Omar/Getting Home/National Weather Association Awards

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Gordy and I are heading back to Houston and I hope we are able to land tonight at about 8:45 pm…those of you in the Houston area know that is has been raining on and off since yesterday. This is due to a trough of low pressure that is on the Texas/Mexico coast. Although the storms are moving along right now…as the cold front approaches tonight, there will be heavier rain. We may be spending the night in Birmingham. I’m hoping that the timing coinciding with nightfall will help some…but these tropically enhanced events are tricky.

Omar is now a hurricane and will move across the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles during the next 24 hours as the storm strengthens. Then it will move into the Atlantic…not a concern for the Gulf Coast. Tropical Depression #16 will not become Tropical Storm Paloma…just too close to land…moving west…a rain maker for Honduras and Guatemala.

Houston will have rain into Thursday pm…then cooling off and a nice weekend unfolding with sunshine, lows humidity, lows in the 50s and highs in the 80s.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Bernie Meisner was teasing me this afternoon…what would be my word of the day…I think it should be interesting or interesante, pronounced een-tear-ay-SAHN-tay. The talks this morning were especially interesante.

Mom called and our English teaching (for Spanish speakers) DVDs have arrived!!! So, I’ll be jumping on that once we get back. But for those of you who want to have your little ones learn Spanish, you can buy 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
There were so many great talks this morning. I can’t wait to tell you about them all. But right now, I am going to catch a plane! Be safe everyone. Oh yes…congratulations to all the NWA Award winners—especially Dave Knapp who won member of the year!!!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Omar/Paloma/Greg Forbes/Jack Hayes/Lance Berkmann/Louisville Slugger

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
T.D. #15, in the eastern Caribbean, is now Omar. Omar is will eventually move into the Atlantic…so not a worry to the Gulf coast. Meanwhile, Tropical Depression #16 has formed off the coast of Honduras. It will probably become Tropical Storm Paloma on Wednesday, but it is very close to the coast of Honduras. Regardless…this will be a rainmaker for Honduras, possibly Belize, and Guatemala.

There were heavy downpours in parts of the Houston area today. Thanks Kim Matthews for your spotter report! A trough is just offshore and will produce some heavy rain…some offshore, some mainly in the coastal counties. Meanwhile cold front approaches late Wednesday and generates a line of storms…timing—late Wednesday into early Thursday. A nice weekend shaping up with cool mornings, low humidity and mild afternoons.

For Louisville, one more day of mild weather with a few showers Wednesday and scattered showers Wednesday night. Rain continues into at least the first half of Thursday with noticeably cooler temperatures—highs only in the 60s and 40s for Friday morning.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Today is our wedding anniversary so the word for today is love or amor, pronounced AH-more. My husband is my amor. Happy anniversary Gordy!

Early language learning enhances cognitive development and improves memory. And if you want the youngsters in your life to develop proper pronunciation, have them start language learning early. A great way to do that is by purchasing 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
Lots of great talks today at the National Weather Association but we did take a couple hours to sneak away to the Louisville slugger museum and factory. We were given an excellent 30 minute tour of the factory area. I got to touch a baseball that was custom ordered by Lance Berkmann (Astros). He’ll get it next, but he doesn’t know it was blessed by me first. Ha! Ha!

Today’s keynote address was by Jack Hayes, National Weather Service Director and perhaps even more exciting, Good Morning America went live with Sam Champion outside the conference hotel!!! This was definitely some excellent and much deserved publicity for the National Weather Association. Kudos to our president, John Scala, for getting all of this arranged. This workshop has had record attendance…about 560 folks.

Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel gave a talk about the tornado outbreak of 1974. Although he had done a thorough evaluation of the Monticello damage, he had not had a chance to see Xenia's. I was in Ohio in 1974 and I saw the damage...it was something else!!! Dr. Forbes compared the available radar technology to the improvements we have today.

There were so many terrific talks today, but I definitely had some favorites. Jeffrey Craven, was brave and extremely self-deprecating in his talk about a rare January tornado which touched down on January 7 in Wisconsin. Jeffrey is a fantastic severe weather forecaster, but even this one almost got the upper hand. Jeffrey was generous to give credit to the weather intern at the time who really thought mention of tornadoes should be in the forecast. I commend you Jeff on coming forth with this important talk—reminding us all not to stop looking at the weather carefully in all cases. I personally have had at least a few similar experiences. It is humbling and educational. I think every person in that room could relate to Jeff’s experience.

I learned a lot from Kristopher Nedka’s talk about Aviation Turbulence Signatures. Did you know that 1000 people a year are injured by turbulence? He showed one example where standard IR imagery failed to show turbulence which definitely showed up on the water vapor imagery. He also talked about overshooting tops and Rapid Anvil Expansion. There is no doubt that satellite imagery can provide our pilots with very important routing information.

Well it is our anniversary, so I gotta run! We already had a lovely dinner at the Rivue—voted Louisville’s most romantic restaurant. Our dessert was definitely hot…they lit it before serving!!!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

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

Nana/National Weather Association/Louisville Ike Story

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Odile has fizzled out in the eastern Pacific and the remnant of Norbert is being pulled into the approaching frontal system. Now, we have newly formed Tropical Storm Nana in the central Atlantic. Also, it looks like a new storm is forming in the eastern Caribbean. That one will be named Omar. Neither of these new storms will threaten the upper Texas coast.

Warm weather continues for Houston. And I can tell you it is also warm in Louisville, Kentucky, where I am currently attending the annual National Weather Association workshop. It is not humid, just warm and dry. Warm and muggy weather will continue in Houston with rain likely on Wednesday. Some rain will also be possible there on Thursday and Friday as the front shifts by to the north and then high pressure pushes a backdoor front into the area for the weekend.

Here in Louisville, a few showers are possible on Tuesday as the same front moves through. It will be cooler in the mornings.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The Ohio River views are just gorgeous from here. We ate dinner looking out over the water. So my word for the day is the water or el agua, pronounced l AH-gwah. In Spanish, words with an emphasized first ah sound are considered masculine and have the masculine article el.

Even though I'm gone, I will still be getting orders out...so don't be afraid to purchase 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
It is so neat meeting up with everyone at the annual workshop. Kristine Kahanek gave me a copy of her new weather book for children. It's called Katie and the Magic Umbrella A Stormy Adventure. It is a great story and very colorful. You can purchase this terrific book at many bookstores. We are wishing Kristine luck as she gets ready to begin a national book tour.

And Betsy Kling is the proud mommy of 10 week old Josie. Betsy I sure hope I spelled her name correctly. Betsy is still a bundle of energy (to go along with her bouncing bundle of joy). Congratulations Betsy!

Talking to our waitress, Tiffany, we learned a lot about how Hurricane Ike had affected the Louisville area. For one thing, the servers for Joe's Crab Shack were offline for 4 days, making order taking very difficult. Tiffany herself lost power at her home for 12 days!!! She believes about 20% of the area lost power. One of her friends lost power for 3 days. And lots of trees and limbs were broken. Our shuttle driver from the airport said the wind was just horrible and she had sore muscles from fighting the wind while driving the big bus.

Well gotta run for now!
Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Celebrity Meteorologist Revealed/Norbert/Odile/NWA Conference

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
As of this writing, Norbert alreayd made landfall on the Baja peninsula and it now moving across the Gulf of California (heading for the Mexican mainland) with 100 mph and little change in strength forecast. Meanwhile, further to the south, Odile is about 35 miles from the coast of Mexico and from here on moving away from the coast. It is apparently much weaker than thought. And the only reason this became known is because the recon flying to Norbert flew through Odile and found out.

The warm, humid weather here in Houston will continue for several days. Cold front approaching Tuesday will trigger showers Tuesday and especially Wednesday. It will be a bit cooler a day or so in the middle of the coming week, but not much cooler. For those of you heading to the National Weather Association (NWA) conference in Louisville, bring a light jacket for evening or early morning. But actually, the weather won't be that much different from the weather here. Rain chances will be lower but there could be a few showers in the middle of the week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Tomorrow I will be heading to the airport or aeropuerto, projounced eye-row-pwear-TOE. Why you ask? Because I am going to the NWA conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Yeehaw! This is a meeting of folks who love weather and for many, who work doing the business of weather. See you in Kentucky!

While I'm gone, Elsa Acosta, a bilingual educator and one of our fabulous content developers for our Spanish teaching DVD series and my mom, co-performer of our music will be at the Barnes & Noble in Sugar Land for a special event for area teachers. But anyone can come. So, head over there anytime after 5:30 pm on Monday, October 13th.

Even though I'm gone, I will still be getting orders out while I am gone so...don't forget to purchase our award winning DVD for children is the perfect gift! It is entertaining and educational. You can purchase 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
My stepdaughter, Megan just asked me not to send her this blog anymore. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! She is just not interested. Now understand, she is the sweetest gal in the world, but wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. She just doesn't care about what I do!

Okay...enough of that...The celebrity meteorologist returning to air tonight is former FOX 26 meteorologist Matt Lavine. He will be on 9 pm on CW. Don't pressure him! He had to learn a whole new graphics system in just a few days. But he is super smart. So, I know he is going to definitely break a leg.

Have a great weekend!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Norbert and Odile/Celebrity Weather Personality Return

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Norbert is a stronger hurricane this evening...back to a Category 2 and will hit the Baja California peninsula Saturday morning and the Mexican mainland very late Saturday. It will be weaker by the time it hits the mainland...a weak hurricane or down to a tropical storm. Odile has a chance to become a hurricane as it moves parallel to the Mexican coast...a small jog to the right and it will make landfall.

Back to balmy here and that will be the case this weekend. Lows will be in the 60s and highs will be in the 80s. Look for showers and thunderstorms as early as Tuesday but more likely Wednesday as the next "cold" front arrives. It will actually stay warm at least through the week.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY

This is my Mom's brief way to remember the rules for accenting syllables: If the word ends in a vowel, the syllable before the last is accented. If it ends in a consonant other than s or n, the last syllable is accented. If the word does not follow these rules, it will bear a tilde to show you where to put the accent.

Now, I compared this to Adriana's and let me make two changes:
If the word ends in a vowel, s or n, the syllable before the last syllable is accented. If it ends in a letter other than s or n or a vowel, the last syllable is accented. If the word does not follow these rules, it will bear a tilde to show you where to put the accent.

I like my revised version. Don't you?!

So since this weekend's weather will be so balmy, I am choosing the adjective tropical or tropical, pronounce troh-pee-CAHL. This tropical weather reminds me of where I grew up, the Rio Grande Valley.

It's beginning to NOT feel a lot like Christmas (unless you are from Australia or the Rio Grande Valley). Seriously, one year it was 94 degrees in Harlingen on my sister Barb's birthday on December 22nd. Really!!! So, warm weather like this weekend's actually reminds me of my youth. But I digress. Our award winning DVD for children is the perfect gift! It is entertaining and educational. You can purchase 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
Okay...my mystery celebrity asked me to wait just a little longer to make the big announcement. But I will give you one clue...it will happen Saturday night!!! (as in tomorrow). Stay tuned!!!

I am getting super excited about the upcoming Groundhog Day Gala benefitting the educational programs provided by the Weather Museum/Weather Research Center. Now, seriously, you can tell people--oh yeah, I have plans for Groundhog Day. You betcha I do!!! I'm going to the gala. You know, the Groundhog Day Gala. Anybody who's anybody will be there!!!

Seriously, there will be these meet the animal sessions and celebrity guests and important people honored. Of course, I'll have more details soon! Your's truly will be there. That's enough...isn't it?!!!

If you would like to be one of those in people, contact me at cecilia_sinclair@yahoo.com or go to http://www.wxresearch.com/.

Have a terrific weekend!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

High Speed Internet Withdrawal/Talking to Gene Norman/Norbert and Odile

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Norbert has weakened quite a bit (but this is partly due to some lower winds measured during reconnaisance). Still, the forecast track should still be that it heads into Mexico on Sunday. It will be fairly weak by the time it hits Mexico. The remnants of Norbert will be pulled northeastward by the approaching cold front which will arrive here on Tuesday. It will be a weak front. But, look for some rain on Tuesday and possibly later in the week depending on return flow and how much moisture hangs around.

Odile is another slightly interesting feature as it is forecast to move northwestward, parallel to the Mexican coast. It shouldn't get very strong however. I am also putting up it's forecast path.

Another pleasant day today with a high of only 82. Took Sarah and her good buddy on a park outing and nice little walk. You just want to be outside on a day like today. Of course there's always something and there were some Ozone Warnings today. It is also ragweed season. I know both of these things make life miserable for folks with respiratory problems.

Humidity will increase Friday. And it will be a warm, humid weekend. Some showers are possible starting Saturday with the most likely day being Wednesday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Today's word of the day is school or escuela, because I am definitely going to school about this whole accent rule thing. It is pronounced s-QUELL-ah. Here a lesson on how to figure out accented syllables from Adriana Gutierrez, well known local Spanish teacher.

"Understanding where to put the emphasis in a word can be as difficult as sounding out the word itself. Fortunately, Spanish makes it easy for you. When a word is stressed on an irregular syllable, an accent mark will appear above the stressed vowel. Accent marks look like this:
á é í ó ú
Pay attention to accent marks! Two words might be spelled exactly the same, but the presence of an accent mark can completely change their meaning. For example, esta means “this” while está means “is.” Llamo means “I call” while llamó means “He, she, or you called.” Accent marks are also used to distinguish how a word is used: for example, dónde and donde both mean “where,” but the first is used to ask a question while the second is used in statements. So no matter what you do, don’t forget the accent!
Where Does the Stress Go?
Rule 1.
Most Spanish words that end in n, s, or a vowel are stressed on the penultimate (or next-to-the-last) syllable. Listen to the examples below, repeat each word in the gap that follows, and note where the stress falls. The stressed vowel sound is underlined to help you.
camisa, blusa, chaqueta, pantalones, hablo, como, llamo
Some words that end in n, s, or a vowel are stressed on the last syllable instead. These words must carry an accent mark to warn the speaker. Listen to these examples and repeat them aloud.
televisión, conversación, pais, inglés, alemán, mamá, papa, comió, escribió
Rule 2.
Words that do NOT end in n, s, or a vowel are usually stressed on the last syllable. This includes most verbs in their infinitive forms. For example…
comer, hablar, escribir, estar, seguridad, español, actor, doctor
When these words are not stressed on the last syllable, an accent mark is placed over the stressed vowel. For example…
lápiz, árbol, fútbol, vóleibol"

Thank you Adriana. Did I get it right on es-QUELL-ah?

Tomorrow, I will show you how my mom (National Spelling Bee coach) explained it (unless she tells me not to after reading what Adriana wrote). Ha!

Only 2 and half months until Christmas!!! I know...can you believe it. Be proactive, bypass stress and get an affordable, fun and beneficial gift for the youngsters in your life. Purchase our award winning DVD Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008. You can buy it 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
With my frustration with Comcast, I considered working off my wireless Internet modem forever...well let me just say...DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so slow...almost as slow as my old dial-up modem and it disconnects frequently. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, I feel better.

Say...anyone know a good high speed/home phone (local/long distance)/digital Cable company--besides Comcast?

Gene Norman and I are long time friends (I would say old friends but I don't like that word old). He is the one who actually got me my first job at KFDM in Beaumont. You see, Gene and I knew each other from the local American Meteorological Society. At the time, Gene was working for the Space Flight Meteorology Group at NASA. But he was also working in Beaumont on weekends as the on air meteorologist at KFDM. Well, when Doug Johnson left Channel 2, and Frank Billingsley opened a slot at Channel 13 by filling the spot Doug Johnson vacated, I contacted Gene and told him he needed to fill that opening at Channel 13. Well of course, Gene was already ahead of me. He had already applied and was waiting to hear back. I just knew he would get the job. So, I told him that when he left KFDM, he had to get them to hire me as his replacement. I also was working full time during the week, but I was doing air quality meteorology. Well, Gene wanted to help but he asked me to bring him a copy of my aircheck (that's inside TV lingo for a copy of your weathercast) to his place. Get this...he wanted it on 3/4" tape (which doesn't exist anymore as far as I know). He wanted that because he had a 3/4" player that his sister had given him. I still don't know why his sister had that.

Well, Gene looked at my aircheck and decided he could feel good about recommending me. So, once he got the position at 13, he walked into KFDM, told the news director he was leaving, and handed him my aircheck tape and said that I was his replacement. And they hired me!!! There is a little more to it than that like the fact that my dearly departed friend Robert Smith called and bugged them and demanded that they hire me. And I can't forget that Greg Bostwick, the chief at KFDM and a fellow Aggie demanded that they hire me even though I hyperventilated during my audition.

Anyway, thanks Gene. You got me into KDFM...a great place to work!

In any event, back to Gene...he is very happy to be back in Houston! He had been the chief at a CBS affiliate in Atlanta for 8 years. I teased him about all the action this hurricane season. But he is definitely a cup half full kind of guy, because he said he had 3 storms Dolly, Edouard, and Gustav to warm up on before Ike hit. Wow! He's got a great attitude. Welcome back Gene and keep up the good work!

By the way, Gene is not the mystery weather celebrity I mentioned yesterday. I can't divulge that just yet. But I will soon. So stay tuned.

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman