Posts from — November 2020

This is the last day of the “official” hurricane season (June 1 – November 30) but there is currently a non-tropical low near the Madeira Islands that might gain sub-tropical characteristics… or not. Everything that begins before January 1 is added to the record breaking 2020 season.

This year had 31 systems develop which is a tie for most systems in the season. Of those systems 30 were named storms which is the all time record. Among the named systems 17 were tropical storms and 13 were hurricanes. Six of the hurricanes were classified as Major, which means Category 3 or higher. Twelve of the named systems made landfall in the US, which is a new record, with 5 of the landfalls in Louisiana.

This season was definitely 2020.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent which means you should have made your Christmas Pudding and Why Now? is pleased to present the Fifty-fourth version of the Gävlebocken, The biggest Christmas Goat in the world [now on Twitter @Gavlebocken].

From Steve Bates of Yellow Doggerel Something in the comments from 2006:

Why build a giant goat of straw,
Which most of us would scarcely note?
Some, though, defy the very law,
To vandalize the Gävle Goat.

In some years, they used wayward cars;
In others, flaming arrows smote.
This year’s survives, although with scars…
A fact that gets some people’s goat.

A webcam and some watchful eyes,
A flame-retardant second coat,
Should save it… unless Dubya spies
The thing, and claims it’s his pet goat!

– SB the YSS

Yes, it’s the time of year when the Sun dies and must be re-born through an elaborate ceremony that involves some form or type of sacrifice, such as finding gifts for people you can’t stand and smiling brightly as you receive yet another gift based on an urban legend that you actually like truly stomach-wrenching color combinations.

Of course there was a time when the Solstice sacrifices were more visceral and the evergreen was covered in things that pleased only ravens and such, but we have put all that behind us by opting for the possibility of electrocuting one another and causing chaos on the power grid.

What a brilliant idea: moving a large supply of pre-kindling soaked with highly flammable resins into your house, loading it down with petrochemical-based ornaments, lacing it with heat-producing electrical devices, and surrounding the base with cardboard boxes and tissue paper. You just can’t have a traditional celebration without a proto-bonfire in your living room.

I do think that followers of Mithras might want to curtail their typical birthday service in light of Mad-Cow Disease, but global warming will certainly make the services in the oak wood in traditional druidic robes more comfortable.

When you put up your stocking on the mantel and put out the turnips for Gouger, Rooter, Tusker, and Snouter as well as the pork pie and sherry for the Hogfather, you can rest assured the Sun will come up, because it just slipped around back to return the lager it rented.

Enjoy! You have nothing to fear, except that sniveling little creep with the camera/phone at the office party or the eggnog that was put out rather early causing you to suspect that the bits on top aren’t nutmeg. [The pictures probably won’t appear on the ‘Net and the brandy will surely take care of the salmonella.]

A Calendar of Coming Events

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If your celebration involved the death of a turkey, thank you.

I hope people restrained themselves and connected to their extended families via Zoom or FaceTime. There are three different COVID vaccines in the pipeline so we only have to wait a few more months to put Trump’s disastrous pandemic response in the rear view mirror and start getting back to normal.

As is traditional the WKRP Turkey Drop and/or the original recording of Alice’s Restaurant.

It was afternoon and I was on my way to a chemistry class. I had stopped for a drink of water when the news came over the speakers in the classrooms.

For those who weren’t alive at the time: remember what you felt on September 11, 2001 for a taste of November 22, 1963. It was a massive change for the worldview of my generation and it marked the beginning of a period of disruption and decline in the civility of American society. Arthur had died and Camelot fell.

At his inauguration John Kennedy made the point: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

The colors of my world will never be as bright as they were on November 21, 1963. Now we have COVID-19 and Trump…

I started doing this 16 years ago after the American electorate committed an act of supreme self destruction and gave the Shrubbery a second 4 years to screw things up. It would appear that people are becoming aware that Republicans just can’t help themselves and attempt to destroy the nation every time they are given a chance to sit in the Oval Office.

Clinton left the Shrubbery with budget surpluses and the Shrubbery left Obama with the Global Financial Crisis. Obama left Trump with a growing economy and Trump leaves Biden with a crippled economy and over a quarter million dead Americans.

As long as I can I will respond to the important things: the World Cup, the Iditarod & Yukon Quest, Tour de France, and tropical storms.

Politics are the static in life’s radio, so you have to deal with them. You try to ignore them until you can no longer hear the music.

Position: 13.8N 89.5W [ 9AM CST 1500 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↓.

Currently about 20 miles [ 35 km] West-Northwest of San Salvador, El Salvador.

This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

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: 13.7N 87.3W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 185 miles [295 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↑.

Currently about 25 miles [ 40 km] South-Southeast of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of Honduras west of Punta Castilla to the Honduras/Guatemala border, including the Bay 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: 13.6N 83.4W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 155 mph [250 kph].
Wind Gusts: 175 mph [280 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 45 miles [ 75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 920 mb ↑.

Currently about 30 miles [ 45 km] South of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.

At 9PM CST the eye is almost entirely ashore.

At 6PM CST the western eyewall of Iota is over Nicaragua.

While generally following the same track as Eta, Iota has gone one better by becoming the first Category Five storm of the 2020 season.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of Nicaragua from the Honduras/Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi; the coast of northeastern Honduras from Punta Patuca to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the islands of San Andres and Providencia; the northern coast of Honduras from west of Punta Patuca to the Guatemala/Honduras border, including the Bay Islands; the coast of Nicaragua from south of Sandy Bay Sirpi to Bluefields.

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: 13.3N 80.2W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 105 mph [165 kph].
Wind Gusts: 115 mph [185 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 150 miles [240 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 35 miles [ 55 km].
Minimum central pressure: 960 mb ↓.

Currently about 235 miles [ 375 km] East-Southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua/Honduras border.

Currently about 80 miles [ 130 km] East of the island of Providencia.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the island of Providencia; the coast of Nicaragua from the Honduras/Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi; the coast of northeastern Honduras from Punta Patuca to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the island of San Andres; the northern coast of Honduras from west of Punta Patuca to Punta Castilla; the coast of Nicaragua from south of Sandy Bay Sirpi to Bluefields.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the island of San Andres.

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: 31.5N 18.2W [ 9AM CST 1500 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 2 mph [ 4 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1010 mb ↑.

Currently about 670 miles [1080 km] Southeast of the Azores.

This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

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: 12.7N 77.0W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [135 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 990 mb ↓.

Currently about 445 miles [ 715 km] East-Southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua/Honduras border.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the island of Providencia; the coast of Nicaragua from the Honduras/Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi; the coast of northeastern Honduras from Punta Patuca to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the island of San Andres; the northern coast of Honduras from west of Punta Patuca to Punta Castilla; the coast of Nicaragua from south of Sandy Bay Sirpi to Bluefields.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the island of San Andres.

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: 31.7N 18.7W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: East [090°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1003 mb ↑.

Currently about 640 miles [1030 km] Southeast of the Azores.

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.]

Yes, it’s Friday the 13^th again. The 13^th falls on a Friday more than any other day of the week, so get over it. It’s only valid in in English and Portuguese speaking countries, so go visit a Spanish-speaking neighborhood for the day.

If you want to blame someone, it’s the calendar of Pope Gregory XIII that created this imbalance. [He obviously didn’t have a problem with the number on any day.]