Nana/Omar/Learning About Weather at NWA Conference

HURRICANES AND WEATHER

Nana is weakening…now only a tropical depression. And, Tropical Depression #15 has formed in the eastern Caribbean. This will likely become a tropical storm (probably Omar) on Tuesday. Also, an area in the western Caribbean will probably become a depression on Tuesday. So, stay tuned. There are no immediate threats to the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile for Houston, it is more warm and muggy weather. Look for a line of showers (possibly thunderstorms on Wednesday) into Thursday as the next front approaches. This front will ease back to the north and finally make its way south through Houston, giving way to a dry and pleasantly cooler weekend.

Louisville will stay mild into at least Wednesday night when it will finally cool into the 40s. Look for a shower or two Wednesday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Being at the National Weather Association workshop is allowing me to learn lots of new things. So, that is my word for the day…new or Nuevo/nueva, pronounced new-A-voh/new-A-vah. The use is gender specific…the o ending when modifying masculine words…the a ending when modifying feminine words. The Mount Washington presentation had record data which was nueva to me.

I’ve been sharing with the meteorologists at the workshop that early language learning has been shown to increase math and science scores on standardized tests and to improve scientific hypothesizing. Those are just 2 of the benefits. So, help those budding scientists in your life… Give them a fun yet rewarding tool—get our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
One of the pictures on the right is an interesting sign we saw yesterday along the Ohio River. I was wondering if they were that punitive with folks whose cars were parked along the river’s edge. Well, today I was at very interesting talk about The Great Flood of 1937 in Louisville, KY. Maybe that sign means that if there is a sudden rise in the river, any cars along the edge will be swept away. That talk by the way was given by Rick Bell.

Another little addendum to yesterday’s blog…the waitress who told us about the Ike induced power outages in Louisville also mentioned that they too had run out of gas because of the gas stations being out of power. And there were shortages of certain perishable groceries. I guess we in Houston were all so busy recovering from Ike, we just did not know what other terror Ike was causing.

Tom Skilling was the keynote speaker…he ended by talking about chemical threats and how they are handling by our emergency managers. By the way, in Houston, the Hazmat responders are some of the best in the world. I met Tom's brother, Jeff, at a Christmas party years ago. All he wanted to talk about was his brother Tom. He was so proud of him being such a successful on air meteorologist.

I loved today’s talk by Brian Clark about working on Mount Washington. He talked about not only his own experiences but also how in 1934, observers measured a 231 mph wind—later testing of the anemometer indicated that (due to something that had happened to the device) the actual wind speed might have been 237—bottom line—that’s fast!!! The station is not and never will be automated. Brian has had to service the weather instrumentation in 100 plus mph winds. Yikes!!! By the way, Brian has a very nice broadcast quality voice for anyone looking for a person to do voice work.

I also enjoyed the Hurricane Iniki talk by Wes Browning. Iniki pounded the northernmost Hawaiian Island, Kauii back in 1992. I was there a few years after the storm hit. One local told me they were without power for 2 months. The community had to come together for survival. Neighbors became lifelong friends. There was an interesting discussion about what would happen if this same type of storm would hit Oahu/Honolulu Bay. Half the city would go under water.

The day ending with a dinner cruise on the Belle of Louisville paddle boat. It was a really fun evening with most of the 500 plus workshop attendees on board. The view of the city was absolutely gorgeous. See photos at right.

Well…gotta run!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman