Hurricane Melissa's TCR has dropped and upgraded it to 165 knots, tying it with Allen for all-time highest winds. Also noted that the ROARS profiling instrument found an instantaneous 241 knot wind- just astounding numbers from this historic hurricane.
MERCs are quite uncommon, and storms often continue to maintain intensity or strengthen through them unlike regular ERCs. Another well documented case of a MERC in the Atlantic basin happened in Irma in 2017- like in that storm, Gabrielle's cores seemed to have a small moat size during the merger.
Pretty fascinating evolution of Hurricane #Gabrielle yesterday as observed from Bermuda radar. Looks like it went through a merger eyewall replacement cycle (MERC), and it's not every day we get to see continuous radar data of that. Probably even more unusual to see one at this latitude too.
20 years ago to the day, Hurricane Katrina made its catastrophic landfall on the Gulf Coast. A grim reminder that the actions taken after the storm are often just as important as those taken in preparation for the storm.
Been updating this with pretty much every recon VDM ever back to 1968 by the way
45 years ago to the hour: Hurricane Allen reaching its 165 knot/899 hPa peak
I’d probably estimate like 15-20% of the character count of my rough draft was flowery adjectives/adverbs describing datasets lol
one thing that writing a manuscript has helped me realize is that creative and scientific writing are two completely different things, and in some ways I wish I was taught that earlier than my lab practicum course in my last semester of undergrad
The tracks of Tropical Storms Nari and 08W really remind me of Tropical Storms Conson and Chanthu from the 2016 typhoon season. Odd to see two storms approach Japan from that angle in quick succession.
year 1 of grad school done. Will be working on my first journal letter over the summer
gonna be a LONG day today
Luckily the mp3 files of my music are also safe (I stored them on the cloud). Probably gives me an excuse to release a new EP soon!
Tip for scientists: Always back up your work on multiple external drives. That way, if one drive fails, you're going to be OK. This quite literally saved my butt this weekend when my laptop was wiped for a repair- while I lost all the music projects I had since 2018, my research was thankfully safe!
Oh yeah if yall ever need a good resource for basic TC data (lifespans, intensities, ACE, etc.) I've been working on a global TC database since 2019 that I became serious about during COVID. I try and keep it (relatively) updated.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
one of the interesting things I've noticed is that the South Pacific basin has barely had any truly active seasons since 2004-2005. Of the last 19 seasons, only 2015-16 surpassed the 70 ACE mark, which is an unusually inactive stretch even for a climatologically less active basin.
I am a private meteorologist not affiliated with NOAA and the NWS. As such, I am not directly affected by the recent and ongoing slashing of personnel and funding from these agencies. Even so, the impacts will be felt by me, and by people affected by disasters as a consequence.
Andy is one of the most dedicated and passionate scientists in our field, and his contributions span far and wide in hurricane research and forecasting, especially time at NHC. He was part of the illegal layoffs of the last 48 hours.
If you’re able, consider chipping in to help support his family.
I try to stay professional in my media posts nowadays, but it's hard to put into words how much the firings upset me for their impacts on the broader community and how much I feel for everyone impacted. All I can say is that I'm here with y'all and will do my best to help where I realistically can.
Personally what's most distressing about the firings: it's so surreal watching many of the NOAA mets I grew up looking up lose their jobs this fast. They're a huge part of what made the field special to me. They've inspired and continue to inspire me, and their loss is devastating to the field.
This is the kind of thing that’s been keeping me up at night. Even though I’m in a comparatively stable position, a lot of people in my circles are undergrads finishing up a degree and looking into grad school/joining the workforce or grad students near the end of their degree. Feeling for them.
I have no words to describe the sorrow I feel today. So many amazing people who did their work to keep the public safe rather than getting potentially higher paychecks in the private sector are impacted by this. Keeping yall in my thoughts.
Yesterday at 12UTC, we had 6 simultaneous cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere- 2 in each basin. All but Seru have attained/are expected to attain hurricane intensity during their lifetime.
Every time I went home for the holidays, my family always got Jet’s deep dish at least once for me. Hits different.
@bhensonweather.bsky.social and I on major damage occurring to science: "Large cuts at NIH and the National Science Foundation would devastate U.S. higher education, forcing thousands of layoffs and ending the education of thousands of graduate students."
yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/02/cuts...
Saw this in the office break room of NOAA NCEI today.
I’m going to take this “feel good” energy from an anonymous person and forward it to all of you, especially those that work for or alongside NOAA.
I’m proud of the work we do, and I’m grateful for all NOAA does.
Thank you.
This is the kind of messaging that we need in times like these. Highly recommend you watch the entire speech if you get the chance.
I think the biggest lie being told right now is that one of the wealthiest countries in the world cannot afford to invest in science, education, and the environment.
How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see
theconversation.com/how-to-find-...
At least here, the general tone among grad students is that we don’t know how badly it’ll impact us and our advisors probably don’t know much more than us. That being said, the majority of my peers are funded through GAships and there aren’t many in-department TAships either. Mood has been somberish
Every scientist, long before they were a scientist, was a little kid who stood in front of a fish tank or stared up at the stars or turned over a rock to look at the bugs underneath and said “wow”. On the best days, working in science still feels like that.
