Posts from — September 2019

Position: 13.2N 32.4W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [285°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 90 mph [145 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [335 km].
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb ↓.

Currently about 545 miles [ 880 km] West of the Cabo Verde Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 19.1N 65.0W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [015°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 80 miles [130 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb ↓.

Currently about 85 miles [ 140 km] Northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for U.S. Virgin Islands; Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra; British Virgin Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 31.4N 68.7W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [025°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 150 miles [240 km].
Minimum central pressure: 996 mb ↑.

Currently about 235 miles [ 380 km] West-Southwest of Bermuda.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 11.6N 26.7W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 15 mph [24 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb ↓.

Currently about 270 miles [ 435 km] Southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 16.0N 65.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [325°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1008 mb.

Currently about 130 miles [ 205 km] South-Southwest of St. Croix.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for U.S. Virgin Islands; Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra; British Virgin Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 29.2N 68.3W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [350°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Minimum central pressure: 991 mb.

Currently about 300 miles [ 480 km] Southwest of Bermuda.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

You can watch the arrival of the equinox at Archæoastronomy. It takes/took place at 2:50 AM CDT.

It’s time to man the rakes in northern climes while Spring arrives below the Equator.

Position: 10.8N 20.9W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb.

Currently about 365 miles [ 585 km] Southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

September 22 – 28, 2019

“Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.” That is the original German. My English translation would be ‘That is but a prelude, where they burn books, they will in the end burn people.” It is from Heinrich Heine’s 1821 play Almansor.

While technically not a banned book, one of the most important written documents in the United States is seemly unread. That is the Constitution of the United States, the law of the land. The current Resident of the White House would do well to read Article 2, which is the ‘job description’ for the position he captured. From there he can proceed to the Amendments. If he reads the whole thing, he won’t find any mention of a flag or a national anthem. Those are creations of Congress and are subordinate to the rights guaranteed by the Amendments to the Constitution.

Position: 27.4N 67.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [345°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb.

Currently about 370 miles [ 590 km] South-Southwest of Bermuda.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 13.1N 63.5W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [295°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb.

Currently about 140 miles [ 225 km] West-Northwest of Grenada.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for U.S. Virgin Islands; Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra; British Virgin Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 24.1N 66.3W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [325°] near 15 mph [24 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 80 miles [130 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb.

Currently about 575 miles [ 925 km] South of Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 20.5N 62.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [300°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 80 mph [130 kph].
Wind Gusts: 100 mph [160 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 15 miles [ 30 km].
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb ↑.

Currently about 260 miles [ 415 km] Northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for St. Maarten; St. Martin; St. Barthelemy.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Only the US and China spend more on their military than Saudi Arabia’s $67.6 billion. Iran is a piker at $13.2 billion. Saudi Arabia has 5 E-3 AWACS aircraft with radars that can ‘see’ low-level targets, like terrain following cruise missiles, but they don’t seem to use them much. Despite claims about Iran being the major threat in the region, the Saudis say their air defenses were concentrated in the South.

The Houthi have already made a similar attack on a target more than 800 miles into Saudi territory, so these attacks are within their known skill set. The weapons used have guidance systems, so the direction of the final attack may have more to do with the terrain around the target than the launch point.

The Saudis have equipment but it isn’t clear that they know how to use it. If they knew how to use the tools they had purchased, they would have known where the attack had come from, even if they couldn’t have stopped it.

Iran and Iraq had a very nasty war that included gas attacks and suicide charges between 1980 to 1988, but neither attacked the other’s oil facilities. It makes no sense for Iran to do it now, as they would expect their facilities to be attacked in retaliation. The Saudis have been pounding the Houthi for years, and the Houthi have no major facilities left to lose.