the earthquake was done I took to the social media outlet Twitter to confirm some of my suspicious. Sure enough, Twitter became flooded with news of the earthquake.

My friends in NYC and Virginia were tweeting about feeling the earthquake too. Below is a map from CNN of the epicenter:

Here is a map of people reporting what they felt:

Update here

The quake was felt from North Carolina to Rhode Island. If you felt the earthquake and would like to report what you felt, follow the link here. This is the 25th earthquake Virginia has received since it officially became a state. This is also the strongest in VA since 1897 according the the USGS.

Update 3:38 PM EST
The magnitude of the earthquake has been dropped to 5.8.


Monday, August 22, 2011

Weather Of The Outer Banks

Here are a few photos I took of some of the clouds and sunsets, when I was in the Outer Banks, NC (I was in Rodanthe.) The weather was amazing. There were a few thunderstorms while I was there and it was absolutely gorgeous to watch them over the ocean or on the deck of the beach house.

The stars were spectacular and I saw the Milky Way for the first time one night. I've never seen as many stars as I did that night. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the stars and the lightning. My camera unfortunately died and I forgot my charger. I took some of the pics with my cell phone, hehe. Enjoy!





Thunderstorms over the ocean.

The Cape Hatteras Weather Bureau/Lighthouse

Recently I went on a trip with some of my friends to the Outer Banks, NC. We stopped at the Cape Hatteras Weather Bureau. According to the National Park Service, the Cape Hatteras Weather Bureau was, "The first U.S. Weather Bureau Station managed by the Army Signal Services on Hatteras Island, established at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Keepers' Quarters in 1874, moved to the Hatteras Life-Saving Station on December 1, 1880, and later transferred to a Hatteras Village private residence, known as Styron’s Building, on October 1, 1883." It is such a cute building and very welcoming.







We visited the lighthouse as well.


The light keepers' houses.


View from the top.

For more information about the Cape Hatteras Weather Bureau check out this link. For more information about the Lighthouse click here :-)

First Hurricane Of The Season!

The Atlantic Hurricane Season has it's first hurricane of the season!!! Hurricane Irene is currently a category 1 hurricane, 25 mi W of San Juan, Puerto Rico and about 125 mi E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It is moving WNW at 14 mph and has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph with gusts as high has 90. Below is the projected path of the storm:


So far this season, there have been nine storms with currently Irene being the strongest. This season is also the first season since record taking of hurricanes began in 1851, that the first eight storms did not attain hurricane strength. There is still more of the season and not officially over until November 30. The tropics are brewing. Currently there is a large area of low pressure off the coast of Africa. There is a 10% chance that this area of pressure will develop into a tropical cyclone. Is this you Jose?

Updated track of Irene: