Drought Outlook/Is It Okay to Wear Blue Jean Shorts?

WEATHER

Hey everyone--well a good buddy of mine sent me an email recently and said "come on girl, get your head back in the game". The truth is that I am constantly looking at the weather...but I have just been very busy with my new full time job/life in Austin. One neat thing is that I am handling my brother's social media business page in Facebook and 'also his Twitter account. I will frequently post concise weather updates as his "meteorologist mortgage partner". So, if you ever want to see any of those go to Facebook and look for Sam Whitworth with Guaranty Mortgage.

I see things all the time which I would like to share with you. Know that I miss posting here so much and as I said before, I'll do the best I can to post when I can.

I've had a lot of guilt about this and one friend of mine who is a mom of special needs child told me not to be so hard on myself--we have a very good reason to be busy "elsewhere".

Anyway, I've really been watching the tropics--especially with the worst drought ever in Texas--looking for some tropical rains! Dr. Jeff Masters of The Tropical Weather Underground recently pointed out that more than 75% of Texas is in the Exceptional drought category. That is the worst possible category! I have more on the drought situation in my AND MORE section.

In the tropics, as I write this post, within the last hour or so, the National Hurricane Center announced that Tropical Depression #7 has become Tropical Storm Gert. This storm will bring rain and gusty winds to Bermuda tonight. About a day's travel to the southeast is another area of disturbed weather which The National Hurricane Center says has only a 30% chance of developing. Over the next day or so, the only threat to land from both of these systems is to Bermuda.

There was another area of disturbed weather in the eastern Atlantic. But it fell apart. I'll keep watching to see if there will be any redevelopment as that area had the best chance of threatening the mainland U.S. eventually.

For those of you in Austin...we finally dropped below 100 on Saturday (yesterday)...the high was only 97. It was cloudy almost all day with some high cloudy outflow from decaying storms to the north. I took Sarah to the pool and I actually caught a chill a couple times. Brrrrr....

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Let's do drought or sequía, pronounced say-KWEE-ah. This sequía is beyond dry, it's just downright pitiful. To learn about the drought, go to the AND MORE section.

We now have available Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of our DVD education videos for children, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco as well as the CD of the music from Volume 1 through 3 on our web site, www.frankandpaco.com. Buy volumes 1 through 3 and get the music CD free. We call it the bundle.

You can also find this award winning education series, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco on the shelf (in the education section) at Barnes & Noble stores or you can order them from http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com. P.S. THEY MAKE TERRIFIC GIFTS!!!

AND MORE
Prayer Request
Please pray for my mother-in-law, Mary Ann. She was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma and it came over her in the span of 2 to 3 weeks. She has been such an amazing woman...raising 5 fantastic children and worked as the Director of Religious Education at her church. It is very difficult to see someone so full of life and vigor become so weak. I am praying for her to not lose heart and for the strength of all of her family who are working so hard to get her through her illness and treatment.

Drought Update and Outlook
I have posted the most recent drought update and outlook. First, some good news for New Mexico and part of the southeast as some improvement is expected through October 31st. For Texas, however, only persistence is expected during this time period.

3 Month Temperatures and Precipitation Outlooks
I have also posted the 3 month temperature and precipitation outlooks. For most of the south above normal temperatures are expected, while above normal precipitation is expected for the northern plains.

Is it Wrong to Wear Blue Jean Shorts
My brother recently informed my husband that it is not cool to wear blue jean shorts. Then, shortly after that, we saw a billboard in Austin which said "It is Never Okay to Wear Blue Jean Shorts". And yet, when I was shopping recently, I saw blue jean shorts on the sales rack. What do you think? Please answer my latest poll about this very important matter. Only one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for participating.

My poll about paying attention to hurricane season this year compared to last year is closed. 40% of respondents said they are are (60% said they aren't). Thanks to all who participated.

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman