Summer is Here; Amazing Trip

Posted by MTF at 5/20/2009 12:24 PM
Categories: uncategorized
Hi all,
    Hope everyone is having a great week.  I know I have committed to a blog entry about my trip, from the 'Sota to the 'Flo'da to the 'Dota (through Chicago!)...but this one will be about weather first.  The said trip had hundreds upon hundreds of pics to sift through.  Many pertain to the Shuttle Atlantis launch, which went perfectly and literally took your breath away (like you do to me Guider).  I also have been encouraged to make a video collage of this trip as opposed to stagnant pics, so I'd like to make good on that.  Just takes a bit of time though Mengler, so take it eeeeeeasy.  A big thanks to Mengler for escorting me in Chi-town and being spontaneous.  Even one night together for us is just chaos as this trip proved.  "Oooooooooh man!" as we have said for years.  WUJ, the man, a huge thank you for accompanying and helping set-up a good portion of the Flo'da trip, and of course the Cubs game.  That was so awesome and crazy that we need to do it again next launch, what do you say?!  Also thanks to Guider (both Dan and Becky), my favorite Jen, Foxy, Rob, Ian (sick man though) and mmmSparky.  Sorry to the big Slim, Luke, Vis, Roop, Miles, and thee Irish Mammens for not seeing you all.  Didn't work out this time around.  I'll see some of you in a few weeks up here in MN, while the others later this summer.  Oh and I hope everyone knows that it is only T-minus 77 days until....which reminds me, Mengler you have been invited by not only me but several Mendotans now.  You need to be there.  Make history.
   Weatherwise ... ton going on!  Here we go...
  • The wetness that has persisted now for 20 months in portions of IL has continued into May, which is bad news for the corn crop.  Some portions of IL only have 10% of their corn crop planted.  Read about it and the impacts and areal views of the IL river here.
  • On Friday May 8th, a huge wind complex of thunderstorms rolled from eastern Kansas to eastern Kentucky, plowing through southern IL.  Carbondale unofficially had a 106 mph wind gust with that, which was in a structure resembling an "eye wall" of a hurricane.  There were embedded tornadoes and a huge swath of wind damage.  The structure of this storm was amazing and the longevity was remarkable.  Read more about it here.
  • Yesterday was one of the craziest weather scenarios I have seen where I have been at.  Just three days prior MN had frost concerns, and yesterday parts of the state soared into the 90's including 100° at Granite Falls, MN.  Minneapolis hit 97, which was the EARLIEST 97° had ever been reached and broke the old May 19th record by 8 degrees.  Still, that was immediately behind a warm front and to it's north 30s and 40's prevailed.  At 5 pm yesterday, a 67 degree gradient existed in Minnesota.  Amazing.  Add to that that the warm and cold temperatures in Minnesota were some of the warmest and coldest in the entire nation at the same time!  The 97° in Minneapolis was 20+ degrees warmer than Miami and nearly 20 degrees warmer than Houston!!!  It was also 15 degrees warmer than Mendota.   Told you the 'Sota isn't only cold. The heat arrived with strong winds, which persist today.  Read more about the oddities and records of this heat here.
  • Hurricane season begins June 1st, however it is off to an early start, and no I'm not just talking about my and Wuj's trip to Flo'da.  The National Hurricane Center is watching an area of interest over Florida right now that will retrograde over the Gulf of Mexico into tomorrow.  It's possible this may develop while in the Gulf and be of interest as we head to Memorial Day weekend.  There is an Atlantic basin named storm in May approximately once every decade, however they tend to be fairly weak.  The rainfall being provided by this disturbance for Flo'da right now is greatly needed though.  Wuj and I saw a fairly good size wildfire while down there between Orlando and Cape Canaveral, due to the prolonged dryness.
  • The VORTEX II tornado chase team, referenced in a previous blog, has not had very active weather in the southern and central Plains as of late to chase.  They are featured nightly on the Weather Channel, as they have a meteorologist that is tagging along.
  • Memorial Day weekend looks potentially active here in MN with uncertainty yet in northern IL.  Tis the season for severe weather.  Last year on Memorial Day weekend of course was the Hugo, MN EF-3 tornado and the Parkersburg, IA EF-5 tornado.  Let's not hope for that.
Some weather images...


"Meso-cane" as it has somewhat jokingly been called near Carbondale on May 8th.



Satellite view of a fire close to Santa Barbara, CA.  Note some dust along with the smoke plumes.


Aw heck yeah!  Courtesy of NASA, this is a view from behind launch pad 39B with Shuttle Endeavour.  That is Atlantis launching in the background.  Note the cirrus above.  While NASA is not concerned by these high of clouds, they did hamper our vision for the last 30 seconds or so of visual flight from the ground.  I don't know if I could have stood 30 more seconds though.  I was about ready to burst with the first 90.  THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

Back from the Flo'da, as always from the 'Sota to the 'Dota...we have liftoff!
MTF



 

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