Monday, August 24, 2009

Sunday Afternoon Hurricane-Maker




It's the rainy season here in West Africa, and it has been just that -- rainy. The ground is saturated, widespread flooding and coastal erosion is a serious issue, and diving is on hold while the runoff flows untreated directly into the sea.

We've sent several tropical storms into the west Atlantic and the Caribbean this far this season, with two earning names, Bill and Danny. Tropical storm 1, shown in the National Hurricane graphic above, passed over us this past week. See video highlights at storm.

For the science-minded, see weather for an overview of what drives the monsoon seasons in Africa. Also checkout the Africa weather-related resources: animation1, animation2, animation3, intellicast, weather on-line, METEOSAT.



Addendum We're headed out for dinner tonight into downtown Dakar. A check of the satellite images indicates a serious system passing over Mali, entering eastern Senegal, about the size of Senegal itself. So we'll take the umbrella tonight. Bob (in Ft. Pierce, FL), wax up the surfboard, swells will be up in 10 days!


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