[LukeO]

We do really need the rain with all these transplants using up all the water.

Now if I could just find the time to catch some of the surf too.







Atlantic's first named storm whips up wildfires


POSTED: 4:47 p.m. EDT, May 9, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: Storm winds reach parched Florida, Georgia -- no rain
• Subtropical Storm Andrea forms off Southeast U.S. coast
• Atlantic hurricane season's official start three-plus weeks away
• First named storm has sustained winds near 45 mph

(CNN) -- Winds from the first named storm of the year fanned wildfires in northern Florida on Wednesday, more than three weeks ahead of the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Subtropical Storm Andrea, with sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph) and higher gusts, was centered 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Savannah, Georgia, and was moving slowly toward the west at 3 mph (4.8 kph), forecasters said.

A tropical storm watch was issued for the Southeastern U.S. coast from Georgia's Altamaha Sound south to Flagler Beach, Florida, the weather service said.

A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Dangerous surf conditions were expected along the coasts of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Andrea isn't expected to produce significant rainfall over land until perhaps Thursday morning, the weather service said.

That's disappointing news to people in southern Georgia and northern Florida, where drought conditions have contributed to wildfires. In fact, Andrea's winds were making things worse Wednesday.

"Our forestry firefighters think they have (one fire) contained, and then these winds blow an ember a mile away and start a fire over there," said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who declared a state of emergency in the state May 3 because of the drought and wildfire danger, deployed the National Guard to help contain the blazes.

Wednesday, he traveled to several areas where 220 wildfires are burning 80,000 acres.

Fires are burning in 54 of the drought-ravaged state's 67 counties.

Since the beginning of the year, 2,139 fires have burned more than 195,000 acres in Florida, according to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Web site.

In south Georgia, more than 156,000 acres have burned in four counties.

The biggest fire, in Ware and Charlton counties, began April 16 when a power line went down.

Subtropical storms differ from tropical storms in some technical characteristics relating to wind and temperature, according to the National Hurricane Center's Web site.

Hurricane season begins June 1.

[beaufort-fj60]

yeah, I'm in the middle of this crazy global warming hurricane right now. Don't believe CNN, it a scam..... it was beautiful blue skies all day

[bigbrowndog]

Good Morning America showed Oz the big seas on the south east coast , floods in the heart land and bushfires on the west coast along with tornado damage. You blokes are sure taking a beating from the weather at the moment and summer has just started. My heart goes out to all who have suffered and I hope it improves for you all. regards from Oz.

[LoveTractor]

Beautiful here. Just windy.

[DoctorJay]

Great, now we're going to hear more crap about 'sudden climate change' (the new code word for global warming). Flipping back through the records, I see that tropical storms or hurricanes were recorded in April or May in:

1951
1953
1959
1970
1981
2003

plus a couple of unnamed STS in other years. It seems like they were more common in the 1950's during a period of recognized global cooling.

On another note, it seems like every year they predict a hurricane season that's worse than usual. Anyone remember the last time they predicted one that was better than usual? Maybe the NOAA does sometimes, and the news just doesn't pick it up.

[beaufort-fj60]

Originally Posted by LoveTractor

Beautiful here. Just windy.

did it rain up there? no rain here

[LoveTractor]

Originally Posted by beaufort-fj60

did it rain up there? no rain here

Yesterday off and on but not today.

[NorCalDoug]

Originally Posted by bigbrowndog

Good Morning America showed Oz the big seas on the south east coast , floods in the heart land and bushfires on the west coast along with tornado damage. You blokes are sure taking a beating from the weather at the moment and summer has just started. My heart goes out to all who have suffered and I hope it improves for you all. regards from Oz.

meh...shi...er..weather happens.

the United States is a large place...the few things that are being broadcast are not related to anything...really...it's no different than any other year...

[LukeO]

Originally Posted by beaufort-fj60

yeah, I'm in the middle of this crazy global warming hurricane right now. Don't believe CNN, it a scam..... it was beautiful blue skies all day

S.T. pepsi,

Any chance you can cruise over to The Island and ask the MP's at the gate to give a buddy of mine a green t-shirt with two parallel to the ground white stripes spray painted on it?

He's a Senior DI at 3rd Btn, you can tell them who sent it and you'll be OK

Let me know.

[LukeO]

Originally Posted by DoctorJay

Great, now we're going to hear more crap about 'sudden climate change' (the new code word for global warming). Flipping back through the records, I see that tropical storms or hurricanes were recorded in April or May in:

1951
1953
1959
1970
1981
2003

plus a couple of unnamed STS in other years. It seems like they were more common in the 1950's during a period of recognized global cooling.

On another note, it seems like every year they predict a hurricane season that's worse than usual. Anyone remember the last time they predicted one that was better than usual? Maybe the NOAA does sometimes, and the news just doesn't pick it up.

Dr,

it's all one big marketing strategy from all sides. Or both if we look at it FOX/CNN wise.

Everybody is trying to sell something, global warming is today's cold war turned war on terror to now global warming, it's just another product of sorts.

The sky will always fall. But that's OK.

[beaufort-fj60]

Originally Posted by LukeO

S.T. pepsi,

Any chance you can cruise over to The Island and ask the MP's at the gate to give a buddy of mine a green t-shirt with two parallel to the ground white stripes spray painted on it?

He's a Senior DI at 3rd Btn, you can tell them who sent it and you'll be OK

Let me know.

I live in ear shot of PI and every morning I can here DIs yelling at the recruits. Does your friend drive a jacked up 80? Every once in awhile I see a lifted 80 with a military gate sticker.

wouldn't it be easier for me if you mailed the shirt to your buddy

[LukeO]

Originally Posted by beaufort-fj60

I live in ear shot of PI and every morning I can here DIs yelling at the recruits. Does your friend drive a jacked up 80? Every once in awhile I see a lifted 80 with a military gate sticker.

wouldn't it be easier for me if you mailed the shirt to your buddy

Unfortunately he drives a Red Dodge 4x4 pickup. And I have no doubt that you "might" know who he is.

I like the mailed to idea, but it's better if it's hand delivered from the random unknown

[DoctorJay]

Originally Posted by LukeO

Dr,

it's all one big marketing strategy from all sides. Or both if we look at it FOX/CNN wise.

Everybody is trying to sell something, global warming is today's cold war turned war on terror to now global warming, it's just another product of sorts.

The sky will always fall. But that's OK.

Yeah, that was sort of my point. The news loves to grab onto these things without even a rudimentary understanding of the significance. A light hurricane season doesn't sell advertising space, so we never hear about one. Want to talk about drastic climate change? Let's look at the 10km meteor that created the Chicxulub crater off Mexico and killed all the dinosaurs* 65 million years ago.

*it killed all the unicorns too. I have proof.