Storms and Cold Front Coming/Secretariat Review/Breaking Glass with Newspaper

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
The National Hurricane Center is no longer issuing advisories on Otto, the remnants of which are moving across the northern Atlantic.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is giving a disturbance in the western Caribbean a 50% chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours. Models suggest it will either get lifted northward and then over Florida or that it will track westward across Mexico.

The last Hurricane to hit Texas was Jerry on October 15, 1989. So statistically, the Texas hurricane season should be coming to an end. Remember, the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season is Nov. 30th.

The tropical Pacific is quiet.

Monday, there will be some severe storms in east Texas including the Dallas area. There will also be a few storms across the midwest into the Great Lakes and over the northern Intermountain Region. Highs will be in the 70s and 80s for most of the country (90s desert Southwest) and 50s northern Rockies and Intermountain Region.

Houston, the humidity has been slowly rising. Next cold front arrives Tuesday morning, dropping humidity for the rest of the week through the coming weekend (lows in the 50s and low 60s and highs in the low 80s). Look for some thunderstorms Monday and Monday night. Can't rule out some of these being severe.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Let's do sing or cantar, pronounced cahn-TAR. If you like cantar, you probably like The Sound of Music...you might learn something new about it if you read my AND MORE section.

Volume 3 DVD of my award winning education series, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, will be released soon. A CD of music from volumes 1 through 3 will be released at the same time. Volume 3 will cover the alphabet (with words beginning with those letters), numbers 1 through 20 and colors. Until it's ready for release, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco Volumes 1 and 2 on the shelf (in the education section) at Barnes & Noble stores or you can order them from http://www.frankandpaco.com, 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.

AND MORE
How to Break a Window with Newspaper
Well, it's not that hard...at least it looked easy when my Dad did it. Sarah and I were talking about an episode of ICarly where there was no fly swatter to kill a fly and that brought back a memory from my childhood--funny when I look back on it, but not so funny at the time. There was a nagging fly in our kitchen, and my Dad got frustrated and looked for the first weapon. He decided upon a newspaper, rolling it up and smacking it hard on the kitchen window...so hard, he broke the window. Did he kill the fly? I think so...my Mom might remember. But, of course, there was a lot of upset because we would have to replace the glass. So, don't try that at home.

Congratulations Taylor and Our Empty Nest
It has been a bit empty in our house this week. You see, a week ago, my nephew Taylor graduated from Universal Technical Institute new Bush Airport. He had been with us since last January and was like the big brother Sarah has never had (he's her cousin). We liked having him around late in the evening...I say late because this was his schedule for the first half of his stay. Up at 4:45 am and in class on the other side of town at 6:30 am...ending at 12:45 pm and then heading to work as a valet in the med center until 7:30 pm and then coming home...eating dinner and hitting the hay. Then, he decided to double up his schooling so he could graduate sooner and that meant, he did a 2nd shift of classtime from 2:00 pm until 8:15 pm which means he did not get home until at least 9 pm. It was a grueling schedule, and we are all so proud of him for finishing!!! He is gone now...staying with friends and looking for a job. Congratulations Taylor, and we miss you!!!

Galveston Didn't Get Much Help Recovering from Ike
I have enjoyed reading Infinite Monster by Leigh Jones and Rhiannon Meyers. It is about how Hurricane Ike affected Galveston Island. According to the book, there were 2 things working against financial help after Ike. While Presidents Clinton and Bush managed to raise $130 million of relief in the wake of Katrina. They were only able to raise $2.2 million after Ike. Some of it they attribute to hurricane relief burnout. But also, the financial collapse occurred just 2 days after Ike...and the entire nation's focus was on the collapse and fear of financial ruin. Galveston has really been alone in it's attempts to recover.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Katrina is the most expensive hurricane in modern times with $81 billion in damage. Andrew is 2nd with $26.5 billion. But Ike is third at $25 billion. Please note these numbers are not adjusted for inflation. Taking all storm data into account, a 1926 storm that pummeled Florida and Alabama would be #1 with $165 Billion (2006 dollars normalized for inflation, population and wealth), the Great Galveston hurricane of 1900 would be 2nd at $104 billion and Katrina would be 3rd at $85 billion.

Also from the National Hurricane Center, the 1900 storm was the most deadly with a death toll from 8,000 to 12,000. The 1928 Florida/Lake Okeechobee storm is 2nd with 2550 to 3000 and Katrina is 3rd with 1500. Ike's death toll was 41.

Happy 45th Anniversary Sound of Music, the movie
Sarah and I have rediscovered the Sound of Music and I was interested to learn according to the following article:

http://cinematreasures.org/print/23149_0_1_0/

that it was the 1st motion picture to gross $100 million. It was first released in 1965. Then, it was re-released in 1973 (that's when My Grandma Yuba Whitworth took me to see it). It made it's TV debut in 1976 and had another cinema release in 1978. Adjusted for inflation, it was the 3rd highest grossing box office performance after #1 Star Wars and #2 Gone with the Wind.

I also looked up some Wikipedia info. on the Von Trapp family. Maria and Captain Von Trapp married in 1927 and had a child in 1928 (most likely...there are some discrepancies in the records). They also had two more children later...these 3 were in addition to the 7 children he had. In 1935, he lost nearly all of his wealth after loaning money to a friend in the banking industry. They started performing in 1935 to make a living. Most likely, they left in 1938 due to the changing political environment. Eventually, they ended up in the United States. To learn more, see the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp

Polls
My poll on what used to be the planet Pluto is closed. 100% of respondents felt that it should be reinstated as the 9th planet. Thanks to all who participated. My new poll is about the Sound of Music. What is your favorite scene? Only one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for participating.

Saw Secretariat
I enjoyed this movie...although I don't know how Penny Tweedy could leave her children so much. That would kill me. I did love her line about "Running At the Future". I agree...that is how you get things done!

Groundhog Gala Kickoff
I enjoyed attending the Kickoff party for the upcoming Groundhog Gala which will be held Feb. 2, 2011 at the Rice Hotel. Special attendess included well known public speaker and author John Bradshaw and his lovely wife Karen. Gala Committee Chairwoman Carol Barndollar shared the good news that the Gala is much further along this year than last year at this time. So, we are all very excited. The gala will benefit the Education Programs provided by the John C. Freeman Weather Museum and Weather Research Center. There are still tables left, but they are going fast. So, let me know if you want to attend.

May you enjoy all your "favorite things" in the coming week.
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman