Awesome weather!/Comparing Hot Summers/My Experience--Internet Scam

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
The tropical Atlantic is fairly quiet with only 2 areas in the Atlantic with a 10% chance of developing in the next 48 hours.

Tropical Pacific has no disturbances.

Hot spot in the country with be the desert southwest with some highs in the 80s. There will be showers and thunderstorms over the Rockies and in the northeast and Mid-Atlantic. A thunderstorm or two for Miami. Most of the country will have highs in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s with low humidity...enjoy!

Houston, this will be the coolest week yet with lows in the 50s and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s most of the week--and low humidity...yay!!! Dry weather should last into at least the early part of next week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do scam or estafa, pronounced ehs-TAH-fah. Find out about my personal experience with a common estafa in the 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
COMPARISON OF HOT SUMMERS
So, now that cooler weather has descended on most of the country (including Houston), I thought it would be interesting to compare Houston's summer to previous summers. This year's summer seemed particularly hot to me.

Well, August was very hot in Houston--in fact it was the hottest month ever on record. Now, this means that if you average all of the highs and lows for the month, that average was higher than that found in any other month. It was 87.7 degrees. In comparison, 1980 had the 6th hottest August with an average of 86.6 and 2009 (just last year) was the 8th hottest with an average of 86.2.

Those 2 years, 1980 amd 2009 show up again in the top 10 July's and June's. 1980 had the hottest July with an average of 87.5. Notice that is below this year's hottest ever month (August) with the average of 87.7. 2009 had the second hottest July ever with an average of 87.4. 2010's July did not make the top 10 hottest list.

For Junes, 2009 had the 2nd hottest June with an average of 85.6. 1980 had the 4th hottest June with and average of 85.1 and this year, 2010, had the 6th hottest June with an average of 84.7.

MY PERSONAL INTERNET SELLING SCAM EXPERIENCE
I am trying to sell a wedding dress either on Craig's List of Yesbride.com for $100. Don't worry--it's not the dress for Gordy and me. Anyway, the original price was $600. Well, I got a couple of earnest replies. One was not very suspicious at first as the guy asked lots of detailed questions about the dress...looked like he was very interested. But then, he talked about wiring money--immediate red flags. I had worked at a bank years ago as a teller, and I am aware of lots of tricks that people try to pull.

But a 2nd lady had me a bit more convinced as she never mentioned wiring money. In fact, she talked about her upcoming wedding and how she would send me a check and I could make sure it cleared and then she would have someone pick it up. Check out this email stream:

I was checking through Yesbride and i saw the wedding dress posted for sale. please i will like to know if its still available, its present condition and the last asking price you re willing to let go of it. Email me if its still available and also a new pictures of it, if you have any.

(So I thought well errors in her grammar but ok...maybe this is a prospect. Here is her next message).

Sorry for the late response, i have been very busy with shopping and planning for my wedding but anyway thanks for the response I am okay with the condition and price of it. I want you to know that i am really interested in wedding dress and I would really not want to lose the sale. I want you to remove the advert from web and consider it sold to me, I'll have my secretary send you a Bank Certified Check and the check payment will deliver to you as soon as possible via Courier service. I will need you to send the following information needed below in other to make/send payment ASAP.

1. Name to be on the check
2. Contact Address(street,apt #,City,State,Zip code):
3. Contact telephone number:(home,cell or work...)

***Note*** I want you to know that i would be responsible for the pickup. When you confirm that you received, cleared and cashed the Check, I will have my someone or my shipping agent come for the pickup at your location. I'm out of town right now but do not worry I'll handle things myself,I will be waiting to read from you as soon as possible so that the payment can be issued out and this transaction can come to an end.

(So I'm thinking she must be a foreigner but that's not a problem and as long as I can make sure the check is cleared, then no problem. So here's the next message).

How are you doing? I have sent out the payment i think the delay is from the UPS ..i will try and find out, why the payment hasn't gotten to your place yet. i will get back to you. enjoy your weekend.

(so at this point, it had been a couple weeks. I saw a red flag with UPS...why not just mail it? Here is her next message).

I think it might have gotten lost in the mail. because the tracking information given to me did not track am confused at the moment . please bear with me. am very much interested in buying the dress from you. I have resend the payment again. kindly bear with me.

Thanks for your time and understanding.

(okay...she's a busy bride. here is her next message).
Hello Cecilia,

How are you today? I want you to know that the check will be delivered to you today via Ups , Am very sorry for the delay .

Here is the Ups tracking number for the Payment: J-174-992-815-5

Upon receipt of the payment today you are to take it to your bank for cashing, after cashing at your bank you deduct your own money from the fund cashed and proceed to the nearest western union agent location close to you and have the excess of the fund sent to my shipping agent using the information below.

Name: Paula Scapicchio
Address: 3150 Plaza Blanca,
Santa Fe, NM 87507

After you have sent the money for shipment through western union , i will require the following details from you :

1. Sender's name and address (your full name and address used in wiring the funds )
2. Receiver's name (Paula Scapicchio)
3. MTCN ( money transfer control number ).
4. Test question and answer(E.g : THE WORLDS GREATEST ).Answer ( AMERICA )
5. Total Amount sent..........
6. A scanned copy of the western union receipt..............

Note: I want you to know that there will be some charges for getting the funds transferred by western union to the shipper , that should be deducted from the funds you will be sending down to her, So the western union charges should be deducted from the excess funds that you will be sending to her.

I await your soonest response, this is because my shipper has to be in your location for the pickup in the next 24 hours upon the receipt of the funds via western union.

I look forward to your email as soon as you have sent the funds today.

Thank you.

Okay, it's me again. I immediately knew this was trouble. You never ever cash a check on your account and then immediately send money. And get this, the check that arrived was $1830 via UPS worldwide overnight express.

So, I would be wiring about $1700 back to her with the fund in my checking account the backup in case the check bounced. No way!!! Run, run like the wind. She has sent a couple more emails which of course I am not responding to.

So, be careful everyone!!! If you ever take a check...always, always make sure it clears first.

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Even More Pleasant Weather/10 ounce versus 12 ounce beer/In Defense of Pluto

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Depression #16 formed today in the western Caribbean...this is not the remnants of Tropical Storm Matthew which has brought deadly mudslides to Central America. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting that this storm will be drawn northward across Florida, back over the Atlantic and then into the Carolinas (which have had very heavy rain recently). Models and ensembles are all in fairly close agreement. T.D. #16 will probably become Tropical Storm Nicole on Wednesday.

Another new disturbance in the central Atlantic has a 10% chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.

In the eastern Pacific, there are 2 areas of disturbed weather with a 10% chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.

On Wednesday, just a few areas of the country will get wet...eastern seaboard (including Florida), western Great Lakes, and southern California. Ridge of high pressure will bring more 100+ readings to part of the southwest and 90s all the way up to Medford, Oregon. L.A. will only have highs in the 90s after it's all time record heat on Monday. The eastern 2/3 of the country will be pleasant with highs in the 60s, 70s and 80s and comfortable levels of humidity.

Tuesday began in the 50s for most of the Houston area. Houston will continue to be very pleasant into the coming week. In fact, a reinforcing shot of cool and dry air will arrive Saturday. And there will be plenty of mornings in the 50s and highs in the low 80s starting on Saturday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do planet or planeta, pronounced plah-NAY-taah. Do you miss Pluto as a planeta? I've got some thoughts on the matter in the 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
Polls
My poll, on how far the Houston Texans football team will go, is closed. 40% said they thought they will make the playoffs. 20% said they will make the AFC Championship. 20% said they will make the Super Bowl. And 20% said they will win the Super Bowl. Thanks to all who responded.

My new poll is on the planet Pluto. Do you think it should be reinstated as the
9th planet? Thanks in advance for answering.

Pluto-9th Planet or Not
Unless you've been under a rock or a small planet, you probably heard that back in 2006, Pluto lost its status as the 9th planet of our solar system. I was devastated and grieve to this day. It was one of the platforms of my childhood. How many solar systems did I build with 9 planets...how many models did I see with 9 planets...how many science fairs did I attend with dozens of 9 planet solar systems? And the name Pluto...it was just perfect for a tiny little 9th planet at the end of our solar system. Everything was right in my world and in my solar system. The loss of that 9th planet Pluto shook me to my core. Well, recently I was excited to see that the New Horizon spacecraft (launched in 2006) has only 5 more years until it passes by Pluto and makes some observations. I thought finally this dear little planet will be vindicated and claim its rightly place in the planet hierarchy. But alas, it looks like even New Horizon can't save it. Upon further investigation, I learned that Pluto is one of what are believed to be more than 40 dwarf planets. So, if we were to be fair, we would have to induct those other 40+ dwarf planets onto our list, including the asteroid Ceres and Pluto's moon Charon. Ceres is actually larger than Pluto. Okay, let's say we just took in the top 3 dwarf planets (that we know of). then we would have 11 planets. Nahhhhhh...you can't go home. The damage has been done and Pluto has been permanently demoted to dwarf planet. I'll revisit this topic when New Horizon reports back in 2015. Don't worry...the time will fly.

10 ounce versus 12 ounce beers
My nephew Taylor (of legal age by the way) just told me that his friend from Louisiana told him about 10 ounce beers which are the only size sold where he lives in Louisiana. Well as I had never seen this, I was quite intrigued. He said that his friend prefers it...saying that you can drink 10 ounces fast enough that it is cold the whole time. But that last 2 ounces in a 12 ounce...well it just gets warm and yucky. Others say it just tastes better. And some people just prefer the feel of the more slender can. Bottom line, they'll take the 10 ounce beer even at the same price.

So, I started checking this out and it turns out this size got popular in St. Mary's County Maryland in the 50s. Today, it is popular around New Orleans, in one other county in Maryland, in parts of Mississippi, in St. Mary's County Maryland, Puerto Rico and a few places in Texas. And get this--all of Budweiser's 10 ounce beers are made in Houston. (But I've never seen one--not that I shop for beer a lot...but I think I would have noticed ha ha).

Anyway, here's the link to the story in Gazette.net.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/111705/busipgl154036_31896.shtml


Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Waiting for Matthew to form/Cold Front Heading this Way

Watching disturbance in the Caribbean this morning as this could become Tropical Storm Matthew by this time Thursday. Hurricane Recon will check it out later today. Big questions are how strong it will get and where it will go. Trough moving across US may eventually steer it northward (toward Florida?) or it could stall out in western Caribbean and eventually be drawn north by a later trough or even another possibility. Models show a variety of possible tracks. So, stay tuned.

Tropical Storm Lisa is way out in Atlantic and not threatening any land areas. Will continue to monitor.

In Pacific, Tropical Depression Georgette is moving northward across the Gulf of California having made landfall on the Baja peninsula as a weak tropical storm. Will likely bring some heavy rain to the southwest US (in particular Arizona) before getting drawn into the trough moving eastward across the US.

Speaking of that trough, it will swing a cold front through Houston on Sunday. Look for some thunderstorms beforehand (especially on Saturday and possibly early Sunday). Then Monday through at least the middle of the coming week...sunshine, low humidity, lows in 60s, highs in 80s.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

First Cold Front Coming!/3 Month Weather Outlooks/Houston Texans Poll

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Hurricane Igor passed just west of Bermuda late Sunday night as a Category 1 hurricane. Although there has been some damage, it was not nearly as bad as Hurricane Fabian in 2003...the eastern end of this major hurricane with 115 mph winds hit the western part of Bermuda causing major damage. According to the National Hurricane Center, there were 4 fatalities on Bermuda and $300 US of property damage. Prior to Fabian, the worst storm was half a century earlier. From here, Igor will likely move northward and eventually weaken with the remnants bringing rain to Greenland.

Julia is a tropical storm east of Igor which will probably not affect any land areas.

In the far eastern Atlantic, there is an area with an 80% chance of developing (next storm name is Lisa). Most models show it going north...but it is very early. So stay tuned.

I will say that one of the more extended forecast models, shows something developed near Florida in the middle of the coming week (a week from Wednesday). So, I'll be checking that out over the next few days.

In the eastern Pacific, there is a new disturbance brewing which has a good chance of developing and moving northward into the Baja California/western Mexico.

There is a slight risk for severe storms today for Minnesota and Wisconsin. There will be many areas with thunderstorms. Upper 40s today around Cut Bank, Montana while Phoenix should be one of the hottest spots with 100+ readings. 60s for California coast and 50s and 60s for the northern tier of states. Elsewhere, 70s to 90s with southeast and south nice and steamy.

Houston, very warm and muggy into Saturday with scattered showers and thunderstorms each day. First real cold front arrives late Saturday bringing lower humidity and sunshine by Monday (as well as morning lows in the upper 60s). Yay!!!

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do bicycle or bicicleta, pronounced bee-see-CLEH-tah. It can be expensive to ride a bicicleta for a living...find out why in the 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
Poll Results and New Poll
My poll on favorite Dairy Queen Blizzard is closed. 80% of the respondents said they like the kind with candy added the best (my favorite is butterfinger). 20% said they like cookies added the most. No one selected fruit added or chocolate concoction as their favorite. Only only answer was allowed. Thanks to all who participated.

The Texans won their 2nd game of the season on Sunday, 9/19. How far do you think they will go this season. More than one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for participating.

Fall Official Begins this Wednesday 9/22
According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, fall will officially being this Tuesday, September 22nd at 10:09 pm. This is called the autumnal equinox and it marks the days when the length of day is about equal to the length of night. Happy Autumn!!!

More about Bermuda
Checked Wikipedia and found out that Bermuda is an archipelago made of 138 islands, located about 640 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It is only 20.6 square miles in size (i.e. if it was a square, it would be a little over 4 miles by 4 miles in size). There are 67,837 inhabitants (according to the most recent census). The biggest island is often called Bermuda also.

It is expensive to be a bicycle courier
I was talking to a bicycle courier the other day. He said he averages about 50 miles on the bike daily. He was super fit, and he said he can eat whatever he wants. I asked him how often he has to replace his bike tires, and he said about once every 3000 miles (so about every 3 months). He said that the bike tires are almost as expensive as car tires. So, I went online and checked out bike tire prices. The most expensive I saw was $74 but there were some more casual models for only about $10. I figure he is probably not using the latter.

Oct/Nov/Dec Temperature/Precipitation Outlooks
The latest 3 months outlooks for October through December from the Climate Prediction Center indicate cooler than normal conditions for coastal California but warmer than normal for the southwest and south. See figure at right.

For precipitation, the outlook is drier than normal weather for the southwest and south and wetter than normal for the Pacific Northwest. See figure at right.

Drought Monitor and Outlook
Northern Louisiana, northeast West Virginia and western Hawaii are hardest hit by drought. Forecast is for persistence in drought for most of these locations and development of drought in western Arkansas. See figures at right.

Hang in there everyone...the cooler weather is almost here.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Tropical Storm Karl Forms in Caribbean

Tropical Storm formed this afternoon (Tuesday 9/14) in the western Caribbean. There is some good news for Texas and the entire Gulf coast. Looks like the storm will move across the Yucatan as a tropical storm only and then hit northern Mexico once it crosses the southern Gulf. And for Mexico there is good news in that the Yucatan will weaken the storm and it shouldn't have much time to strengthen before it makes its 2nd landfall.

It could however be a big rain producer.

Meanwhile it looks less and less likely that Hurricanes Igor and Julia will strike the mainland US.

I'll have more in my next post.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Major Hurricane Igor, Tropical Storm Julia, Is Karl Next?

Happy Sunday Evening everyone -
A big change over the last 24 hours with Igor strengthening dramatically and becoming a major hurricane. Everyone from the Mid-Atlantic northward should be watching this storm carefully and reviewing their hurricane plans. It is still too soon to tell if the storm will hit the US.

A new tropical storm named Julia has formed in the eastern Atlantic. This one will probably not be a threat to the US but it is way too early to determine.

In the Caribbean, a disturbance is having a tough time getting its act together. At least one intensity forecasting model is showing it becoming a tropical storm by Monday night. If that happens, it will be named Karl. Forecast models are all saying that it would hit Mexico. We will know a lot more in a few days.

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Tropical Update/Mannequin's Day Ruined by Fire

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Storm Igor is strengthening again. According to the National Hurricane Center, it should be a hurricane by tonight. And, it is forecast to continue getting stronger over the next several days, turning so that the US will likely not be threatened. Meanwhile, watching a disturbance in the eastern Caribbean that has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next couple days and a disturbance in the eastern Atlantic that has a 50% chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next couple days. Model and ensemble forecasts suggest that the eastern Caribbean disturbance will track across the Yucatan and into northern Mexico. Stay tuned.

Eastern Pacific is quiet.

Very hot and humid across the south and southeast this Saturday with thunderstorms from Texas to the Ohio Valley and over to the eastern seaboard and through the southeast. Highs in the 60s and 70s for western California, the northern states/New England (including New York and Washington D.C.).

Houston, it is just hot and sticky for no real relief in sight through the coming week. There will be some scattered showers and thunderstorms, but that's it!

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do fire or fuego, pronounced FWAY-goh. Find out how fuego ruined one mannequin's life in the AND MORE section.

If you are in Fort Bend County and you would like to see my award winning DVDs, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, head to your public library. I donated several copies to the area libraries. Of course, you can always see clips on our web site. I just finished getting some music clips to put on our web site now that my Volume 3 DVD 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
I have long wanted to learn more about a store called Bug Time, a do it yourself extermination supply store in Stafford 4647 South Main Street (it's really the feeder road and one of the improved sections of Hwy 90). Their number is 281-565-9061. For at least a year, they have had a mannequin outside, decorated in various ways to bring attention to the shop. For the longest time, there was a male mannequin. That disappeared and was replaced by a female mannequin about 3 months ago. Now I hadn't seen the female mannequin for a couple weeks and there is a reason. Apparently, someone set fire to the truck it was placed on...ruining the truck and burning up all but the head of the mannequin. The male mannequin can't be used as a replacement as it had deteriorated due to the elements.

Owner Ron says they are debating whether or not to order a new mannequin. He said that it was their best advertising...bringing in more business than anything else. He said the nearby Dulles High School kids loved the mannequins and frequently added their own fun decorations. Ron said he would come to work in the morning only to find some new type of decoration that was clever and funny. He said one time he had removed the mannequin for a while and when he put it back, the kids put up signs saying "welcome back" and such.

So, I'll let you know if he gets a new mannequin. The suspense is almost unbearable.

On this September 11th, special prayers that God will bless our country and give comfort to all who are still suffering and grieving.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman