Storm Chasers On Location For Hurricane Jimena Intercept

August 31, 2009 – Major category 4 Hurricane Jimena in the eastern Pacific remains a very dangerous hurricane that continues to track towards Baja California with 155mph winds. This huge wave picture was taken earlier today from Hurricane Chaser Jim Edds on location about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. Jim and fellow Storm Chaser Jeff Piotrowski flew into the target area early this morning. They are there to intercept and document the major hurricanes tomorrow afternoon into the evening hours. I’m in communication with them, and expect picture and video updates over the next few days. I post the latest information from them and any new videos and images from the target area as I receive them.

Stay tuned…

STS-128 Space Shuttle Discovery Launch View South Florida

August 29, 2009 – The central Florida weather cleared in time for STS-128 Space Shuttle Discovery Launch at 11:59pm ET last night. All day Florida saw lightning storms and heavy rains as an upper-level system moved in from the Gulf of Mexico. Weather was the main concern for NASA throughout the day, as it wasn’t clear if the storms and clouds would clear in time for the late night launch. Nothing weather-wise was associated with Tropical Storm Danny that was well offshore northeast of Florida.

By mid evening skies began to clear rapidly from west to east as the upper-level weather system pulled all the associated storm and clouds eastward out into the Atlantic. Skies cleared and Discovery launched on time without any delays.

I planned to attend the launch up at the Cape, but had to cancel do to obligations early Saturday morning. The picture above was taken from my front lawn in Okeechobee County Florida, about 100 miles south of the launch site. It’s a time exposure using a Canon EOS 5D.

Relaxing My Mind With The late Summer Florida Sky

August 26, 2009 – This was a beautiful thunderstorm over south-central Florida. It was such a relaxing storm to watch and photograph. It slowly tracked towards my location, with lightning and thunder displays on the horizon. The storm was back dropped with deep blue summertime skies really making for great contrast of the bright white towering Cumulonimbus. This storm would of made for a very interesting time lapse, but even a snapshot of one moment of it’s life-cycle is just as cool fore me.

The Florida wet and thunderstorm season this year has been outstanding for storm structure and stormy looking landscapes. I’ve really enjoyed everything mother nature has painted the sky with this summer. Still about a month or so to go before the wet season comes to a close. I’ll be watching everyday until then.

Tropical Storm Danny Comes To Play East Of Bahamas

August 26, 2009 – Tropical Storm Danny comes alive in the western Atlantic this morning as a 45mph disorganized tropical storm. Danny is moving to the west-northwest near 18 mph, but is expected to begin a more northwest turn over the next 24-36 hours just east of the Bahamas Islands. Then turn more north-northwest coming close to the Outer Banks of North Carolina maybe at or just below hurricane strength. As of right now, and mostly likely, Danny will not become an issue for Florida outside of maybe some small surf later in the week.

If Tropical Storm Danny organizes more, taking a little longer making the turn northward by tracking more to the west over the next day or two, and looks to be a hurricane with a more direct impact on North Carolina, there could be a hurricane chase intercept planned. More updates on Danny throughout the week.

Afternoon Summer Rains Give Way To A Double Rainbow

August 25, 2009 – A beautiful rainbow encountered on my way into West Palm Beach, Florida recently. Heavy early afternoon thunderstorms developed along coastal sea breeze boundary producing heavy rains. As the storm moved east, the sun came out shining on the backside of the heavy rain core making a vivid double rainbow. I wish I had the opportunity to stop beside the intersection where this picture was taken for a better view and without the street lights and signs. Either way, it was a nice scene for the moment that I came across it.

Miami Dolphins Preseason Game Landshark Thunderstorm

August 24, 2009 – Kersten and I enjoyed our second Miami Dolphins preseason on Saturday night. It was Miami vs. Carolina, and Miami pulled out another win after a exciting game. Just like last Monday nights preseason game against Jacksonville, we were overtaken by a lightning storm for a short period of the game.

Skies clouded over Landshark Stadium during the first quarter of the game, with rain and lightning, but quickly moved northward into Broward County allowing the game to continue on. Kersten and I were having some much fun we stayed for the whole game watching the Dolphins grab another win.

Thanks to my Dad for the preseason tickets for both games, they were great!

SFL Rotating Storm Developed Along Sea Breeze Boundary

August 24, 2009 – I chased a series of thunderstorms on Sunday, some that developed along outflow boundaries as seen in the rotating storm picture above. This storm developed over Lake Okeechobee in Southern Florida, where two outflow boundaries from earlier sea breeze induced thunderstorms collided over the lake. I shot a significant amount of photo’s of the many stages of this storm from start to end. I will post a follow gallery to this image later in the week when I have more time. It was a very impressive storm and made my evening. More to come on this soon.

Hurricane Bill To Be Huge Wave Maker For US And Bermuda

August 21, 2009 – Major Hurricane Bill remains a dangerous hurricane that continues to make his gradually turn to the northwest in the western Atlantic Ocean. His forward speed remains to be at a steady track around 18mph to the northwest. A more gradually turn to the north-northwest is expected later today, as Hurricane Bill rounds the western side of the Atlantic ridge. As of this post, Bill’s winds were 125mph with much higher gusts, and this makes him a Category 3 hurricane. Bill could regain category 4 strengthen over the next 24 hours before reaching cooler water temperatures further north in the Atlantic.

At this time Hurricane Bill looks to be a major large wave / swell producer for the entire United States east coast. Bermuda could see a brush with Bill, and experience Tropical Storm conditions as Bill tracks to the west of the island. Bermuda is under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch.

There are no Hurricane Chase Intercept plans for Bill as he is expected to remain well east of the United State. New England could feel some affects from Bill, and we are continuing to monitor this, but do not expect any chase plans.

Vivid Yellow Silk Banana Spider Photography South Florida

August 19, 2009 – Like the recent spider video I posted last week, I returned to the same location this afternoon in northern Palm Beach County. Once again there was numerous Yellow Silk Banana Spiders up and down A1A in Jupiter, FL. The steady breezes from former Tropical Storm Ana that was passing through South Florida today, had most of the spiders hanging out in more sheltered area’s of the Sea Grape trees. Above is a single picture of a large spider on the center of her web. I plan to edit and post a series of pictures from today sometime later this week. This photo was taken with a Canon EOS 5D.

Flower Box Florida Mourning Dove And Her Eggs Pictures

August 14, 2009 – Once again we have another Florida Mourning Dove, or maybe the same one, nesting with eggs in our flower box on the front patio deck. She’s extremely calm when we’re outside grilling, or near the box. She let’s me get very close for pictures. This is the exact place the last nest was back in early July, so I think it’s the same bird. The last two eggs hatched and we watch the chicks grow over two’s and then leave the nest. We never saw them again after that. I hope they did well.

Now about two weeks ago, it looks like she has returned for another round of nesting. She seems very comfortable where she has setup. There is a lot of foot traffic in and out of the house, which is right next to the nest. She doesn’t seem bothered by anyone walking by or spending time on the deck. I don’t know much about birds, and never really have been a Bird Watcher, but I have enjoyed over the last month or so seeing the nest and taking pictures. These pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 5D.

From what I have researched online, the eggs should hatch like the last ones in about two weeks or so. That time should be nearing now, so I’m keeping a lookout for some new mid-summer chicks. I shot some HD video of the last ones, but never put them on the site. I’ll try to put a video together for the site after these new babies come around, and include video from the first round too.

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