Friday, August 29, 2014

Hurricanes Are Global, 2014

When I was in elementary school in New York, the beginning of school was associated in my mind with the possibility of hurricanes.  It's not unusual--New York is frequently the target of what we called "the tail" of hurricanes roaring up the East Coast just about this time every year.  And usually we heard that the big bad storm had first come ashore at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Now I live in North Carolina, and I've got a different perspective on those hurricanes. Yes, the jutting point of Cape Hatteras is frequently the first landing.  But the storms come from much farther away  They usually form off the coast of West Africa, and churn their way across the Atlantic, where some of them menace the Southeastern coast before making their stormy way northward.

So I've come to understand that the East Coast storms of early fall are indeed global.  I ruminated a bit on this point, as well as memories of Floyd and Fran, in this blog post from awhile back, at just this time of year

While Marie and Cristobal churn up the waves on both coasts, and we wonder about what our season might bring in the way of tropical storms, give a thought to the global nature of our weather. (One update from my original hurricane blog post. I'm happy to say that WRAL continues with its great hurricane tracking, but the link has changed.  Here it is:  Interactive Hurricane Tracker Map)

Linked to the My Global Life Link-Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com
“Linked to the My Global Life Link-Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com” - See more at: http://www.smallplanetstudio.com/2014/08/29/august-mygloballife-link-up-add-your-blog-post/#sthash.YhIJKTRK.dpuf
“Linked to the My Global Life Link-Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com” - See more at: http://www.smallplanetstudio.com/2014/08/29/august-mygloballife-link-up-add-your-blog-post/#sthash.YhIJKTRK.dpuf
“Linked to the My Global Life Link-Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com” - See more at: http://www.smallplanetstudio.com/2014/08/29/august-mygloballife-link-up-add-your-blog-post/#sthash.YhIJKTRK.dpuf