Monthly Archives: August 2011

More on what we can learn from Hurricane Irene

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” To those of a certain age, this line is iconic Bob Dylan, taken from his song “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” A radical left organization, the Revolutionary Youth Movement of … Continue reading

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Good night, Irene.

The past few days have been horrific. As of this writing, hurricane/tropical storm Irene has killed some 40 people, and caused billions of dollars of property damage. Another case – one of dozens well-documented – of a hurricane’s landfall changing … Continue reading

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Thoughts on the Grand Canyon, on water torture…and blogging.

At the age of 68, after years of documentaries, postcards from friends, photos from friends, digital images from friends,I’m finally seeing the Grand Canyon,  firsthand. Wow. So what am I thinking? I’m thinking that the Grand Canyon is a victim. … Continue reading

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Musings on safety in the face of dangerous weather

Just hours ago, in his blog Meteorological Musings, Mike Smith posted a comment on the hailstorm that hit Omaha’s Eppley field last evening. He links to an interesting video of the hail, taken by a passenger on a fully-loaded plane … Continue reading

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August 19, 1955…and 2011

In 1955, Hurricane Diane swept up the Atlantic coast of the United States, making landfall at North Carolina on August 17th and taking a couple of days to slowly work its way up the coast. 66 years ago today, it … Continue reading

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(Quiet) joy in Joplin.

On the way home from work Wednesday evening I checked the New York Times website on my blackberry, looking to catch up on world and national news after a day of meetings. That news? For the most part, sobering… and for … Continue reading

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an additional note on the Indiana State Fair stage collapse

At noon today, Jason Samenow of the Capital Weather Gang published an insightful post on the nature and causes of the tragic Indiana State Fair stage collapse, summarizing much of the background that’s surfaced over the past 40 hours or … Continue reading

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Inconsequential? Is that the best we can aspire to?

In announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2012 presidential campaign the other day, Texas Governor Rick Perry stated “And I promise you this: I’ll work every day to make Washington, DC as inconsequential in your life as … Continue reading

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Indiana’s most recent weather tragedy

Chances are good that by now you know what happened last night in Indianapolis. According to news reports, a wind gust somewhere in the range of 60-70 miles per hour toppled a stage at the Indiana State Fair where the … Continue reading

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Priorities Redux…

It might be that some of the discussion on priorities at the Boulder AMS Summer Community Meeting just concluded got wrapped around the axle of semantics. As a lead-in, consider this story, also from Boulder, but a good 35-40 years … Continue reading

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