The Great Tampa Gale of 48

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt

It has been quite a while since a major hurricane has hit the Tampa Bay area but just over 160 years ago two hurricanes hit the Tampa Bay area within about 2 weeks of each other.  In 1848 Tampa was a small village of fewer than 200 people, outside of the military garrison locate at Fort Brooke (now down town Tampa).  Earlier that year, the county of Hillsborough had appointed Louis Covacevich and Samuel Bishop as the first pilots of the port of Tampa.  In May, the lighthouse at Egmont Key started operations and just two weeks before the first hurricane hit, Tampa’s first school opened on September 11th. (1) 

Fort Brooke in 1845 (now downtown Tampa)

This pencil sketch of the Captains' Quarters was drawn by one of the officers stationed at Fort Brooke in 1845. Image Credit - The Tampa Bay History Center

The first of the two storms was probably the most intense hurricane ever to affect Tampa and occurred on Monday, Sept. 25th.  It came to be known as “The Great Gale of 48” and was described by survivor, William Henry Whitaker, as “the granddaddy of all hurricanes.” (7)  Continue reading →

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Global Warming and Health – a Meteorologist’s Perspective

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt

I was asked to comment on global warming and its impact on health for ““Worcester Medicine” May/June Edition 2011

There has been much press and controversy about global warming – everything from doomsday scenarios to absolute disbelief. As a meteorologist, I suspect the truth is likely somewhere in between those two extremes. Although climatologists and meteorologists debate the merits of global climate change theory, there are some facts that are not disputed by scientists. One of these is that over the past 100-150 years there has been a significant increase of some greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a definite trend towards warmer temperatures.

Just what are greenhouse gases anyway?

Greenhouse gasses are those gases that allow the atmosphere to retain heat and thus warm the earth’s surface above what it would be from sunlight alone. Sunlight heats the earth’s surface, and that heat is absorbed by gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Without these greenhouse gases the earth’s temperature would be more than 30 degrees Celsius (50ºF) colder than it is now, and our world would likely be a giant snow ball.    Continue reading →

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Arctic sea ice near record lows

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt

The National Snow and Ice Data Center – Sept. 6, 2011

Arctic sea ice extent averaged for August 2011 reached the second lowest level for the month in the 1979 to 2011 satellite record. Both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea route appear to be open. Throughout August, sea ice extent tracked near the record lows of 2007, underscoring the continued decline in Arctic ice cover.

Note: Arctic sea ice extent will likely reach its minimum extent for the year sometime in the next two weeks. NSIDC will make a preliminary announcement when ice extent has stopped declining and has increased for several days in a row. Monthly data for September will be released in early October.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent

Full Article

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Hurricane Hazel 1954

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt

After tracking Irene I came to think about another hurricane that made quite an impression on a six year old in mid October of 1954 when I was living in Passaic, NJ.  I was in 1st Grade and recall being sent home early as the winds from Hazel began to affect northern NJ. By that evening the wind had increased to a loud roar and I recall the lights going out and our oak tree in the front of the yard snapping in half. 

My brother Ed pointing to the downed tree in our front yard in Passaic

The first indication that a tropical cyclone had formed came ten days earlier on October 5th just 50 miles east of the island of Grenada in the Windward Islands just as the system was becoming a hurricane. (No satellite photos in those days). Hazel moved westward over the Caribbean Sea through October 8th before sharply turning northward under the influence of an upper level low that was situated over the western Caribbean Sea. By the 9th Hazel had intensified into a powerful Cat. 4 storm with max winds of 135 mph. Continue reading →

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Climate change or variability: What rules Arctic sea ice?

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt
Aug 24, 2011  Katherine Leitzell
The National Snow and Ice Data Center 

Arctic sea ice is near its annual low extent for the year. Will it reach a new record low? While many people are watching this year’s ice extent closely, the effect of climate change on ice extent in a single year is different than its effect in the long term. Arctic sea ice has declined more than 30 percent in summer since satellite measurements started in 1979. But from year to year, ice extent jumps up and down quite a lot. 

This photo, taken during the NASA ICESCAPE mission in summer 2011, shows melt ponds on the surface of Arctic sea ice. Weather patterns in the Arctic this summer have favored ice loss, leading to near-record low ice extent over most of the summer. New research is explaining how much ice loss is caused by variable conditions, and how much can be pinned on human-caused climate change. Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen
Scientists now believe that the already-weakened ice cover was pushed to a record low ice extent in September 2007 by a perfect storm of conditions: persistent weather patterns that favored ice loss combined with thinner and therefore more vulnerable sea ice. Just how much of the recent Arctic ice loss was caused by persistent weather conditions, and how much is because of climate change resulting from increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? 

Full Article  

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RE Ocean Weather Services Blog

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Fred Pickhardt

My original marine weather blog was hacked so I have deactivated it and will reconstruct it here.   Please be patient.

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